Overview
The Battle of Big Black River Bridge took place on May 17, 1863, during Ulysses S. Grant’s Vicksburg Campaign. Union control of the Mississippi River would cut the Confederacy off from important supplies coming from the Gulf of Mexico and territories in the American West. After earlier attempts to capture Vicksburg failed, Grant moved his army south of the city, crossed the Mississippi River at Bruinsburg, and established a base at Port Gibson.
Grant then moved east toward Jackson, Mississippi, where General Joseph Johnston was assembling a Confederate army. On May 14, 1863, Union forces defeated Johnston’s rearguard at the Battle of Jackson. Grant then turned west and marched toward Vicksburg.
Meanwhile, Johnston ordered Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton to move east from Vicksburg and confront Grant. On May 16, Pemberton’s army encountered Grant’s forces near Champion Hill. During the Battle of Champion Hill, Union troops defeated the Confederates, forcing them west toward the Big Black River. Pemberton established another defensive position on the east side of the river and prepared bridges for a possible retreat.
On May 17, three Union divisions under General John A. McClernand attacked the Confederate defenses. Despite a bayou and 18 cannons protecting their position, many Confederate soldiers abandoned their weapons and fled toward the bridges. Confederate troops burned the crossings after most of Pemberton’s army escaped, stranding about 1,700 soldiers who became Union prisoners. The Union victory cleared Grant’s path to Vicksburg.
Essential Facts
- Also Known As: Battle of Big Black.
- Date: May 17, 1863.
- Location: Hinds County, Mississippi, east of Vicksburg.
- Participants: The United States of America (USA) and the Confederate States of America (CSA).
- USA Commanders: Ulysses S. Grant, John A. McClernand.
- CSA Commanders: John C. Pemberton.
- Who Won: The United States won the Battle of Big Black River Bridge.
- Campaign: Vicksburg Campaign.
- Era: Civil War, January–June, 1863.
Statistics
United States of America
- Casualties: 276 killed, wounded, captured, or missing.
- Forces Engaged: 13th Army Corps, Army of the Tennessee.
- Troop Strength: Undetermined.
Confederate States of America
- Casualties: 1,751 killed, wounded, captured, or missing.
- Forces Engaged: Bridgehead Defense Force, consisting of three brigades.
- Troop Strength: Roughly 5,000.
Significance
The Battle of Big Black River Bridge is important because the outcome removed the final major Confederate defensive position between Ulysses S. Grant’s army and Vicksburg, Mississippi. John C. Pemberton’s defeat at Champion Hill had already forced his army west, and the collapse of the defenses along the Big Black River forced the Confederates to retreat. Grant then advanced to Vicksburg, surrounded the city, and conducted a six-week siege that ended when Pemberton surrendered his army on July 4, 1863.
History
At the onset of the American Civil War, the State of Tennessee comprised most of the northern border of the Confederate States of America in the West. Defending that border was difficult for the Confederacy because three major rivers (the Mississippi, which flows south to the Gulf of Mexico, and the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, which flow north to the Ohio River) provided relatively easy access to the South.
By late 1861, President Abraham Lincoln was pressuring Union commanders in the West to invade the South. In February 1862, Major General Ulysses S. Grant responded by capturing Fort Henry on the Tennessee River and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River, both in northwestern Tennessee. With two of the three main rivers connecting the North and South under Union control, the Federals turned their attention to the Mississippi River. If the Union could gain control of the Mississippi, the Confederacy would lose easy access to supplies from the Gulf of Mexico and territories in the American West.
Farragut Captures New Orleans
Admiral David Farragut captured the port city of New Orleans on May 18, 1862, closing down Confederate access to the Gulf. In June, the Union tightened its grip on the Mississippi when Federal forces captured the river city of Memphis, Tennessee. Nevertheless, the South still controlled traffic on much of the river because of its strong fortifications at Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Federals Move Against Vicksburg
In July 1862, President Abraham Lincoln summoned Major General Henry W. Halleck to Washington to serve as chief of all Union armies. Halleck’s departure left Major General Ulysses S. Grant in charge of operations in the Western Theater.
In December 1862, Grant launched the first of several unsuccessful attempts to capture Vicksburg. When spring arrived, he tried a new, more complicated plan. On March 29, 1863, Grant put part of his army to work constructing bridges, draining bayous, and building a road past Vicksburg on the west side of the Mississippi. By May 1, his army had recrossed the river at Bruinsburg, Mississippi, and established a base of operations at Port Gibson.
Federals Capture Jackson, Mississippi
Before assaulting Vicksburg, Grant turned his attention to an army that General Joseph Johnston was assembling in Jackson, Mississippi, forty miles to the east of Vicksburg. By May 14, 1863, Union soldiers overpowered Johnston’s rearguard as he evacuated Jackson in the face of Grant’s larger army at the Battle of Jackson. After ordering the destruction of anything in the city that could support the Southern war effort, Grant marched his army back toward Vicksburg.
Grant Marches on Vicksburg
With Johnston out of the way, Grant returned his attention to Vicksburg. On May 15, the Union army began leaving Jackson in three columns headed west. The left, southernmost column was Major General John A. McClernand’s 13th Corps. The middle column was Major General James B. McPherson’s 17th Corps. The right, northernmost column was Major General William T. Sherman’s 15th Corps, which departed on May 16 after destroying everything of military value in the city.
Pemberton Attempts to Stop Grant
As Grant’s forces headed west, Johnston ordered Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton, commander of the Confederate Army of Mississippi, to leave his defensive positions near Vicksburg on May 15 and move east to stop Grant’s advance. Pemberton felt conflicted because he was also under orders from Confederate President Jefferson Davis to defend Vicksburg at all costs.
After calling a council of war, he ignored Johnston’s order, believing that a direct confrontation with Grant’s army would be overly risky. Instead, Pemberton marched south on May 15, hoping to sever Grant’s supply lines back to the Mississippi River. After starting his march south, Pemberton received another order from Johnston repeating his former directive. This time Pemberton complied and reversed his course back north.
Battle of Champion Hill
Just after sunrise on the morning of May 16, Pemberton’s army, marching north, encountered Grant’s army, marching west, near Champion Hill, 20 miles east of Vicksburg. After a series of attacks and counterattacks at the Battle of Champion Hill, the Federals forced the Confederates back across Bakers Creek and seized the bridge crossing the stream by late afternoon. During the night, Pemberton established a new defensive line behind bales of cotton along the east side of the Big Black River, just east of Vicksburg. To his back, Pemberton repaired a railroad bridge that crossed the river, and a steamer that spanned the width of the river, to accommodate a retreat.
May 17, 1863 — Clash at Big Black River Bridge
On the morning of May 17, 1863, three divisions of Grant’s army, commanded by Major General John A. McClernand, caught up with the Confederates. Even though a bayou of waist-deep water, fronted by eighteen cannons, protected the Confederate lines, the Confederates threw down their weapons and fled for the two makeshift bridges when the Federals advanced. Most of Pemberton’s soldiers made it across, but the Confederates stranded 1,700 of their comrades when they burned the bridges to prevent the Federals from crossing the river.
Outcome
The Union victory made the fate of the Confederate soldiers who eluded capture and made it back to Vicksburg inevitable. Grant invested Vicksburg for the next six weeks before Pemberton surrendered Vicksburg and his army on July 4, 1863.
The Federals suffered 276 casualties at the Battle of Big Black River Bridge, compared to 1,751 for the Confederates, most of whom were prisoners.
Timeline
- 1862, July — President Abraham Lincoln called Henry Halleck to Washington, leaving Ulysses S. Grant in charge of operations in the Western Theater.
- 1862, December — Grant divided the Army of the Tennessee and launched his first attempt to capture Vicksburg.
- 1862, May 18 — Admiral David Farragut captured New Orleans, cutting off a major Confederate connection to the Gulf of Mexico.
- 1862, June — Union forces captured Memphis, Tennessee, strengthening Federal control of the Mississippi River.
- 1862, December 26–29 — Confederate forces won the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou.
- 1963, January 9–11 — Union forces won the Battle of Arkansas Post.
- 1863, March 11–18 — Confederate forces won the Battle of Fort Pemberton.
- 1863, March 29 — Grant ordered his troops to construct bridges and roads and drain bayous along the Louisiana side of the Mississippi River.
- 1863, April — Grant’s men completed a route through Louisiana that allowed the Army of the Tennessee to move south of Vicksburg.
- 1863, April 16 — David Dixon Porter led seven gunboats and three supply vessels past the Confederate batteries at Vicksburg.
- 1863, April 22 — Six additional Union vessels passed Vicksburg.
- 1863, April 29 — Confederate forces won the Battle of Grand Gulf.
- 1863, April 30 — Roughly 23,000 Union soldiers crossed the Mississippi River and landed at Bruinsburg.
- 1863, May 1 — Union forces won the Battle of Port Gibson.
- 1863, May 7 — Grant’s army of roughly 45,000 soldiers moved northeast toward Jackson in three columns..
- 1863, May 9 — Confederate Secretary of War James A. Seddon ordered Joseph E. Johnston to travel to Mississippi and take command.
- 1863, May 10 — John C. Pemberton ordered John Gregg to move his brigade from Jackson to Raymond.
- 1863, May 11 — Gregg’s brigade arrived at Raymond and prepared for battle.
- 1863, May 12 — Union forces won the Battle of Raymond.
- 1863, May 13 — Johnston arrived in Jackson and ordered Confederate forces to evacuate the city.
- 1863, May 14 — Union forces won the Battle of Jackson.
- 1863, May 15 — Grant’s army started marching west from Jackson toward Vicksburg.
- 1863, May 15 — John C. Pemberton moved from his defenses near Vicksburg and attempted to cut Grant’s supply lines.
- 1863, May 16 — Union forces won the Battle of Champion Hill.
- 1863, May 17
- Union forces attacked the Confederate defenses at the Big Black River and forced Pemberton’s army to retreat.
- Confederate soldiers burned the bridges across the Big Black River, stranding about 1,700 soldiers who became Union prisoners.
AP US History
Definition
Battle of Big Black River Bridge (1863) — The Battle of Big Black River Bridge was fought on May 17, 1863, during the Vicksburg Campaign. After losing the Battle of Champion Hill, John C. Pemberton established defenses along the Big Black River. Union forces under John A. McClernand attacked the Confederate position, causing many soldiers to flee. Confederates burned their bridges during the retreat, stranding about 1,700 men. The Union victory allowed Ulysses S. Grant to advance against Vicksburg.
Alignment
The Battle of Big Black River Bridge is part of the following AP US History sections:
