Overview
The Battle of Milliken’s Bend took place on June 7, 1863, while General Ulysses S. Grant conducted the Siege of Vicksburg. Milliken’s Bend, located on the Louisiana side of the Mississippi River, had served as a supply depot for the Army of the Tennessee. By late May, it had also become a recruiting center for formerly enslaved men joining the Union Army.
The Union garrison numbered about 1,410 men, including roughly 1,250 African American soldiers from the 9th, 11th, and 13th Louisiana Infantry Regiments and the 1st Mississippi Infantry Regiment. Many had served in the army for only days or weeks.
Confederate commanders Edmund Kirby Smith and Richard Taylor planned attacks against Union positions west of the Mississippi River in hopes of disrupting Grant’s supply lines. On June 6, General John G. Walker moved his Texas Division toward Milliken’s Bend. General Henry McCulloch led about 1,500 men toward the Union post.
Early on June 7, Confederate troops advanced against Colonel Hermann Lieb’s defenses. After crossing hedgerows, the Texans charged the Union position behind cotton-bale breastworks. The Confederates broke through, and fierce hand-to-hand fighting followed. Many black Union soldiers used bayonets and their muskets as clubs.
The Confederates eventually forced the Union troops toward the river, but the gunboat Choctaw opened fire on the attackers. The Lexington later joined the bombardment. McCulloch withdrew after realizing his exhausted troops could not overcome the Union gunboats and expected reinforcements.
Although Union casualties were much higher, the Confederates failed to capture Milliken’s Bend. The courage demonstrated by the black soldiers helped change military attitudes about African American troops in the Union Army.
Essential Facts
- Also Known As: The text does not provide another name for the Battle of Milliken’s Bend.
- Date: June 7, 1863.
- Location: Madison Parish, Louisiana, roughly 10 miles north of Vicksburg.
- Participants: The United States of America (USA) and the Confederate States of America (CSA).
- USA Commanders: Elias S. Dennis, Hermann Lieb.
- CSA Commanders: John G. Walker, Henry McCulloch.
- Who Won: The United States won the Battle of Milliken’s Bend.
- Campaign: Vicksburg Campaign.
Statistics
United States of America
- Casualties: 652, including 101 killed, 285 wounded, and 266 missing.
- Forces Engaged: 9th Louisiana Infantry, 11th Louisiana Infantry, 13th Louisiana Infantry, 1st Mississippi Infantry, 23rd Iowa Infantry.
- Troop Strength: Roughly 1,500.
Confederate States of America
- Casualties: 185, including 44 killed, 131 wounded, and 10 missing.
- Forces Engaged: 16th Texas Infantry, 19th Texas Infantry, 16th Texas Cavalry (dismounted).
- Troop Strength: Roughly 1,500.
Significance
The Battle of Milliken’s Bend is important to American History because it was one of the earliest Civil War battles in which formerly enslaved African American soldiers fought against Confederate troops. Many of the Union soldiers had received little training, yet they fought fiercely when Confederate troops broke through their defenses. Their performance helped challenge doubts about whether African Americans could serve effectively as soldiers. Reports of their courage influenced military attitudes toward black troops and encouraged additional African American enlistment. At a time when Confederate armies suffered from casualties and desertions, the growing number of black Union soldiers strengthened the Union war effort.
History
Siege of Vicksburg
On April 30, 1863, roughly 23,000 Union soldiers clambered aboard barges at Disharoon’s plantation in northern Louisiana and crossed the Mississippi River. Going ashore at Bruinsburg, Mississippi, they completed the largest amphibious offensive in American history prior to the invasion of Normandy, France, during World War II. As the Federals stepped upon Mississippi soil, they secured a beachhead and then solidified their position by defeating Confederate forces at the Battle of Port Gibson the next day.
In the aftermath of the successful invasion, Major General Ulysses S. Grant marched his army east and drove General Joseph E. Johnston‘s forces away from the state capital at Jackson, Mississippi, on May 14, 1863. Grant then turned his attention to the City of Vicksburg, the last remaining Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River.
All that remained between Grant and Vicksburg were the 30,000 Confederate soldiers of Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton‘s Army of Vicksburg. Resounding Federal victories at the Battle of Champion Hill (May 16) and the Battle of Big Black River Bridge (May 17) forced Pemberton’s army to seek refuge within Vicksburg’s limits. Following two unsuccessful attempts to take the city by force (which cost the Union nearly 4,000 casualties), Grant settled into a siege of Vicksburg that lasted over six weeks.
