Fall of Savannah

Ruins of Savannah

Upon the conclusion of his march to the sea, when he established contact with the Federal fleet, William Sherman immediately began a siege of Savannah, Georgia. The fleet brought supplies and the siege artillery necessary to capture the city. With his troops in place, he sent a message to the Confederate commander, William Hardee, on December 17th:

I have already received guns that can cast heavy and destructive shot as far as the heart of your city; also, I have for some days held and controlled every avenue by which the people and garrison of Savannah can be supplied, and I am therefore justified in demanding the surrender of the city of Savannah …. I am prepared to grant liberal terms to the inhabitants and garrison; but should I be forced to resort to assault, or the slower and surer process of starvation, I shall then feel justified in resorting to the harshest measures, and shall make little effort to restrain my army—burning to avenge the national wrong which they attach to Savannah and other large cities which have been so prominent in dragging our country into civil war.

Hardee

Hardee did not take Sherman's offer of terms. Instead he abandoned the city, using an improvised pontoon bridge to cross the Savannah River on December 20th. The next day the mayor surrendered the city to Sherman, who telegraphed the president, “I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the City of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty guns and plenty of ammunition, also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton.” Sherman's gamble, of abandoning his supply lines and heading into Georgia while Hood invaded Tennessee, had paid off. Lincoln was thankful that he had found able generals who could fight and defeat the Confederate forces. He wrote to Sherman,

Many, many thanks for your Christmas gift – the capture of Savannah. When you were leaving Atlanta for the Atlantic coast, I was anxious, if not fearful; but feeling that you were the better judge, and remembering that 'nothing risked, nothing gained' I did not interfere. Now, the undertaking being a success, the honor is all yours; for I believe none of us went farther than to acquiesce. … But what next? I suppose it will be safer if I leave Gen. Grant and yourself to decide.

Sherman

Mobile Bay Falls

In the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5^th, David Farragut ran his ships past the forts and sunk the Confederate flotilla, but he still had to deal with three Confederate forts. Forts Gaines and Morgan guarded the entrance to the bay, and the smaller Fort Powell was positioned inside. Powell was the first to fall. Lt. Col. Williams, her commander had been ordered to hold out as long as possible, but, “when no longer tenable, save your garrison.” It did not take Williams long to decide it was untenable. Without even undergoing heavy pressure from the Federals he spiked his guns, blew up his powder and waded to the mainland with his men.

Fort Gaines

Fort Gaines was under the command of Colonel Charles Anderson. He had 818 troops in the garrison while Major General Gordon Granger had 3,300 troops besieging him. The fort had also been badly positioned. The sand dunes on the island offered cover for the Union troops to approach very close to the walls. Brigadier General Page, the Confederate commander in Mobile, ordered that the fort not be surrendered, but Anderson ignored him. He sent out a flag of truce, and surrendered to Granger and Farragut on August 8^th.

Fort Morgan

After Fort Gaines surrendered the Federal infantry was moved to face the last Confederate fort – Fort Morgan. It was an old massonry force garrisoned by 618 men under General Page himself. The Federals began a formal siege with regular lines of approaching trenches. Meanwhile, several of the monitors bombarded the fort, along with the Tennessee, which had been repaired and assimilated into the Federal fleet. On August 22 cannon and mortars on land joined the ships, and the fort was subjected to a day long bombardment. Page was afraid that the Union balls would hit his magazines, so he ordered them to be flooded. The next day he decided that further resistance was useless. He spiked his guns and raised the white flag.

Page

After Page surrendered he was arrested by the Federal forces. They accused him of violating the laws of war by destroying the guns and ammunition of the fort after he surrendered. A court of inquiry was formed in New Orleans to investigate. They found him not guilty, determining that he had destroyed the equipment of the fort before its surrender,.

The surrender of Fort Morgan marked the completion of the Federal capture of Mobile Bay. With Union ships holding the mouth of the bay, they could stop the flow of blockade runners coming too and fro. The town itself was still in Confederate hands, and would remain so until the next year.

Fort Morgan Today

Battle of Globe Tavern

Globe Tavern

By August, 1864 the armies of Lee and Grant were stalled in front of Petersburg, the active campaigning turned into a regular siege. Grant and Meade's strategy to break this deadlock was to hit Lee's supply line. They hoped that if they cut off the flow of food and weapons coming through North Carolina, Richmond and Petersburg would have to be abandoned. One of the major supply lines was the Weldon Railroad. In the Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road in late June Federals had destroyed a short section of the Weldon, but they were quickly driven off by the Confederates. In August Grant sent out another force against the Weldon under Major General Gouverneur Warren.

On August 18th Warren reached the railroad at Globe Tavern without meeting any resistance outside of a few pickets. While some troops began tearing up the tracks the rest formed a battle line and moved north to guard against a Confederate attack. When A. P. Hill heard of the Federal advance he sent three brigades out to meet them. At 2 pm they struck Warren's line and drove it back early to Globe Tavern. The Federals counterattacked and recaptured some ground before halting and entrenching for the night.

Warren

During the night significant reinforcements arrived for both sides. The next day was rainy, and for most of it the fighting was limited to minor skirmishing. But that changed in late afternoon. Maj. Gen. William Mahone, commanding the three infantry brigades the Confederates had received, had found a weak spot in the Federal right. When his men changed it, they were able to easily burst through into the Federal flank and rear. The Federals were under fire from several directions, and soon panicked and fled to the rear. Mahone's men captured nearly two full Union brigades. Although the Federal right crumbled, the center and right beat off the Confederate frontal attacks, and Union reinforcements arrived to stabilize the position.

Mahone

The next day rain prevented further Confederate attacks, and that night Warren fell back two miles to a new entrenched position. There he was still on the Weldon Railroad, but his would were connected with the rest of the Union line. The Confederates advanced and attacked on the morning of August 21, but they were repulsed with heavy losses. With this the Confederates halted their attacks, resigned to the fact that the Weldon Railroad would remain in Union hands. The Confederate supply lines were disturbed, but not cut. They bypassed the Federal held section by hauling supplies in wagons on a series of roads.

Battle of the Crater

The Federal high command knew it would be difficult to break the siege that had developed around Petersburg, Virginia. A frontal attack would be well-nigh impossible, as the Confederate works were just too strong to capture. Ambrose Burnside, once commander of the entire Army of the Potomac but now only of the XIV Corps, decided to go under the Confederate line. Lt. Col. Henry Pleasants, a former mining engineer and now commander of the 48th PA submitted a plan to dig a mine which Burnside approved. When blown up under Elliott's Salient, it would destroy the Confederate works in the area and kill their defenders. Grant had made a similar attempt at the siege of Vicksburg, but it had not been completely successful in breaking the Confederate line. That did not stop Burnside from trying again. Even if it wasn't successful, at least it would keep the men in the area occupied.

Digging the mine

The Pennsylvanians, many of them former miners, dug the earth out by hand, and then packed it into boxes and pulled out on improvised sledges. The air was kept fresh inside the tunnel with a fire which heated the air and forced it out through a ventilation tube. The soldiers dug around the clock. They calculated that they were under the Confederate position on July 17th after 511 feet of digging. Twenty feet deep in the ground, they could hear the rebel soldiers marching above. By July 23rd they had finished digging powder chambers under the bastions. 8,000 pounds of powder were brought in and connected with 100 feet of fuzes. The workers replaced the first forty feet of earth to create a backstop. All was ready on July 28th.

Burnside planned for a division of United States Colored Troops under Edward Ferrero to make the attack. Burnside had the men meticulously trained on exactly what their role would be in the assault. There was reluctance on the part of many Union generals to lead the blacks in combat, as they thought that they would not make good soldiers. Meade and Grant decided to change out the black division for a white one, and James Ledlie's unprepared division was chosen to lead the assault. Many brigades of infantry and 144 cannon were prepared to support them.

The explosion

The fuse was lit at 3:30 am on the morning of July 30th. Time ticked by as the Yankees anxiously waited, but no there was no explosion. It seemed likely that the fuse had been a dud, but it would be very hazardous to go and check, as it was possible it would explode at any moment. Grant was considering ordering Burnside to attack without the mine when two soldiers volunteered to see what the problem was. Lt. Jacob Douty and Sgt. Harry Reese soon found the problem - there had been a faulty splice in the fuse. They spliced and relit it. At 4:44 am the powder exploded in the middle of the Confederate entrenchments, throwing men, earth and guns into the air. One Confederate wrote:

A slight tremor of the earth for a second, then the rocking as of an earthquake, and, with a tremendous blast which rent the sleeping hills beyond, a vast column of earth and smoke shoots upward to a great height, its dark sides flashing out sparks with a roaring sound, showers of stones, broken timbers and blackened human limbs, subsides - the gloomy pale of darkening smoke flushing to an angry crimson as it floats away to meet the morning sun.

A crater opened in the landscape 170 feet long, over 100 feet wide and 30 feet deep, that is still visible to this day. 278 Confederate soldiers were instantly killed in the explosion, and many more were badly stunned. However, the Federals of Ledlie's division were not prepared to make an assault. When they did finally make it to the crater they did not keep moving as the black division had been trained to. Wandering around, they decided to use the crater as a rifle pit instead of making use of their success. Confederate Brigadier General William Mahone gathered all the men he could find and moved them to the Crater. Federal troops continued to pour into the crater, including Ferrero's black division. The gap in the Confederate line had been closed and Mahone moved his men to the rim of the crater. They unleashed their fire on 10,000 disorganized Union soldiers who were gathered in the pit. The casualties mounted among the tightly packed Federals, and the ease of hitting the target reminded many rebels of a turkey shoot. At about 9:30 am, Grant ordered the attack halted and Burnside to pull back the troops, but Burnside, despairing, delayed to execute the order in the hope that something miraculous would redeem the attack. Finally, around midday, the battle ended. Mahone's men charged with bayonets into the crater, capturing or killing any who did not flee to the rear. The Confederates were angry at seeing black troops fighting against them, as they saw it as uprooting their social order and inciting a slave rebellion on their helpless families. There were reported instances of cruelty on the part of the Confederate troops, some of whom regrettably did not accept the surrender of a black soldier, and bayoneted them in cold blood.

The crater after the battle

In this battle the Federals lost almost 3,800, with 500 killed, 1,900 wounded and 1,400 captured. The Confederates lost about 1,500, 350 killed, 750 wounded and 400 missing. Blame was quickly spread for the failure. Burnside and Ledlie were effectively dismissed, and resigned from the army. Grant wrote to Henry Halleck in Washington:

It was the saddest affair I have witnessed in this war. Such opportunity for carrying fortifications I have never seen and do not expect again to have. ... I am constrained to believe that, had instructions been promptly obeyed, Petersburg would have been carried, with all the artillery and a large number of prisoners, without a loss of 300 men.

The crater today

The Siege of Petersburg Begins

When Grant's men renewed their attack on Petersburg on June 18^th, 150 years ago today, at first they made quickly progress. This was only because Beauregard had fallen back to a new line during the night. When the hit this second line they were stopped by heavy Confederate fire, and could make no more progress. More troops were brought up throughout the day, but they too were pinned down under murderous fire. Meade grew frustrated as his corps commanders yet again failed to cooperate. “I find it useless to appoint an hour to effect co-operation,” he complained, “and I am therefore compelled to give you the same order. You have a large corps, powerful and numerous, and I beg you will at once, as soon as possible, assault in a strong column. The day is fast going, and I wish the practicability of carrying the enemy's line settled before dark."

The troops went forward, but the men did not have their heart in the assault. They had made these attacks before, all over Virginia in the past weeks, and they were always bloody. “We are not going to charge,” said one solder as he went forward. “We are going to run toward the Confederate earthworks and then we are going to run back. We have had enough of assaulting earthworks."

The Union attacks were unsuccessful, as the reluctant veterans had foreseen. All, however, were not experienced in this type of attack. One regiments especially made a gallant and costly attack on the Confederate works, 1st Maine. It was a heavy artillery regiments that had been converted into infantry and sent to Grant. Inexperienced with combat, they didn't know what was in store for them. Stepping over the prone veterans, they boldly charged at the entrenchments. The rebels works exploded in flame, and the men fell down in rows. Not a man made it to their target. Of the 850 green soldiers who charged, 632 fell. Its 74% casualties were the most severe loss from any Union regiment in the war.

As the sun set on the bloody field, it was apparent that frontal attacks had proved useless. Over 11,000 men were lost by the army of the Potomac in this advance on Petersburg, compared to about 4,000 Confederates. Grant had a chance at a quick success by cutting Lee's supply line at Petersburg, but uncoordinated assaults and firm fighting by Beauregard's men deprived him of that victory. It was apparent as the rest of Lee's army moved into Petersburg that the active maneuvering in the field had given way, for a time, to a siege. Both armies were not the same as had began the Overland Campaign. Both sides had lost their aggressive edge, and the war in the east had turned into a siege, with the both soldiers reluctant to assault the enemy works.

Battle of Fort Pillow

Nathan Bedford Forrest fought in many raids and battles in the Civil War, but his most controversial by far was his attack on Fort Pillow 150 years ago today. By this point he was nearly a month into a raid on the Union positions in Tennessee and Kentucky. He decided to attack Fort Pillow to capture the supplies that the fort held. Fort Pillow was built by Confederate general Gideon Pillow in 1862, but it was abandoned and garrisoned by the Federals. It was built on a bluff on the Mississppi River, its three walls protected by six cannon. When Forrest attacked the garrison was 500-600 men, half white and half black. The Confederates were at least three times as numerous.

Forrest arrived at the fort, which was already surrounded by Confederate troopers, at 10:00 on April 12. He deployed sharpshooters on hills that overlooked the fort, and they opened up a scattered fire. It was not long before they scored a hit – Major Lionel Booth, the forts commander, was killed. Confederates also occupied the barracks which the Federals had failed to destroy, putting them only 150 yards from the fort's parapet.

At 3:30, with his men in position to attack, Forrest sent the Union commander this ominous note:

The conduct of the officers and men garrisoning Fort Pillow has been such as to entitle them to being treated a prisoners of war. I demand the unconditional surrender of the entire garrison, promising that you shall be treated as prisoners of war. My men have just received a fresh supply of ammunition, and from their present position can easily assault and capture the fort. Should my demand be refused, I cannot be responsible for the fate of your command.

Major William Bradford, who had assumed command after Booth's death, asked for one hour to consider the situation, Forrest would only give him 20 minutes. Bradford send a final message, “We will not surrender.” A bugle sounded the charge, and the Confederates surged toward the walls.

Under covering fire from the sharpshooters, the rebels rushed toward the fort and into the ditch. The Federals were kept down by the sharpshooters' bullets, and were not able to stop the assailants. The Confederates climbed on each others shoulders, making their way on top of the 6 – 8 foot wall. As they reached the top of the embankment, their fired their weapons into the crowd of bluecoats below. A Union gunboat, USS New Era was on the river, and the Federals fell back in disorder, hoping to get picked up by the ship. They were unable to reach the ship, which did not even aid them with its fire. The gun ports remained sealed for fear of the southern sharpshooters.

When the Confederates had burst into the fort, the Federals had fled towards the gunboat without trying to surrender or hauling down the flag. Some still carried their weapons, and fired back at the attackers. Others threw down their arms and tried to surrender. The rebels, with adrenaline high after their dangerous advance, continued to kill indiscriminately. One Union naval officer on the scene wrote in his report:

All the wounded who had strength enough to speak agreed that after the fort was taken an indiscriminate slaughter of our troops was carried on by the enemy with a furious and vindictive savageness which was never equaled by the most merciless of the Indian tribes. Around on every side horrible testimony to the truth of this statement could be seen. Bodies with gaping wounds, some bayoneted through the eyes, some with skulls beaten through, others with hideous wounds as if their bowels had been ripped open with bowie-knives, plainly told that but little quarter was shown to out troops.

There is no doubt that a massacre of some kind did take place. The Federals had about 350 killed, 60 wounded and 164 captured. The Confederates lost only 14 killed and 86 wounded. It is also clear that the colored troops were especially targeted. Only 20% of the black troops survived the battle, as opposed to 60% of the white Federals. Confederates defended their actions by arguing that the Federals had been warned of the consequences of refusing to surrender, the fort had never been officially surrendered, and the officers attempted to stay the slaughter.

Whether or not the Confederates could justify the slaughter in any way, it was seen as a horrible massacre by the people of the north. Lincoln and his cabinet considered retaliation, but none was ever made. As the news spread through the country the northerners saw their foes as less civilized. They began to see the southern troops as murders, would would massacre the colored troops in cold blood. This perception would have an impact in future battles, and on reconstruction after the war.

Battle of Fort Sanders

Ambrose Burnside, having gotten ahead of the pursing army of James Longstreet at the Battle of Campbell's Station, arrived in the works around Knoxville, Tennessee on November 17. The Confederates came up as well, and began to consider an attack. Longstreet decided that Fort Sanders was the most vulnerable point on the Yankee line. It was west of the town, positioned at a salient in the earthworks. It was 70 feet high and surrounded by an 8 foot ditch.

The Confederate positions were 2,400 yards from the fort. Longstreet's attack plan called for three brigades to be used. No artillery bombardment would be made, to avoid alerting the Federals of the attack, but this advantage was lost anyway because skirmishers were deployed long before the actual attack was made.

The southerners attacked at dawn on November 29th, after a cold night, with rain and snow falling. Moving out, they encountered obstacles made of telegraph wire which strung to trip the men. Alerted to the attack, the Federals opened fire and began shooting the rebels down. Eventually the Confederates made it to the fort, and jumped down into the ditch. But here they were confronted with a problem. Looking through binoculars at the position, Longstreet saw a Union soldier walking across the ditch. Not realizing that the man was on a narrow plank, he concluded that the ditch was very shallow and that scaling ladders would not be needed. But down in the ditch, the Confederates discovered the truth was much different. It was nearly impossible to climb out of the ditch onto the wall, especially slippery frozen as it was. The Confederates fruitlessly tried to dig footholds in the earth, as the Federals poured musketry into the packed men and stabbed with their bayonets, even tossing down artillery shells as hand grenades. Some southerners made it to the parapet by standing on each others shoulders. Several flags were planted on the top, but no breakthrough was made.

Union engineers on the battlefield

After 20 minutes Longstreet recalled his men. It was one of the most disastrous attacks of the entire war. The attack had been badly planned, and victory was nearly impossible without ladders. The Confederates lost 813 men, the Federals only 13. This reverse. Combined with the defeat of Bragg at Chattanooga, ended the Siege of Knoxville, and the Confederate's attempt to gain control of East Tennessee.

Siege of Chattanooga

After defeating Rosecrans's Union army at the Battle of Chickamauga, Bragg's Confederates received intelligence that their foes were in full retreat, but they did not mount an aggressive pursuit. Bragg did not want to leave the railroad, which was serving as his supply line. The cavalry under Nathan Bedford Forest moved to within three miles of Chattanooga, where the Federals had positioned themselves. The placed could have been easily captured, but Bragg would not move. The fruits of victory were lost by the Confederate failure to advance. Their victory was rendered almost useless.

By the time they arrived on the hills surrounding Chattanooga, the Federals were prepared for a long defense. By September 23rd the Confederates occupied Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, and a siege of Chattanooga began. James Longstreet, commanding a corps from Lee temporarily detached to help Bragg, wished to attempt a flanking movement, but Bragg refused. He preferred just to wait and starve out Rosecrans, as he had received word that the Yankees only had six days provisions. He extended the Confederate lines to Raccoon Mountain, and placed artillery to cover the roads that ran along the edge of the Tennessee River. Thus blocking the easiest access to the town, he forced the Federals to carry what supplies they could bring across sixty miles of muddy roads.

Rosecrans

When Lincoln got news of Rosecrans's disaster, he decided to reinforce him without delay. Hooker's Corps from Virginia was rushed west by railroad, and Ulysees S. Grant, who had been given command of all the forces from the Allegheny Mountains to the Mississippi, was ordered to march to Chattanooga with 20,000 men. Although when the siege began Bragg had more men, his decision not to assault meant that after a few days Hooker arrived. With these new men the Union garrison outnumbered the Confederate besiegers.

Chattanooga from Lookout Mountain

The Union high command was not impressed with Rosecrans's performance after his defeat at Chickamauga. Charles Dana, assistant secretary of war reported on Rosecrans

I have never seen a public man possessing talent with less administrative power, less clearness and steadiness in difficulty, and greater practical incapacity than General Rosecrans. ... Under the present circumstances I consider this army to be very unsafe in his hands.

Grant eventually decided to replace Rosecrans with George Thomas, the new Federal hero who had held the field at Chickamauga after Rosecrans and most of the army had fled.

Developments in Charleston Harbor

In the first weeks of September, 1863, the fighting continued as the Federals tried to overcome the Confederate defenses guarding Charleston, South Carolina. In July, the Union troops had landed on Morris Island and attacked Fort Wagner, but several attacks had been disastrously repulsed. They settled into a siege, maintaining a regular bombardment of the works. For two months the fort held out against the Union attacks. But near the end of August the Yankees were able to capture the line of rifle pits outside the fort, and began turning them into a siege lines. Subjected to constant bombardment, with only 400 men left to defend the fort and the Union lines drawing ever closer, P. G. T. Beauregard, Confederate commander in Charleston, ordered the fort abandoned on the night of September 6th. The next day the Federals occupied the works.

Ironclads Bombard Fort Moultrie

That same day the Union designs on Fort Sumter were moved forward. The first battle of the war had been fought there two years before when the Union garrison was forced to surrender after a bombardment. In subsequent fighting the walls had been reduced to a rubble, but still the garrison held firm. Beauregard withdrew the artillery crews from the position, as every gun had been dismounted, and replaced them with 320 infantry. The Union fleet demanded the surrender of the fort on September 7th, but the Confederates refused. The position was virtually useless, but it had great symbolic value.

Fort Sumter

The next night a naval landing party was sent to Fort Sumter. From all that they could tell from the ships, the Union commanders believed that the fort was a rubble and they would just have to brush away a few guards. One officer that attacked the fort wrote of the attack, saying,

As we neared Sumter we were hailed loudly by the enemy, but no answer was returned. Simultaneously a rocket was sent up from the fort, and almost as it exploded the air was filled with hissing, shrieking missiles from the James and Sullivan's Island batteries, which seemed alive with fire, while an iron-clad was pouring grape and canister into the boats and sweeping the approaches to the gorge. The parapets and crown of Sumter were filled with men pouring a murderous fire down on our defenseless party, and heavy missiles and hand grenades helped on the work of destruction. Before this fire had fully developed, two boats from the Powhatan and others had effected a landing. ... Under these conditions but one expedient was left - to effect an early withdrawal. ... We found [our loss] amounted to 124 killed, wounded and missing, out of 400 men.

The landing force had been completely defeated, and some who could not withdraw surrendered. Union bombardments continued, but the fort was held until Sherman advanced into South Carolina in February, 1865.

Union troops digging a trench

Second Attack on Fort Wagner

The Federals, not convinced by the failure of their attack a few days before, again attacked Fort Wagner, outside of Charleston, South Carolina 150 years ago today. The regiment chosen to spearhead the attack was the 54th Massachusetts, a regiment of United States Colored Troops commanded by Colonel Robert Shaw. They would be supported by two additional brigades. The ground over which they had to pass was narrow, and halfway to the fort became flat, giving a good field of fire.

Colonel Robert Shaw

To soften up the fort for capture, Union guns fired on them from land and sea throughout the day. The infantry stepped out about sunset and the guns fell silent. As the Confederates sighted them they opened a rapid fire with their artillery, and as the Federals rushed forward, closing the range, a heavy musketry fire was poured into them from the parapet. The 54th Massachusetts hesitated under the terrific fire, but Colonel Shaw shouted, "Forward, Fifty-Fourth, forward!"and led them towards the fort.

As the troops from the 54th fell back, they encountered the next regiments and disorientated their ranks. The next two brigades pressed forward, but they were confused in the darkness and most fled to the rear before they reached the parapet. A surviving officer of the 54th Massachusetts wrote in his report:

In this formation ... as the dusk of the evening came on, the regiment advanced at quick time, leading the column the enemy opened upon us a brisk fire; our pace now gradually increased till it became a run. Soon canister and musketry began to tell upon us. With Colonel Shaw leading, the assault was commenced. Exposed to the direct fire of canister and musketry, and, as the ramparts were mounted, to a like fire on our flanks, the havoc made in our ranks was very great. Upon leaving the ditch for the parapet, they obstinately contested with the bayonet our advance. Notwithstanding these difficulties, the men succeeded in driving the enemy from most of their guns, many following the enemy into the fort. It was here, upon the crest of the parapet, that Colonel Shaw fell; … here also were most of the officers wounded. The colors of the regiment reached the crest, and were there fought for by the enemy; the State flag then torn from its staff, but the staff remains with us. Hand-grenades were now added to the missiles directed against the men. The fight raged here for about an hour.

Although the colored troops demonstrated their valor, they were unable to break into the fort. Colonel Shaw fell, hit with seven Confederate bullets. Sargent William Carney of the 54th was awarded the Medal of Honor for planting the Union flag on the parapet of the fort and then carrying it back to Union lines. When he made it back from the assault, he reported to the other men, "Boys, I only did my duty; the old flag never touched the ground!" He was the first black recipient of the medal of honor. The good fight of the 54th improved the Union soldiers's views of the fighting qualities of their black comrades.

On one portion of the line the 6th Connecticut attack gained some success. The 31st North Carolina, which had been captured as a unit earlier in the war, fled from the parapet, and the Federals were able to climb up, set foot on the rampart, and seize control of a portion of the line. The Confederate tried to counterattack, but twice their charges were beaten back. But the Federals were receiving no reinforcements, and a fresh Confederate regiment, the 32nd Georgia, rushed forward and was able to secure the lines. The fight was over by 10 pm. Many of the high ranking Union commanders had fallen, along with more than 1,500 of their men. The Confederates lost 174. After this costly defeat, the Federals turned to a traditional siege of the fort.

Vicksburg and Port Hudson Surrender

Vicksburg

150 years ago today, as the Confederates were retreating after their defeat at the Battle of Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Mississippi, the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, surrendered. The Union had been attempting to capture the town for many months, and it had been under siege since May 18. U. S. Grant had made two frontal attacks on the strong fortifications soon after the siege began, but the Confederates beat them both back with heavy losses.

Abandoning charges on the works, the Federals began a conventional siege. As Grant said, “I now determined upon a regular siege—to “out-camp the enemy,” as it were, and to incur no more losses.” The Yankees dug their entrenchments closer and closer to the Confederate works spread out along the bluffs along the Mississippi River. The rebels were completely surrounded, and they could expect no supplies to arrive. Their stores were very low. They had a good amount of ammunition, but not enough food. They soldiers and civilians ate anything they could find. Mules, cats and dogs began to disappear, some men even tried to eat their leather shoes. But it wasn't enough. Before long the symptoms of malnutrition and starvation began to show themselves. By the end of June half of the Confederate soldiers were unfit for duty. One southerner wrote:

It seems wonderful that human endurance could withstand the accumulated horrors of the situation. Living on this slender allowance, fighting all day in the hot summer's sun, and at night, with pick-axe and spade, repairing the destroyed portions of the line, it passed all comprehension how men endured the trying ordeal.

The Union didn't sit passively waiting for the Confederates to surrender. They dug mines to try to blow up the Confederate works. They also kept up a bombardment on the town from their entrenchments as well as the gunboats in the river. Their shelling of the town destroyed many buildings, forcing civilians to take refuge in caves dug into the bluffs.

The Confederate government did all it could to relieve Vicksburg. Kirby Smith in the Trans-Mississippi was ordered to try to strike Grant's supply lines. One reason behind Lee's invasion that would culminate in the Battle of Gettysburg was the hope that it might convince the Federals to abandon the siege. Joseph E. Johnston was given the responsibility to try to raise the siege by force. He was forming an army that was to try to strike Grant's rear. But he believed that his forces were weak. He suggested that Pemberton try to break out and abandon the city so that they could unite their armies. But with the strong works encircling Vicksburg, that would be impossible. The Confederate government ordered Johnston to try to relieve the town no matter the odds. James Seddon, Secretary of War, wrote him:

Vicksburg must not be lost without a desperate struggle. The interest and honor of the Confederacy forbid it. I rely on you still to avert the loss. If better resources do not offer, you must hazard attack. It may be made in concert with the garrison, if practicable, but otherwise, without-by day or night, as you think best.

But Johnston disobeyed these orders, and made no serious attempt to relieve the city before the end came.

On July 3rd, his men starving, too weak to try a breakout and with no hope of relief, Pemberton sent a message to Grant asking for terms of surrender. Grant replied, as he had at Fort Donelson, that he would accept only unconditional surrender. But Pemberton refused. The Confederates had cracked the code used by the Federal troops to send messages between the gunboats and the land forces. They had read their messages that said that they would have to parole all the Confederate troops because they didn't have the transportation to take them north. Grant relented, and the surrender was finalized on July 4th, independence day. During the siege the Federals had 4,835, the Confederates 3,202, as well as 29,495 captured.

Port Hudson

As the Confederate troops were turning over their arms, many miles away Robert E. Lee's troops were retreating after having been defeated at the battle of Gettysburg. Some would say that this double defeat was the turning point of the war for. Five days later Port Hudson would fall, the Confederates were almost out of ammunition and supplies and the commander realized that if Vicksburg could not be saved, he was doomed. At one blow, the last great strongholds on the Mississippi River fell, and the greatest invasion of the north was defeated. The Confederacy's cause was beginning to appear truly dismal.

Attack on Fort Wagner

Ruins of Fort Sumter

Charleston, South Carolina was one of the most important cities of the south. A hot bed of secession fervor, it had seen the first battle of the war in the attack on Fort Sumter. 150 years ago the Union navy had decided to make the capture of the town a priority. The city and harbor had many defenses. Beside the forts which had been built by the Federal government before the war, the Confederates under the command of P. G. T. Beauregard had strengthened many works and built new ones.

General Gillmore

The Federals making the assault were under the command of Brigadier General Quincy Gillmore, commander of the Department of the South. Gillmore had experience in this area, as he had captured Fort Pulaski the year before. His plan was to begin by capturing Morris Island, and then he would place artillery there to assist the navy in bombarding Fort Sumter, which guarded the entrance to the harbor.

Union ships bombarding

The Union troops attacked the southern portions of Morris Island on July 10th. Within three hours they were able to capture most of the island and push to within 600 yards of the main fortification, Fort Wagner. Hoping to follow up on their success, the Federals advanced on Fort Wagner at daylight the next day, July 11th. As soon as they were sighted by the Confederates, they rushed forward with a shout. They pressed forward through very heavy fire from the fort. Rushing to the foot of the parapet, they tried to climb over. But the Confederate fire was too heavy, and although they bayoneted two of the fort's defenders, they were forced to fall back.

The attackers lost over 150 men, the jubilant Confederates only 12. The Yankees had been driven back for the moment, but it wouldn't be long before they made another attempt on Fort Wagner.

Attack on Port Hudson

Port Hudson

After their disastrous attack on Port Hudson, Louisiana on May 27, the Union besiegers turned to a more conventional siege. They established entrenchments and supporting artillery positions. Confederates also strengthened their defenses. They turned mortar shells into improvised land mines, which called torpedoes at the time, and placed them in front of the siege lines. Food was short, and many troops deserted to the enemy. But the commanders still held out hope of ultimate victory.

On June 1st, Nathaniel Banks, Union commander, received reinforcements in the form of nine infantry regiments. He decided to prepare for another assault, and placed 89 cannon to fire on the Confederate works. He would also have the support of the huge guns on board the USS Richmond in the river.

Garrison quarters

The guns opened fire at 11:15 am on June 13, 1863. Hoping that the Confederates would be stunned by the huge barrage of shells, Banks halted the cannonade after an hour and demanded the surrender of the garrison. Franklin Gardner, commander of the post, refused, saying, “My duty requires me to defend this position, and therefore I decline to surrender.” The Federals renewed the assault, continuing to fire throughout the night.

Mortar boat

 The attack was ordered to begin at 3:30 am on June 14, 150 years ago today. But Banks had only given the orders to that effect a few hours before, and the commanders had not prepared for a unified assault. Those troops who did get moving were disoriented by a heavy fog that blanketed the battlefield. Trying again at the same places they had attacked several weeks before, they met the same disastrous results. The Union lost 1,792 men to the Confederate's 57. Banks had proved once again that uncoordinated attacks on strong earthworks could not succeed.

Attack on Port Hudson

After surrounding the town five days before, the Union troops would assault Port Hudson on May 27, 150 years ago today. Heavy siege guns had been planed in position opposite the Confederate lines, and they opened at dawn on the day of the attack. The Confederate gunners responded, trying to disable the Union cannon. Sharpshooters joined in the fray on both sides.

As the day progressed, the infantry attack on the rebel left went forward, but the troops destined for the center and right failed to move. This assault was a disaster. The troops had to move through deep ravines and swamped, filled with thick underbrush. As the Union troops started to move up the bluff on which the Confederate rifle pits were dug, they were driven back by a heavy fire from the defenders. Some Federals ran to the rear, others found any shelter they could and clung to the ground they had won, thinking it was safer to stay than to try to make their way back to the Confederate lines.

Elsewhere on the line, Thomas Sherman finally began his assault began at 2 pm, hours late. He personally led his men forward across the open field that led to the Confederate positions. The well placed Confederate entrenchments and hidden guns opened on the Federals with a heavy fire. Sherman himself had his horse shot from under him, and then his leg was hit by a Confederate ball. The attacking regiments broke and ran, harried by canister from the concentrated southern artillery.

Well placed Confederate defenses, good use of reinforcements, and disorganization in the Union attacks had given them a clear victory. After this failed assault of Port Hudson the siege fell into trench warfare.

Mine Exploded at Vicksburg

Siege lines at Vicksburg

The Federals were not content with simply bombarding and waiting for the Confederates to surrender Vicksburg. They had been digging nine zig zag approaches to get close enough so that, with a final charge, they could get over the Confederate lines with little loss of life. They also began digging mines to try to blow up the fortifications. One was detonated 150 years ago today under the redan occupied by the 3rd Louisiana.

To dig the mine, six men would work for an hour, digging out the dirt and handing it back in bags to be taken out of the tunnel, and after working for an hour they were replaced with others to continue the work. The defenders heard the work of the diggers underground and began digging a counter mine to intercept them. They got so close that inside the mines each could hear the commands given to the other. However, they did not reach the mine in time. The mine was exploded at 2 pm on May 25th. 2,200 pounds of gunpowder blew apart the Confederate fortifications, creating a crater 40 foot wide and 12 foot deep. One Confederate soldier wrote:

A huge mass of earth suddenly, and with tremendous force and a terrific explosion, flew upwards, descending with might power upon the gallant defenders, burying numbers beneath its falling fragments, bruising and mangling them most horribly. It seemed as if all hell had suddenly yawned upon the devoted band, and vomited forth its sulphurous fire and smoke upon them.

The mine exploding

About a hundred men were killed or injured from the explosion alone. The Federals immediately opened fire on the crater and sent in infantry to attack. A Union officer wrote:

But little difficulty was experienced in entering the crater, but the moment the assaulting forces attempted to mount the artificial parapet, which had been formed by the falling debris about midway across the fort, completely commanded by the Confederate artillery and infantry in the rear, they were met by a withering fire so severe that to show a head above the crest was certain death. Two lines were formed on the slope of this parapet, the front line raising their muskets over their heads and firing at random over the crest while the rear rank was engaged in reloading. But soon the Confederates began throwing short-fused shells over the parapet, which, rolling down into the crater crowded with the soldiers of the assaulting column, caused the most fearful destruction of life ever witnessed under like circumstances. The groans of the dying and shrieks of the wounded became fearful, but bravely they stood to their work until the engineers constructed a casemate out of the heavy timbers found in the crater, and upon which the earth was thrown until it was of sufficient depth to resist the destructive effects of the exploding shells.

The Federals did not give up after this failed assault. They dug another mine and exploded it a few days later, destroying the fort even more. However, by the time preparations were completed for the assault, the siege of Vicksburg was over.

Fighting in the crater