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 Sixty - Two

 

The artillery crescendo gave the game away. As the hands on thousands of watches clicked over to 10:00 am on Thursday, 22 May, 1863 - another of those heavy humid Mississippi mornings – dozens of gunners along the 3 mile long battle line waited for that final tick to pull their lanyards one last time. It was natural, to want to deliver one last blow against the enemy before the defenseless infantry came came out into the open. 

But after hours of shot and shell, the hiccup in the rhythm of the bombardment, followed by the thunder of so many cannon in unison, betrayed the attacker's intent. Without bidding, the men of the 36^th Mississippi occupied the firing step of the redoubt and half cocked their muskets. Again it would be their courage and iron and powder against a forlorn hope.

Ulysses Grant (above)  had decided even before the second failure of 19 May that he would try again, but a harder blow this time. On Tuesday Grant had been able to bring 15,000 men against the rebel lines. Now he could more than double that strength -  40,000 men -  and the entire artillery reserves of the Army of the Tennessee.  With an hour long bombardment to prepare the way, Grant meant to capture Vicksburg on 21 May, before the rebels in his rear, under General Joe Johnston, had time to assemble a new army.

That plan changed after Grant was recognized by the reserves and wounded of Sherman's XV Corps. As he rode through their ranks after the failed assault the men chanted, “Hard tack, hard tack, hard tack, hard tack”. The veterans were not showing affection for the ubiquitous barely palatable biscuit, also known as “molar breakers” and “worm castles”. 

Instead, the chanting troops were advising their general that after two weeks of more marching and foraging than fighting, they were willing to storm this rebel city, but they would need full bellies and a full ration of ammunition. It was the genius of Grant that he heard his soldiers, took their advice, and delayed his second assault until 22 May.

The wagons which now trundled up the new road from the Johnson Plantation on Chickasaw Bayou, were loaded with food – for every soldier 20 ounces of pork or beef, 16 ounces of hard tack, and 1 ounce of desiccated mixed vegetables or potatoes. 

And for every 100 men, 8 quarts of beans or peas, 10 pounds of hominy, 8 pounds of roasted coffee beans, 10 lbs of sugar and 1 quart of vinegar. Not until every regiment had received three day's rations, was the emphases shifted back to ammunition.

Major General Sherman decided to use the extra day to prepare his corps for the renewed assault on the Stockade Redoubt (above).  It stood astride the Graveyard Road, the primary northern route into Vicksburg. Now the men knew what they faced – the 8 food deep and 8 feet wide ditch filled with abatis, and then the 17 foot slope before they could even come to gripes with the enemy. And being innovative men, they invented a way of avoiding the ditch.

That Wednesday morning, each of the 15 regiments in General Sherman's Corp was asked to provided 10 volunteers. The response spoke well for the spirit of the Army. Even knowing the risk they were being asked to take, double the number needed stepped forward. It allowed Sherman (above) to eliminate married men from the mission. But Sherman expressed his true feelings when he labeled the storming parties as “The Forlorn Hope”.

Preparations continued during the afternoon of 21 May, drilling nail holes and driving metal handles into the backs of 25 fresh cut 9 to 10 foot logs. After nightfall, the men dragged the logs out into the 500 yards of open ground in front of the rebel redoubt. After covering them with dirt and debris, they were left.

Come 10:00 a.m., 50 men with their rifles slung across their backs, would break out of cover and run like hell to the logs. Two men to each log, the volunteers would grab the handles and carry the burdens forward before throwing them across the trench. They would be followed by another 50 volunteers, who would be carrying boards pierced with nails. That afternoon it had been determined there only one ready source of planks, and that was the house in which General Grant was sleeping. So the general would drink his morning coffee on Thursday, 22 May while watching the house around him being dismantled.

The second wave of volunteers would run to the ditch, and jam the nails of the boards into the pre-drilled holes in the logs, thus forming foot bridges. The final 50 volunteers would be carrying scaling ladders. They would race across the bridges and lay the ladders against the redoubts' slope. The following assault troops would then cross the bridges, climb the ladders and capture the redoubt. Or so went the plan.

A mile to the south, 34 year old Major General James Birdseye McPherson's XVII Corp would be making a similar assault on the Great Redout. And about a mile further south of that the XIII Corps under 51 year old politician Major General John Alexander McClaerend would be attacking the Railroad Redoubt. It was hoped that if the rebel line was pressed in unison, it would break somewhere. Anywhere.

Wednesday evening, Grant informed Admiral Porter of the pending assault, and asked if the ironclads along the river could help by shelling the enemy water batteries from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Porter assigned the ships Benton, Tuscumbria, Carondelet and Mound City to pound the river batteries.

Inside the Stockade Redout, the confident veterans of the 36^th Mississippi knew something was coming. But the only element of their defense which caused them worry was their commander, 30 year old Colonel William Wallace Witherspoon. There could be no doubt that he was a southern patriot. When the war broke out, William had just begun his career as a lawyer in the little town of Napoleon, where the Arkansas river joined the Mississippi. Still, he immediately enlisted in the 1^st Arkansas mounted infantry, as a private.

Less than a month after the battle of Bull Run, in August of 1861, a 12,000 man rebel army was camped along Wilson's Creek, preparing to fall on the 6,000 isolated Union troops in Springfield, Missouri. The Union commander, Brigadier General Nathanial Lyon, decided to strike first, and on 10 August, caught the rebels still in their tents. After a bloody morning, the Yankees were forced to retreat, but the attack, which cost Lyon his life (above), so damaged the rebels there were unable to follow up their victory, which saved Missouri for the Federal Union. One of the 1,300 rebel casualties was private William Witherspoon.

William (above)  was wounded so severely, he was discharged. But in March of 1862 he re-enlisted as a Lieutenant in the 36^th Mississippi Infantry. Over the next year he earned a reputation as so “harsh, overbearing and tyrannical” that his men stuck him with the vulgar sexual nickname “Pewter Spoon” Then at Iuka, Corinth and Chickasaw Bayou, he showed himself to also be a brave and “brilliant” combat commander. Whether he was drinking for self medication or addiction, did not matter much to his men, or his commanders, and he was twice charged with being drunk on duty.

That Thursday, promptly at 10:00 a.m., Colonel Witherspoon steadied his men as the last of the Yankee shells landed harmlessly on the face of the Redoubt. Then with a cheer, the forlorn hope appeared, running out from the shelter of the trees. 

The Mississippi boys did not wait for orders, but opened up at once. Sergeant George Powell Clarke, company “C” of the 36^th, said, “A withering fire of musketry, grape, canister and shells greeted them as they came in sight, and men fell like grass before the reaper…Here, now, the eye witness could have seen war in all its awful sublimity and grandeur.”

- 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 -