Union Outpost at Milliken’s Bend, Louisiana
As Grant prepared for his invasion of Mississippi, he used several outposts as depots to supply the Army of the Tennessee as it inched its way south on the Louisiana side of the Mississippi River. Among those was Milliken’s Bend, about fifteen miles upriver from Vicksburg as the crow flies, or roughly twenty-five miles by water. By the time Grant’s soldiers invaded Mississippi, Milliken’s Bend was transitioning from a staging area for the invasion to a recruiting hub for former slaves joining the Union Army.
In late May 1863, the Union garrison at Milliken’s Bend comprised about 1,410 men. Roughly 1,250 of them were members of the African Brigade—the 9th, 11th, and 13th Louisiana Infantry Regiments, and the 1st Mississippi Infantry Regiment. Most of the soldiers were ex-slaves who had been members of the volunteer army for only weeks or days.
Preparing to Assault Milliken’s Bend
After the siege of Vicksburg began, Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith (commander of the Confederacy’s Trans-Mississippi Department) met with Major General Richard Taylor (commander of the District of Western Louisiana) to discuss ideas to loosen Grant’s grip on the city. The two generals devised plans to disrupt Grant’s supply lines on the western side of the river, and possibly draw Federal troops away from the city.
In early June, Taylor ordered Major General John G. Walker’s Texas Division to prepare for an assault on Milliken’s Bend, in coordination with strikes against other Union outposts in Louisiana. Walker’s Division comprised the 16th and 19th Texas Infantry Regiments, plus the 16th Texas Cavalry (dismounted).
Federals Prepare for Attack
At roughly 10 a.m. on June 6, 1863, Walker’s soldiers marched into Richmond, Louisiana, roughly ten miles southwest of Milliken’s Bend. As the Texans rested to prepare for their assault early the next morning, Colonel Hermann Lieb, commander of Union forces at Milliken’s Bend, was making a reconnaissance toward Richmond. Upon discovering Walker’s presence, Lieb returned to Milliken’s Bend following a brief skirmish. Concerned with the possibility of a Confederate assault, Lieb ordered his men to construct several lines of improvised breastworks made of cotton bales. He also contacted his commanding officer, Brigadier General Elias S. Dennis, at Young’s Point, requesting reinforcements.
Confederates on the March
At 6 p.m. that evening, the Texans marched east out of Richmond, intent on striking the outposts at Milliken’s Bend and Young’s Point before dawn. Upon reaching a fork in the road at Oak Grove Plantation, Walker dispatched Brigadier General Henry McCulloch’s brigade north toward Milliken’s Bend, and he sent Brigadier General James M. Hawes’ brigade east to Young’s Point. Walker remained at Oak Grove with Colonel Horace Randal’s brigade in reserve.
Conflict at Milliken’s Bend: June 7, 1863
Between 2:30 and 3 a.m. on June 7, Union pickets began firing on McCulloch’s 1,500 soldiers as they advanced up the Main Richmond Road toward Milliken’s Bend. As the Federal pickets fell back, Lieb deployed his men (now reinforced by about half of the all-white 23rd Iowa Infantry) along the first line of cotton bales.
Confederate Charge
The Confederates pushed forward, but a series of hedgerows hampered their advance. After passing through the barriers, McCulloch reformed his lines and charged the levee shielding Lieb’s troops. The Federals greeted their assailants with a blistering volley that momentarily staggered the Confederates. The Texans quickly recovered, however, because many of the newly recruited black soldiers struggled to reload their muskets because of a lack of training. When the Confederates poured over the cotton bales, the black soldiers showed them the bayonet and resorted to using their muskets as clubs in some of the fiercest hand-to-hand combat of the Civil War.
As the struggle continued, the Confederates flanked the Federal left, enabling them to pour a devastating enfilading fire into the Union line. The reeling Federals fell back through their camp as they sought refuge along the river bank. Subject to being quickly overrun, the Federals were rescued when the ironclad Choctaw appeared on the river and turned its big guns on the pursuing Confederates.
Confederate Retreat
Stopped in their tracks, the Texans fell back. At about 9 a.m., a second gunboat, Lexington, came upriver and joined in the firing. Realizing he was outgunned, McCulloch requested reinforcements from Walker. By the time Randal’s brigade arrived around noon, McCulloch’s men were exhausted. Anticipating more Union reinforcements, McCulloch ordered his men to round up their wounded and prisoners and rejoin Walker at Fair Oaks Plantation. Walker’s Division withdrew to Richmond that evening.
Results
The Union victory at the Battle of Milliken’s Bend was small by comparison to many Civil War engagements. Each side fielded about 1,500 soldiers. The Confederacy suffered 185 casualties (44 killed, 131 wounded, and 10 missing), compared to Union losses of 652 (101 killed, 285 wounded, and 266 missing). Reportedly, the Confederacy returned many of the captured blacks to bondage. Rumors emerged after the war that unidentified suspects removed two of the white Union officers who were incarcerated as POWs from their cells and summarily executed them.
Outcome
Despite its relatively small size, the Battle of Milliken’s Bend was significant because it was one of the earliest battles that pitted former slaves against Confederate troops. The bravery these raw recruits displayed, despite their limited training, did much to change perceptions about the use of African American soldiers during the war.
Three days after the battle, Charles Dana, special commissioner of the United States War Department, reported to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton that General Dennis noted: “It is impossible for men to show greater gallantry than the negro troops in this fight.” Later, in his book, Recollections of the Civil War, Dana observed, “The bravery of the Blacks at Milliken’s Bend completely revolutionized the sentiment of the army with regard to the employment of Negro troops.”
Stanton apparently endorsed Dana’s sentiments. In a letter to President Abraham Lincoln in December of 1863, the Secretary of War wrote:
Many persons believed, or pretended to believe, and confidentially asserted, that freed slaves would not make good soldiers; they would lack courage, and could not be subjected to military discipline. Facts have shown how groundless were these apprehensions. The slave has proved his manhood, and his capacity as an infantry soldier, at Milliken’s Bend, at the assault upon Port Hudson, and the storming of Fort Wagner.
At a time when casualties and desertions were depleting Southern armies, the recognition of the competence of African American soldiers triggered an influx of new black recruits, swelling the size of the volunteer army, and further tipping the scales in favor of a Union victory in the Civil War.
Timeline
- 1863, April 30 — Roughly 23,000 Union soldiers crossed the Mississippi River and landed at Bruinsburg, Mississippi.
- 1863, May 1 — Union forces won the Battle of Port Gibson.
- 1863, May 14 — Grant’s army drove General Joseph E. Johnston’s forces away from Jackson, Mississippi.
- 1863, May 16 — Union forces won the Battle of Champion Hill.
- 1863, May 17 — Union forces won the Battle of Big Black River Bridge.
- 1863, May — The Union garrison at Milliken’s Bend included about 1,410 men, roughly 1,250 of whom served in the African Brigade.
- 1863, June 6 — John G. Walker’s Confederate forces entered Richmond, Louisiana, and prepared to attack Union outposts at Milliken’s Bend and Young’s Point.
- 1863, June 6 — Hermann Lieb discovered Walker’s troops during a scouting mission and returned to Milliken’s Bend to prepare his defenses.
- 1863, June 6 — Walker sent Henry McCulloch’s brigade toward Milliken’s Bend and James M. Hawes’ brigade toward Young’s Point.
- 1863, June 7
- Union pickets opened fire as McCulloch’s troops advanced toward Milliken’s Bend.
- Confederate troops charged the Union defenses, leading to fierce hand-to-hand combat.
- The Union gunboat Choctaw opened fire on Confederate troops advancing toward the Mississippi River.
- The Lexington joined the bombardment at about 9 a.m.
- McCulloch ordered his troops to withdraw after Confederate reinforcements arrived around noon.
- Walker’s Division withdrew to Richmond that evening.
- 1863, June 10 — Charles Dana reported on the courage of the black soldiers at Milliken’s Bend.
- 1863, December — Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton cited Milliken’s Bend as evidence of the effectiveness of African American soldiers.
AP US History
Definition
Battle of Milliken’s Bend (1863) — The Battle of Milliken’s Bend was fought in Louisiana on June 7, 1863, during the Vicksburg Campaign. Brigadier General Henry McCulloch’s Confederates attacked Union troops defending a supply depot along the Mississippi River. Confederate troops broke through the Union defenses, leading to fierce hand-to-hand combat. Union gunboats Choctaw and Lexington then opened fire on the Confederates, helping stop the attack. The Union victory demonstrated the effectiveness and courage of African American soldiers.
Alignment
The Battle of Milliken’s Bend is part of the following AP US History sections:
