Battle of Raymond
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Raymond was fought on May 12, 1863, near Raymond, Mississippi
Raymond, Mississippi
Raymond is a city in Hinds County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 1,664. Raymond is one of the two county seats of Hinds County and is the home of the main campus of Hinds Community College....

, during the Vicksburg Campaign
Vicksburg Campaign
The Vicksburg Campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi River. The Union Army of the Tennessee under Maj. Gen....

 of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. The bitter fight pitted elements of Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 Maj. Gen.
Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...

 Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

's Army of the Tennessee
Army of the Tennessee
The Army of the Tennessee was a Union army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, named for the Tennessee River. It should not be confused with the similarly named Army of Tennessee, a Confederate army named after the State of Tennessee....

 against Confederate
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 forces of Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton
John C. Pemberton
John Clifford Pemberton , was a career United States Army officer who fought in the Seminole Wars and with distinction during the Mexican–American War. He also served as a Confederate general during the American Civil War, noted for his defeat and surrender in the critical Siege of Vicksburg in...

's Department of the Mississippi and East Louisiana. The Confederates failed to prevent the Federal troops from reaching the Southern Railroad and isolating Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the only city in Warren County. It is located northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and due west of Jackson, the state capital. In 1900, 14,834 people lived in Vicksburg; in 1910, 20,814; in 1920,...

, from reinforcement and resupply.

During the morning of the 12th, the Confederates enjoyed a two-to-one advantage in numbers, as they faced off across Fourteen Mile Creek against a single Federal brigade. However, as morning turned to noon and the Confederates waited in ambush, the remainder of the Federal division secretly deployed into the fields beside the brigade, giving the Union troops a three to one advantage in numbers and a seven to one advantage in artillery. The ranking Confederate officer, Brig. Gen. John Gregg
John Gregg (CSA)
John Gregg was an American judge, politician, and general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He was killed in action during the Siege of Petersburg.-Early life and career:...

, attempted to achieve tactical surprise and rout the Federal force as it crossed the creek, but he was in turn tactically surprised and routed from the field by the Union XVII Corps under the command of Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson
James B. McPherson
James Birdseye McPherson was a career United States Army officer who served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War...

. The Union casualties at Raymond were 68 killed, 341 wounded, and 37 missing. The Confederate casualties were nearly double: 100 killed, 305 wounded, and 415 captured.

The small battle had an inordinately large impact on the Vicksburg Campaign. Union interdiction of the railroad interrupted Pemberton's attempt to further consolidate his forces and prevented him from linking up with his commanding officer, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston
Joseph E. Johnston
Joseph Eggleston Johnston was a career U.S. Army officer, serving with distinction in the Mexican-American War and Seminole Wars, and was also one of the most senior general officers in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War...

. As a result, Pemberton was limited to three options: abandon Vicksburg
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the only city in Warren County. It is located northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and due west of Jackson, the state capital. In 1900, 14,834 people lived in Vicksburg; in 1910, 20,814; in 1920,...

, withdraw into the city and accept a siege
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...

, or fight a meeting engagement
Meeting engagement
A meeting engagement, a term used in warfare, is a combat action that occurs when a moving force, incompletely deployed for battle, engages an enemy at an unexpected time and place.-Description:...

 against a superior force. Facing conflicting orders from his superiors and open insurrection from his subordinates, Pemberton would be forced into the latter choice on May 16, 1863, at the Battle of Champion Hill
Battle of Champion Hill
The Battle of Champion Hill, or Bakers Creek, fought May 16, 1863, was the pivotal battle in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. Union commander Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and the Army of the Tennessee pursued the retreating Confederate Lt. Gen. John C...

.

Preparations for battle

As part of Pemberton's plan to hold Grant's army in check along a broad front roughly delineated by Fourteen Mile Creek, Pemberton ordered all reinforcements arriving in Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...

