VICKSBURG Chapter Seventy - Nine

 

Because of his experience in newspapers and his age, 26 year old Sergeant William Henry Tunard of company “K” of the Pelican Rifles, was transferred “to the commissary department...” William now helped to feed and arm his 3^rd Louisiana regiment. But his other job was to keep the regimental diary. And in that capacity, on Monday, 8 June, 1863, in the trenches outside of Vicksburg, William noted,

“ The enemy's lines were slowly but surely approaching nearer to our own breastworks, and the struggle was daily becoming more fierce and deadly.” Four days later, the last rations of  meat were officially issued to the troops.

William Tunard (above) had been born in New Jersey in March of 1837, but was raised in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, where the Crane and Red rivers came closest to joining. It was a place where slaves outnumbered whites, 9,000 to 6,000. While the Tunards were not slave owners, William noted the regiment had been formed, "...numbering 1,085 men,” who were. “...young men, with the glow of health upon their features and the fire of a patriotic devotion and enthusiasm sparkling in their clear eyes; men who went forth actuated by a firm conviction of right, earnest adherents to principle...” The principle being defending human slavery.

On the 28^th day of the siege, Sunday, 14 June, William noted the weather was clear and warm, and the assault of lead “...continued unabated.” On a positive note, he added, “A courier reached the city with a large supply of percussion caps.” However, “The enemy were daily reinforcing their already tremendous army...” Then he ominously added, “They needed but to wait...” In a more typical event, “...William McGuinness, (of) company A....was shot through the right eye as he was looking...to observe the effect of his shooting....McGuinness recovered but lost his eyesight and a piece of the bone from the side of his face....”

In August of 1861, Sergeant Tunard had fought at Wilson's Creek, Missouri, and at Pea Ridge, Arkansas in March of 1862 – by which time sickness and causalities had reduced the regiment to 271 officers and men. Then in May came the First Battle of Corinth, Mississippi. That September, the regiment suffered 100 casualties blunting a Yankee attack at Iuka, Mississippi. Then in October the 3^rd  regiment were again thrown against Corinth, in a bloody 2 day offensive which, again, failed. The 3^rd was then pulled back to defend against Grant's moves against the northern approaches to Vicksburg. They ended up guarding the key ground at Snyder's Bluff. It was the 3^rd Louisiana which had been ordered to withdraw on 17 May, allowing the Yankee cavalry to capture the place without a fight

On Monday, 15 June, William noted the day was “...cloudy and threatened rain. The firing was very rapid and shot and shells flew into and over the place in every direction...the close of the day threatened rain...” However, the following morning, Tuesday, 16 June, “Dawned pleasant, light summer clouds...the firing continued all night...The place, as usual, was filled with rumors of succor. The rations furnished the men were...sufficient to keep away actual starvation, but not to satisfy the voracious appetites of the soldiers.”

The 3^rd Louisiana's new position was near the center of the Vicksburg line along the Jackson Road. Under Major David Pierson, they were defending a well constructed triangular redan, which had allowed them to easily reject the Yankee assault on 22 May. 

With their confidence boosted, the following day, each member of the regiment received a brand new weapon – the British made Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle, a 577 caliber muzzle loading rifled musket. They weighed 9 ½ pounds each and were 55 inches long.

And each came with a 20 inch ring bayonet, a weapon confederate soldiers did not always have. Their equally new Ely of Birmingham ammunition used 70 grains of finely ground black powder to send a minnie' ball out the barrel at 900 feet per second. Confederate ammunition was rarely as consistently reliable. And instead of turning in their old muskets, the rebels loaded them with buckshot, for close-in fighting in the redan.

On Wednesday, 17 June William recorded that the morning was cloudy “...but did not indicate rain...The enemy's lines were now so near, that scraps of paper could be thrown by the combatants into each other's ranks. Thus, a Yankee threw a "hard-tack" biscuit among the men of the regiment, having written on it "starvation.....". 

Thursday, 18 June was “Cloudy and warm.” The only notable event, besides the constant sniping and shelling was that “...The Vicksburg Wig published an extra, containing a few items regarding the siege of Port Hudson.” They were mostly wishful rumors. Friday 19 June was “Clear and warm. The firing was comparatively light.” But more important, rations were issued to the men – a quarter pound of flour, a quarter pound of rice, and a quarter pound of the dreaded peas. There was also a small portion of some thing called “rice sugar and salt”, and a quarter pound of “Tobacco and bacon.”.

During those long, boring and dangerous June days and nights, William recorded that a Missourian nicknamed “Shanghai” began conversing with the Yankees a few yards away, and discovered relatives in the enemy camp. Eventually they tendered an invitation to dinner. According to Tunard, “He was cordially welcomed, and all the delicacies...which the Federals possessed in such profusion, were furnished him. After a feast, accompanied with a sociable chat and several drinks, he was permitted to return, very favorably impressed with the generosity of the Yankees.” Come morning they went back to methodically killing each other.

At dawn of the thirty-third day of the siege, Saturday, 20 June, 1863, Sergeant Tunard reported that every Yankee gun “...along the line suddenly opened, keeping up a rapid and continuous fire. All concurred in the opinion that such a tremendous cannonading had never been equaled in their experience, and the volume of sound surpassed anything yet heard. It seemed as if heaven and earth trembled under the heavy concussion.” The purpose of the sudden bombardment seemed unclear, but the soldiers of the 3^rd Louisiana eventually assumed it had been made to mask the tunneling which had just begun beneath their redan.

After weeks of watching the relentless advance of the Yankee zig – zag sap lines crawling toward their secure fort, the boys from Louisiana began hearing the disconcerting muffled thumps of picks and shovels, an indistinct grumbling and grunting percolating up from the ground beneath their feet. It was like hearing the Yankee devils digging rebel graves. Most times the sounds were so faint you could doubt your own senses. But then would come the sharp clink of metal and the panic would seize your soul. Then the sound would fade again. A man could easily imagine the gates of Hades were about to swing open and swallow him whole. It was enough to drain the courage out of brave men. And it did.

Under Major Pierson's direction, the Louisiana boys began strengthening the trenches at the rear of the fort, and moving artillery into that position.  The rebels also tried sinking counter tunnels. But they never seemed to come close to the sounds. Then on Friday morning, 25 June, the muted efforts abruptly ceased. The sudden silence was ominous. And hour later Major Pierson ordered most of the regiment back to the trenches. And those left behind in the fort, dug in as deep as they dared, and waited.

                                   - 30 -

VICKSBURG Chapter Fifty - Nine

 

Less than an hour into Wednesday, 20 May, 1863, the city of Vicksburg was rocked by a stomach churning thud, originating from the river at its feet.  Explained the diary of the 3^rd Louisiana regiment, “A huge iron-clad approached from below, and commenced a furious bombardment of the city, which was rapidly responded to by our heavy batteries...The hoarse bellowing of the mortars, the sharp report of rifled artillery, the scream and explosion of every variety of deadly missiles, intermingled with the incessant, sharp reports of small-arms...” And thus began the final siege of Vicksburg.

As the sun finally rose that Wednesday, 48 year old Lieutenant General John Clifford Pemberton commanded just under 20,000 men, 72 heavy guns and 103 field cannon stretched in an 8 mile “D” around the city   The military adage that the defense multiplied defender forces by 3, which, according to the text books meant that Pemberton's 20,000 men should withstand 60,000 attackers. And for the previous six months, the spade and the engineer's diligence had struggled to reinforce that adage.

The river batteries formed the backbone of the “D”, from South Fort rising above Stout's Bayou to the Hill Fort, frowning down upon the DeSoto bend of the Mississippi river – 

From south to north, there was The South Fort (above)...

and The Widow Blakely Battery (above), whose cannon was known as "Whistling Dick".  The Marine Hospital Battery, The Brooke Battery, The Railroad Battery, The Depot Battery and the Whig Office Battery,...

...then across the Glass Bayou to Wyman's Hill Battery (above)...

...and Batteries 4 through 7, then up to the Hill Fort (above). Together these contained 37 heavy guns and 13 field cannon, manned by some 3,500 men.

That left the 6 ½ mile long landward defensive line, with 1 infantryman for every 2 feet of trench. Their weapon was the rifled muskets, with a truly effective range of 150 yards and an effective rate of fire of 3 rounds per minute. Pemberton's artillery on the land side consisted of 35 heavy guns and 90 cannon in earthen redans (V-shaped forts) and redoubts (French for 'a place of retreat'), averaging one cannon for every 250 yards, with a safe rate of fire of 1 round per minute. But the design of these fortifications had been developed over a thousand years to concentrate the defenders and cannon at critical points.

All trees up to 300 yards beyond the defenses were clear cut to provide a an unimpeded field of fire. That wood was then used in the three medieval defensive lines. First a 10 foot deep ditch was excavated, in the north above The Military Road, running ¾ of a mile eastward from the Hill Fort. Any attacker would find themselves forced into this depression directly in front of the defending gunners. 

In the trenches interior wall,  abatis were half buried – a felled tree or bush with the branches facing the attacker, or man made Cheval de Fris  (above),  to slow and disrupt an attacker.  Dirt scooped from the trench was used to raise the steep rampart walls of the second and primary defense positions - a broken line of lunettes and redans, on high ground above the terminations of the numerous gullies which steams had carved through the Vicksburg loam. 

In architecture, a lunette (rights) – French for little noon – is the recessed arch above a doorway. In fortifications it is a similarly shaped defense position with an open rear. A redan (center)  is generally larger, some at Vicksburg had  20 foot thick earthen walls, and a single “V” rampart thrusting toward the attackers. The rear of all these positions were open except the 4 walled "Redoubt".

The objective is to force the attacker to either smash their strength against a single high point, or flow around the obstruction, dissipating their strength and offering their flanks at close range to the defending marksmen inside the fort. Should the enemy attack the undefended rear, he would then present their own rear to a counter attack from troops in the third line of trenches.

The top of the “D” was the Stockade Redan, at the eastern end of the northern line, so named because a Poplar tree stockade wall which stood across the junction of the Military and the Graveyard Roads. Defending the Stockade Redan was the 27^th Louisiana and 36^th Mississippi Infantry regiments, with three Missouri regiments in reserve, behind in a 7 foot deep trench line.

South of this stood Green's Redan defended by the 37^th Mississippi Infantry, with the 26^th Louisiana Infantry in reserve. A quarter mile further south was the 3^rd Louisiana Redan, and then The Great Redoubt, so called because it was the largest fort in the Confederate line , with four rectangular earthen walls.

South of the Great Redoubt the ground in front of the line was too broken support an attack, so there was only the a mile long ditch with abatis and manned trenches behind.  But then came the 2^nd Texas Lunette and the Railroad Redan (above), named because the South Railroad ran through the gully, along with Potter's Chapel Road.

A quarter mile south west, as the “D” began to angle back toward its base, was The Square Fort, later named Fort Garrott after its namesake, 36 year old Colonel Isham Warren Garrott from the 20^th Alabama regiment. Garrott was cut down by a sniper's bullet during the siege. A half mile further southwest, guarding the ravine where Hall's Ferry Road left Vicksburg, was the Salient Redan. The steep ravine carved by Stout's Bayou, as well as broken ground and lack of roads over the next 1 and ¾ miles made this section unsuitable for either an attack or defense. But the Vicksburg defenses were tied down with the powerful South Fort, guarding the Warrenton Road.

With the arrival of dawn, Wednesday, 20 May, Grant's artillery joined the bombardment from the river. According to the 3^rd Louisiana diary, “The place was a perfect pandemonium...The hoarse bellowing of the mortars, the sharp report of rifled artillery, the scream and explosion of every variety of deadly missiles, intermingled with the incessant, sharp reports of small-arms, made up a combination of sounds not such as described by the poet as being a " sweet concord."

There was much more to come.  And much worse.

- 30 -

VICKSBURG Chapter Seventy-Seven

Because of his experience in newspapers and his age, 26 year old Sergeant William Henry Tunard of company “K” of the Pelican Rifles, was transferred “to the commissary department...” William now helped to feed and arm his 3^rd Louisiana regiment. But his other job was to keep the regimental diary. And in that capacity, on Monday, 8 June, 1863, in the trenches outside of Vicksburg, William noted,

“ The enemy's lines were slowly but surely approaching nearer to our own breastworks, and the struggle was daily becoming more fierce and deadly.” Four days later, the last rations of  meat were officially issued to the troops.

William Tunard (above) had been born in New Jersey in March of 1837, but was raised in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, where the Crane and Red rivers came closest to joining. It was a place where slaves outnumbered whites, 9,000 to 6,000. While the Tunards were not slave owners, William noted the regiment had been formed, "...numbering 1,085 men,” who were. “...young men, with the glow of health upon their features and the fire of a patriotic devotion and enthusiasm sparkling in their clear eyes; men who went forth actuated by a firm conviction of right, earnest adherents to principle...” The principle being defending human slavery.

On the 28^th day of the siege, Sunday, 14 June, William noted the weather was clear and warm, and the assault of lead “...continued unabated.” On a positive note, he added, “A courier reached the city with a large supply of percussion caps.” However, “The enemy were daily reinforcing their already tremendous army...” Then he ominously added, “They needed but to wait...” In a more typical event, “...William McGuinness, (of) company A....was shot through the right eye as he was looking...to observe the effect of his shooting....McGuinness recovered but lost his eyesight and a piece of the bone from the side of his face....”

In August of 1861, Sergeant Tunard had fought at Wilson's Creek, Missouri, and at Pea Ridge, Arkansas in March of 1862 – by which time sickness and causalities had reduced the regiment to 271 officers and men. Then in May came the First Battle of Corinth, Mississippi. That September, the regiment suffered 100 casualties blunting a Yankee attack at Iuka, Mississippi. Then in October the 3^rd were again thrown against Corinth, in a bloody 2 day offensive which, again, failed. The 3^rd was then pulled back to defend against Grant's moves against the northern approaches to Vicksburg. They ended up guarding the key ground at Snyder's Bluff. It was the 3^rd Louisiana which had been ordered to withdraw on 17 May, allowing the Yankee cavalry to capture the place without a fight

On Monday, 15 June, William noted the day was “...cloudy and threatened rain. The firing was very rapid and shot and shells flew into and over the place in every direction...the close of the day threatened rain...” However, the following morning, Tuesday, 16 June, “Dawned pleasant, light summer clouds...the firing continued all night...The place, as usual, was filled with rumors of succor. The rations furnished the men were...sufficient to keep away actual starvation, but not to satisfy the voracious appetites of the soldiers.”

The 3^rd Louisiana's new position was near the center of the Vicksburg line along the Jackson Road. Under Major David Pierson, they were defending a well constructed triangular redan, which had allowed them to easily reject the Yankee assault on 22 May. 

With their confidence boosted, the following day, each member of the regiment received a brand new weapon – the British made Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle, a 577 caliber muzzle loading rifled musket. They weighed 9 ½ pounds each and were 55 inches long.

And each came with a 20 inch ring bayonet, a weapon confederate soldiers did not always have. Their equally new Ely of Birmingham ammunition used 70 grains of finely ground black powder to send a minnie' ball out the barrel at 900 feet per second. Confederate ammunition was rarely as consistently reliable. And instead of turning in their old muskets, the rebels loaded them with buckshot, for close-in fighting in the redan.

On Wednesday, 17 June William recorded that the morning was cloudy “...but did not indicate rain...The enemy's lines were now so near, that scraps of paper could be thrown by the combatants into each other's ranks. Thus, a Yankee threw a "hard-tack" biscuit among the men of the regiment, having written on it "starvation.....". 

Thursday, 18 June was “Cloudy and warm.” The only notable event, besides the constant sniping and shelling was that “...The Vicksburg Wig published an extra, containing a few items regarding the siege of Port Hudson.” They were mostly wishful rumors. Friday 19 June was “Clear and warm. The firing was comparatively light.” But more important, rations were issued to the men – a quarter pound of flour, a quarter pound of rice, and a quarter pound of the dreaded peas. There was also a small portion of some thing called “rice sugar and salt”, and a quarter pound of “Tobacco and bacon.”.

During those long, boring and dangerous June days and nights, William recorded that a Missourian nicknamed “Shanghai” began conversing with the Yankees a few yards away, and discovered relatives in the enemy camp. Eventually they tendered an invitation to dinner. According to Tunard, “He was cordially welcomed, and all the delicacies...which the Federals possessed in such profusion, were furnished him. After a feast, accompanied with a sociable chat and several drinks, he was permitted to return, very favorably impressed with the generosity of the Yankees.” Come morning they went back to methodically killing each other.

At dawn of the thirty-third day of the siege, Saturday, 20 June, 1863, Sergeant Tunard reported that every Yankee gun “...along the line suddenly opened, keeping up a rapid and continuous fire. All concurred in the opinion that such a tremendous cannonading had never been equaled in their experience, and the volume of sound surpassed anything yet heard. It seemed as if heaven and earth trembled under the heavy concussion.” The purpose of the sudden bombardment seemed unclear, but the soldiers of the 3^rd Louisiana eventually assumed it had been made to mask the tunneling which had just begun beneath their redan.

After weeks of watching the relentless advance of the Yankee zig – zag sap lines crawling toward their secure fort, the boys from Louisiana began hearing the disconcerting muffled thumps of picks and shovels, an indistinct grumbling and grunting percolating up from the ground beneath their feet. It was like hearing the Yankee devils digging rebel graves. Most times the sounds were so faint you could doubt your own senses. But then would come the sharp clink of metal and the panic would seize your soul. Then the sound would fade again. A man could easily imagine the gates of Hades were about to swing open and swallow him whole. It was enough to drain the courage out of brave men. And it did.

Under Major Pierson's direction, the Louisiana boys began strengthening the trenches at the rear of the fort, and moving artillery into that position.  The rebels also tried sinking counter tunnels. But they never seemed to come close to the sounds. Then on Friday morning, 25 June, the muted efforts abruptly ceased. The sudden silence was ominous. And hour later Major Pierson ordered most of the regiment back to the trenches. And those left behind in the fort, dug in as deep as they dared, and waited.

                                   - 30 -

VICKSBURG Chapter Fifty-Seven

Less than an hour into Wednesday, 20 May, 1863, the city of Vicksburg was rocked by a stomach turning thud, originating from the river at its feet.  Explained the r diary of the 3^rd Louisiana regiment, “A huge iron-clad approached from below, and commenced a furious bombardment of the city, which was rapidly responded to by our heavy batteries...The hoarse bellowing of the mortars, the sharp report of rifled artillery, the scream and explosion of every variety of deadly missiles, intermingled with the incessant, sharp reports of small-arms...” And thus began the final siege of Vicksburg.

As the sun finally rose that Wednesday, 48 year old Lieutenant General John Clifford Pemberton commanded just under 20,000 men, 72 heavy guns and 103 field cannon stretched in an 8 mile “D” around the city   The military adage that the defense multiplied defender forces by 3, which, according to the text books meant that Pemberton's 20,000 men should withstand 60,000 attackers. And for the previous six months, the spade and the engineer's diligence had struggled to reinforce that adage.

The river batteries formed the backbone of the “D”, from South Fort rising above Stout's Bayou to the Hill Fort, frowning down upon the DeSoto bend of the Mississippi river – 

From south to north, there was The South Fort (above)...

and The Widow Blakely Battery (above), whose cannon was known as "Whistling Dick".  The Marine Hospital Battery, The Brooke Battery, The Railroad Battery, The Depot Battery and the Whig Office Battery,...

...then across the Glass Bayou to Wyman's Hill Battery (above)...

...and Batteries 4 through 7 then up to the Hill Fort (above). Together these contained 37 heavy guns and 13 field cannon, manned by some 3,500 men.

That left the 6 ½ mile long landward defensive line, with 1 infantryman for every 2 feet of trench. Their weapon was the rifled muskets, with a truly effective range of 150 yards and an effective rate of fire of 3 rounds per minute. Pemberton's artillery on the land side consisted of 35 heavy guns and 90 cannon in earthen redans (V-shaped forts) and redoubts (French for 'a place of retreat'), averaging one cannon for every 250 yards, with a safe rate of fire of 1 round per minute. But the design of these fortifications had been developed over a thousand years to concentrate the defenders and cannon at critical points.

All trees up to 300 yards beyond the defenses were clear cut to provide a an unimpeded field of fire. The that wood was then used in the three medieval defensive lines. First a 10 foot deep ditch was excavated, in the north above The Military Road, running ¾ of a mile eastward from the Hill Fort. Any attacker would find themselves forced into this depression directly in front of the defending gunners. 

In the trenches interior wall,  abatis were half buried – a felled tree or bush with the branches facing the attacker, or man made Cheval de Fris  (above),  to slow and disrupt an attacker.  Dirt scooped from the trench was used to raise the steep rampart walls of the second and primary defense positions - a broken line of lunettes and redans, on high ground above the terminations of the numerous gullies which steams had carved through the Vicksburg loam. 

In architecture, a lunette (rights) – French for little noon – is the recessed arch above a doorway. In fortifications it is a similarly shaped defense position with an open rear. A redan (center)  is generally larger, some at Vicksburg had  20 foot thick earthen walls, and a single “V” rampart thrusting toward the attackers. The rear of all these positions were open except the 4 walled "Redoubt".

The objective is to force the attacker to either smash their strength against a single high point, or flow around the obstruction, dissipating their strength and offering their flanks at close range to the defending marksmen inside the fort. Should the enemy attack the undefended rear, he would then present their own rear to a counter attack from troops in the third line of trenches.

The top of the “D” was the Stockade Redan, at the eastern end of the northern line, so named because a Poplar tree stockade wall which stood across the junction of the Military and the Graveyard Road. Defending the Stockade Redan was the 27^th Louisiana and 36^th Mississippi Infantry regiments, with three Missouri regiments in reserve, behind in a 7 foot deep trench line.

South of this stood Green's Redan defended by the 37^th Mississippi Infantry, with the 26^th Louisiana Infantry in reserve. A quarter mile further south was the 3^rd Louisiana Redan, and then The Great Redoubt, so called because it was the largest fort in the Confederate line , with four rectangular earthen walls.

South of the Great Redoubt the ground in front of the line was too broken support an attack, so there was only the a mile long ditch with abatis and manned trenches behind.  But then came the 2^nd Texas Lunette and the Railroad Redan (above), named because the South Railroad ran through the gully, along with Potter's Chapel Road.

A quarter mile south west, as the “D” began to angle back toward its base, was The Square Fort, later named Fort Garrott after its namesake, 36 year old Colonel Isham Warren Garrott from the 20^th Alabama regiment. Garrott was cut down by a sniper's bullet during the siege. A half mile further southwest, guarding the ravine where Hall's Ferry Road left Vicksburg, was the Salient Redan. The steep ravine carved by Stout's Bayou, as well as broken ground and lack of roads over the next 1 and ¾ miles made this section unsuitable for either an attack or defense. But the Vicksburg defenses were tied down with the powerful South Fort, guarding the Warrenton Road.

With the arrival of dawn, Wednesday, 20 May, Grant's artillery joined the bombardment. According to the 3^rd Louisiana diary, “The place was a perfect pandemonium...The hoarse bellowing of the mortars, the sharp report of rifled artillery, the scream and explosion of every variety of deadly missiles, intermingled with the incessant, sharp reports of small-arms, made up a combination of sounds not such as described by the poet as being a " sweet concord."

There was much more to come.  And much worse.

- 30 -