, to march to Raymond, 20 miles (30 km) to the southeast. There they would form the left wing of a force superior in size to the Federal army. In Raymond, arriving reinforcements would be supported by Wirt Adams's Cavalry Regiment, which was scouting the roads for indications of a Federal movement towards Jackson. Adams had been ordered by Pemberton to leave his regiment in Raymond and ride to Edwards, Mississippi
Edwards, Mississippi
Edwards is a town in Hinds County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,347 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

, 15 miles (24 km) away to organize the assorted cavalry attached to the Confederate main body. However, Adams elected to obey a subsequent order from Confederate Maj. Gen. John S. Bowen
John S. Bowen
John Stevens Bowen was a career United States Army officer and a general in the Confederate States Army, a commander in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. He is often said to have died just as his abilities were gaining attention.-Early life:Bowen was born in Bowen's Creek, Georgia...

 instructing him to bring his whole force to Edwards.

The Confederate infantry making its way to Raymond by way of the rail and road included Gregg's and Maxey's overstrength brigades from Port Hudson, Louisiana, and William H.T. Walker's and States Rights Gist
States Rights Gist
States Rights Gist was a lawyer, a militia general in South Carolina, and a Confederate Army brigadier general who served during the American Civil War. A relative of several prominent South Carolinians, Gist rose to fame during the war but was killed before its end at the Battle of Franklin on...

's brigades from the east. Complicating the journey, however, was Grierson's Raid
Grierson's Raid
Grierson's Raid was a Union cavalry raid during the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. It ran from April 17 to May 2, 1863, as a diversion from Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's main attack plan on Vicksburg, Mississippi....

, which rendered unusable portions of the railroad east of Jackson and about 50 miles (80 km) of track south of Brookhaven, Mississippi
Brookhaven, Mississippi
Brookhaven is a small city in Lincoln County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 9,861 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lincoln County...

. Gregg's men consequently marched all but 85 miles (137 km) of the 200 mile (300 km) journey from Port Hudson to Jackson, arriving on May 9. A second cavalry raid, launched by Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson
James B. McPherson
James Birdseye McPherson was a career United States Army officer who served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War...

, cut the railroad just north of Brookhaven, trapping the cars of the Jackson & New Orleans Railroad with General Maxey's brigade too far south to assist in the ensuing battle.

After being granted a day of rest on the Pearl River just north of Jackson, Gregg received orders to march to Raymond at first light on May 11. Subsequently, Gregg's brigade arrived in Raymond late in the afternoon, and "dropped to rest as soon as halted." The rest would prove to be a short one. Rather than finding Wirt Adams's cavalry regiment guarding the roads into town, Gregg found the network of roads posted by a five-man detachment of Confederate cavalry and a company
Company (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...

 of state cavalry. Gregg was forced to picket the roads out of town with his weary infantry.

Unbeknownst to anyone in the Confederate army, McPherson's men of the XVII Corps
XVII Corps (ACW)
XVII Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was organized December 18, 1862 as part of Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Tennessee. It was most notably commanded by Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson and Maj. Gen. Francis P. Blair II, and served in the Western...

 were lurking near Utica, Mississippi
Utica, Mississippi
Utica is a town in Hinds County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 966 at the 2000 census. It is the location of the URJ Henry S...

, maintaining strict drum and bugle silence and a strong cavalry screen. The two divisions had been inching along the parched ridge road between Utica and Raymond for two days, struggling to maintain proximity to a water source, while the remainder of Grant's army probed north towards the railroad. Having uncovered Pemberton's main body, Grant ordered McPherson to move his two divisions 10 miles (16.1 km) into Raymond by mid-day May 12. Rising before daylight, Federal cavalry screening General John Logan's Third Division triggered the alarum from the state cavalry posted on the Utica road almost immediately.

Because the roads had not been properly posted, news of the arrival of thousands of Confederate troops in Raymond had spread. Having discovered from the locals that a large Confederate force was waiting just up the road, Logan attempted to deploy the 20th Ohio Infantry
20th Ohio Infantry
The 20th Ohio Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Three-months regiment:...

 into a broad skirmish line and march nearly a mile through the almost impassable tangles. After an hour of stops and starts to straighten the line, and "a great expense of time, breath and strong language," Logan ordered the skirmish line shortened. Around 10 a.m., Logan's second brigade emerged into a small field that bordered Fourteen Mile Creek.

Word had reached Gregg that the Federal main body was due south of Edwards, so he estimated that this body of troops must be a raiding party. To much fanfare, he marched his men through the streets of Raymond to meet the threat. Arriving on the hills overlooking Fourteen Mile Creek, he ordered his troops to conceal themselves, then asked Col. Hiram Granbury, commander of the veteran 7th Texas Infantry Regiment, if any volunteers for dangerous duty would step forward. Of those who stepped forward, Granbury selected 35 to picket the bridge over the creek. Gregg's plan appears to have been to lure the raiding party into making a rash charge over the bridge to save it from being burned. Once the Federal force was on the Confederate side of the bridge, Gregg's 3,000 men, bolstered by local volunteers, would erupt from their hiding places and drive the Union force into the creek bed where they would be pinned for the slaughter.

Gregg watched with anticipation as the Federal skirmish line crossed the field and engaged his pickets. Anticipation turned to surprise, however, when at 10 o'clock the skirmishers halted in the tree line and called up DeGolyer's 8th Michigan Battery Light Artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

 to clear the bridge with a few rounds of canister shot
Canister shot
Canister shot is a kind of anti-personnel ammunition used in cannons. It was similar to the naval grapeshot, but fired smaller and more numerous balls, which did not have to punch through the wooden hull of a ship...

. The presence of artillery could only mean one thing: the force occupying the field before him was no mere raiding party, but at least a full Federal brigade. Gregg remained undaunted, and merely altered his plan for attack. His main body would shift to the left, leaving the fields that were now threatened by the federal artillery a mere 500 yards (500 m) away for the safety of the hills above Fourteen Mile Creek. Two large regiments of infantry would launch the ambush when the Federal brigade crossed the creek, while two more large regiments would slip silently through the woods into the rear of the Federal line, capturing the artillery battery
Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...

 and trapping the Union troops in the bed of Fourteen Mile Creek, where they would be forced to surrender. In the heat of preparation, Gregg forgot to inform Pemberton of these plans.

Pemberton's plan had been to allow Grant to dictate the focus of the Federal attack. Grant could turn east and attack Raymond, or turn west and attack Edwards. In doing so, Grant's vulnerable rear would be open to attack by whichever force was not engaged. Pemberton had explicitly ordered Gregg not to bring on a general engagement with a larger force, but to withdraw to Jackson in the face of overwhelming odds while Pemberton dealt the Federal army a heavy blow from behind. Technically, Gregg did not feel he was violating that order, because the over-strength Confederate brigade of 3,000 men, bolstered as it was by hundreds of local volunteers and expecting reinforcements soon, outnumbered the average federal brigade by over 2-to-1 odds. What Gregg could not see, because McPherson was orchestrating his own ambush, was the entire Third Division of McPherson's Corps silently deploying into the field beside the Second Brigade.

Knowing that the woods ahead hid a large Confederate force, McPherson began to suspect an ambush. After having his men stack arms, eat lunch, and rest for the fight ahead, he deployed a brigade to the rear for reserves, and posted his left flank with cavalry and his right flank with the 31st Illinois Infantry Regiment and additional cavalry. The men were just wrapping up lunch when an artillery duel opened up between the Union artillery near Fourteen Mile Creek and Gregg's artillery, which had been called forward by General Gregg to a hilltop 700 yards (600 m) distant. Around noon, McPherson ordered Logan forward.

Chaos and irony

The men of the First and Third Brigades faced the same challenge faced by Second Brigade earlier in the day. The vines in this area hung like ropes between the trees, and some of them boasted thorns three inches (76 mm) long. Additionally, though Fourteen Mile Creek was just inches deep, the nearly vertical banks rose over 10 feet (3 m) above the creek bed in places. To compound the command problems created by the terrain, McPherson's men were operating under drum and bugle silence and orders had to be delivered by courier, causing the line to lurch forward unevenly. The men of the 23rd Indiana Infantry Regiment experienced what must have seemed like a stroke of luck at the time—because of a turn in the creek, their right flank rested very near the creek. With a little effort, the unit was across the creek and standing in formation. In order to close the gap created by the march, the unit quick-stepped back the other direction looking for the rest of the brigade, and stumbled sideways into the jaws of the Confederate trap. The only thing that saved the 23rd Indiana Infantry from wholesale slaughter was the fact that the Confederates had never been issued bayonet
Bayonet
A bayonet is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit in, on, over or underneath the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar weapon, effectively turning the gun into a spear...

s.

Col.
Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...

 Manning Force
Manning Force
Manning Ferguson Force was a lawyer, judge and soldier from Ohio. He became known as the commander of the 20th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and was a recipient of the Army Medal of Honor for gallantry in action.-Early life and career:Manning F...

, the commander of the 20th Ohio Infantry Regiment, heard the rebel yell
Rebel yell
The rebel yell was a battle cry used by Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War. Confederate soldiers would use the yell during charges to intimidate the enemy and boost their own morale, although the yell had other uses. The exact sound of the yell is unknown and the subject of much...

, followed by the sounds of musketry, and panicked. He ordered his regiment to charge, running through the nearly impassable tangle and then leaping into the creek bed. There his men must have been stricken with horror at their mistake—the rest of the division was holding its ground to the rear, and the walls of the creek were too steep to either move forwards or retreat. Luckily the creek made a turn here, and the soldiers utilized it as a bunker as they traded blows with the right battalion of the 7th Texas Infantry, the ends of the Texans' rifles discharging just inches away as the Confederates utilized the other side of the creek bed in the same manner. Force crawled out of the creek bed with difficulty and sought help from the rest of the division, begging Colonel Richards of the 20th Illinois Volunteer Infantry regiment to move forward and connect the Federal line.

The left battalion of the 7th Texas Infantry, and the 3rd Tennessee Infantry, wild with their easy victory over the 23rd Indiana Infantry, had pushed across the creek and past the 20th Ohio in a wave, encountering the Union battle line still standing in the woods. For a few minutes, the Union line and Confederate line stood obscured in the thick woods and smoke and killed each other at short range, "both lines [standing] equally firm; both equally determined as a couple of bulldogs engaged in a death struggle". Just after Force returned to the creek bed, the Federal line was ordered to leave the woods for the safety of the fence line, allowing the Union commanders to sort out what had happened. In executing this movement, Colonel Richards was lost, and with him Manning Force's desperate plea for assistance. The Confederates, perceiving that the Federals were withdrawing, imagined that the Federal line was being forced back. The rebels pushed forward with vigor, only to be ripped apart by a volley from federal troops now hiding behind the fence. Aggravating the situation for the Confederates was the fact that the 31st Illinois, hearing the fighting erupt behind them, had merely to about-face from their position on the Union right flank, and step forward in line a few yards before they were in firing position to enfilade the line of the 3rd Tennessee Infantry.

On the Confederate extreme flank, two Confederate regiments were sneaking forward in complete silence, ready to stream into the field in the federal rear and seal the trap. Skirmishers of the leading regiment chased off the cavalry pickets with a few ill-aimed shots. In the field behind the federal army, General Logan must have been near panic. The cavalry protecting his right flank was scrambling from the woods, his rightmost infantry regiment was nowhere to be seen, and what was left of the next regiment in line had emerged from the woods in disorganized groups of three and four, and was attempting in vain to regroup. Normally calm in battle, Logan was noted to be riding behind the lines screeching like an eagle for his troops to plug the perceived gaps. He pulled the 8th Illinois and the 81st Illinois out of line, sending the former to the left where the 23rd Indiana was reforming, and the latter to the right where the 23rd Indiana should have been, and then sent the remaining two regiments of his reserve to probe for the force that had scattered his cavalry picket.

The commander of the Confederate flanking force emerged from the woods ahead of his skirmishers, and his heart sank. To his right, a line of blue stretched as far as he could see. To the left, he could hear Logan's two reserve regiments moving past his flank. General Gregg had made a grave miscalculation. The federal infantry brigade he had been ordered to rout from the field had somehow turned into an entire federal division. The Confederate force withdrew with haste, and for a moment was too stunned to do anything but stand in formation waiting for orders.

At this point, McPherson sent a note back to Grant stating that he had been engaged with a Confederate force of about 1,000 men for two hours and was about to get the upper hand. This was an incredibly accurate statement. So far, the Confederates had only managed to commit the 7th Texas and 3rd Tennessee Infantry Regiments, just under 1,000 men in total. Strangely enough, the Confederates engaged now found themselves caught in the same trap that they had planned for the Federals: they had been lured in a disorganized mass across a nearly impassable creek, and now faced the danger of being driven into the creek and slaughtered. The enfilading fire on the 3rd Tennessee began to take its toll, and the Confederate left flank crumbled. Col. Hiram Granbury of the 7th Texas decided to order a withdrawal, then had second thoughts and sent a courier to his right battalion with a message to rescind the order. A timely bullet killed the courier before he could deliver the message, meaning that for a few valuable minutes five companies of the 7th Texas regiment were holding back an entire Federal army division. This allowed hundreds of Confederates to withdraw safely across the creek. A final push by the fresh 8th Illinois Infantry regiment finally broke the 7th Texas. A proud veteran regiment that had once boasted that it had never been broken in battle was now reduced to fleeing for its life in scattered groups, with hundreds of Federals in pursuit.

Confederate fight for survival

Colonel Randal McGavock, 10th Tennessee Infantry, the commander of the 10th/30th Consolidated Tennessee Infantry Regiment, having assumed command of the flanking force, sent a courier to find General Gregg. The courier returned, not with orders from General Gregg, but with news that the Confederate center had been routed. In a panic, McGavock ordered his regiment to the center without pausing to issue orders to the other regiment on the Confederate left flank. Marching double time by the right flank back to the position he had occupied earlier that morning, McGavock emerged from the woods in time to see scattered groups of Confederates being pursued by a wave of blue. Before all his troops had even emerged from the woods, McGavock ordered an oblique charge across the field into the midst of the blue mass. Unfortunately for McGavock, the field across which he had ordered the charge was now enfiladed by the 31st Illinois, lying hidden in the edge of the woods along the creek. In a dramatic flourish, McGavock threw back his cape, exposing the red liner and inspiring his men as he led the attack. The Illini "opened fire as if by file" as the Tennesseans charged across the field in their front, successfully forcing the pursuing federals to return to the shelter of the creek. The success came at a cost: the 10th/30th Tennessee suffered a majority of its 88 reported casualties in this action. Included in this number was McGavock himself, whose red cape had served as a fine target. The seven companies that had arrived in time to participate now withdrew, loading and firing the entire time, up the hill to safety. Here, Lt. Colonel Turner positioned the unit to sweep the field below, where the men began firing away at the federals from the safety of a shallow ravine that ran along the hilltop. Helping stem the Federal tide was the arrival of Gregg's reserve—the 41st Tennessee Infantry regiment—and the fact that the hill had become a rallying point for remnants of other units, most notably the right battalion of the 7th Texas Infantry.

At this point, the battle devolved into a contest of sniping, as the Federal commanders attempted to reform the men into organized units in the difficult tangle while suppressing the fire from the hill top. Gregg, meanwhile, found himself scrambling to provide enough time to allow the routed units to reform for the retreat. The 1st Tennessee Infantry Battalion spent the afternoon feinting in various directions, and suffered heavy casualties for its efforts. The 50th Tennessee, having grown tired of standing around waiting for orders from McGavock, traversed the battlefield from left to right in order to check a Federal movement on the right flank, while the 41st Tennessee traversed the battlefield from right to left, passing the 50th Tennessee, to check a threat to the left flank.

Eventually, McPherson began to extend his right flank beyond the Confederate hilltop. The position having been turned and his routed units reasonably reformed, Gregg ordered a withdrawal through Raymond towards Jackson. Here, the Federal artillery finally made its mark in the battle, pounding the Confederate ranks as Gregg continued the delaying action to allow his battered units to withdraw. As his disorganized force came scrambling over fences and through yards in Raymond, they were met by the 3rd Kentucky Mounted Infantry and 800 cavalry under the command of Wirt Adams, the leading elements of reinforcements headed to Raymond from all over the Confederacy. Help had arrived too late to do anything but provide cavalry rear guard protection to General Gregg's spent force.

Aftermath

The Union casualties at Raymond consisted of 68 killed, 341 wounded, and 37 missing. The Confederate casualties were nearly double: 100 killed, 305 wounded, and 415 captured. Indicative of the number of locals and state troops who answered Jefferson Davis' desperate request to the Mississippi governor for help turning back Grant is the fact that the Union Army buried and captured more Confederates at Raymond than the number of casualties reported by General Gregg, total (500). Many of the Confederate dead were interred in the Confederate Cemetery at Raymond, Mississippi
Raymond, Mississippi
Raymond is a city in Hinds County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 1,664. Raymond is one of the two county seats of Hinds County and is the home of the main campus of Hinds Community College....

, by the townspeople.

Grant's plan had been to lure Pemberton into splitting his force, allowing the Confederate army to be defeated in detail. News that Pemberton's left wing had retreated to the rail center at Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...

, where it was receiving reinforcements from across the Confederacy, led Grant to change his plan of attack. Whereas initially he had planned to detach McPherson's two divisions to destroy Jackson, Grant now planned a full scale assault on the Mississippi capital. This led to the Battle of Jackson
Battle of Jackson (MS)
The Battle of Jackson, fought on May 14, 1863, in Jackson, Mississippi, was part of the Vicksburg Campaign in the American Civil War. Union commander Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and the Army of the Tennessee defeated Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston, seizing the city, cutting supply lines, and...

 on May 14, 1863, which was essentially a rear-guard action for the suddenly timorous Joseph E. Johnston. The threat of Confederate reinforcement having been eliminated, Grant turned and defeated Pemberton at the Battle of Champion Hill
Battle of Champion Hill
The Battle of Champion Hill, or Bakers Creek, fought May 16, 1863, was the pivotal battle in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. Union commander Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and the Army of the Tennessee pursued the retreating Confederate Lt. Gen. John C...

 on May 16, and the Battle of Big Black River Bridge
Battle of Big Black River Bridge
The Battle of Big Black River Bridge, or Big Black, fought May 17, 1863, was part of the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. Union commander Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and the Army of the Tennessee pursued the retreating Confederate Lt. Gen. John C...

 on May 17. Pemberton, his army all but shattered, retreated into Fortress Vicksburg, where his men rallied to thwart two Federal assaults, but finally accepted the inevitable and surrendered on July 4, 1863.

Battlefield preservation

Although the Raymond battlefield remained nearly unchanged for over a century, commercial and residential development along Mississippi Highway 18 vaulted Raymond onto the Civil War Preservation Trust
Civil War Preservation Trust
The Civil War Trust is a charitable organization whose primary focus is in the preservation of American Civil War battlefields. The Civil War Trust also promotes educational programs and heritage tourism initiatives to inform the public of the war's history and the fundamental conflicts that...

's list of the Top Ten Endangered Civil War Battlefields for 2005.

In 1998, in response to the planned conversion of pasture land into a strip mall fronting the highway, a group of concerned citizens formed the Friends of Raymond to promote the preservation of the land comprising the Raymond battlefield. The organization initially purchased the 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) which was to host the commercial development, and additional non-contiguous areas have been added since. A battlefield park has been constructed on the north side of Highway 18, featuring a walking trail, several cannon, and planned interpretive markers. Unfortunately, the field which saw Gregg's 3rd Tennessee and 7th Texas mauled by Logan's Division is still under threat by an owner who is not friendly to battlefield preservation and interpretation.

Further reading

  • Barber, Flavell C., and Ferrell, Robert H., Holding the Line: The Third Tennessee Infantry 1861-1864, Kent State University Press, 1994, ISBN 978-0873385046.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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