Overview
The Yazoo Pass Expedition was a Union operation during the Vicksburg Campaign that attempted to reach Vicksburg through waterways north of the city. Vicksburg occupied high ground overlooking the Mississippi River, making the city difficult to attack directly from the water. Earlier Union efforts, including attacks by Admiral David Farragut and General William T. Sherman’s defeat at the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou (December 26–29, 1862), failed to capture the city.
On February 3, 1863, Union engineers breached a levee on the Mississippi River about 300 miles north of Vicksburg. The resulting flood opened a water route through Moon Lake and the Coldwater River to the Tallahatchie River. This route became known as the “Yazoo Pass.”
On February 24, Commander Watson Smith led a Union flotilla into the pass. His force included two ironclads, six gunboats, two rams, and transports carrying 4,500 soldiers from the 13th Army Corps under General Leonard F. Ross. Confederate General John C. Pemberton responded by ordering troops to place obstacles in the waterways and sending General William W. Loring’s division toward Greenwood, Mississippi.
Loring built Fort Pemberton near the junction of the Tallahatchie River and Yazoo River. Confederate artillery opened fire on the USS Chillicothe on March 11, damaging the vessel and forcing it to withdraw. Union forces made additional attacks but failed to overcome the Confederate defenses.
After Lieutenant Commander James P. Foster replaced Smith, who was sick, Union forces withdrew. General Isaac F. Quinby renewed the operation, but another attack failed on March 23 when the Chillicothe struck an underwater mine. Grant canceled the expedition on March 28. Quinby started withdrawing on April 5, and the flotilla cleared the Yazoo Pass on April 8.
Essential Facts
- Date: February 3–April 8, 1863.
- Location: Leflore County, Mississippi.
- Participants: The United States of America (USA) and the Confederate States of America (CSA).
- USA Commanders: Watson Smith, Leonard F. Ross, Isaac F. Quinby.
- CSA Commanders: John C. Pemberton, William W. Loring.
- Who Won: The Confederate States won the Yazoo Pass Expedition.
- Campaign: Vicksburg Campaign.
- Era: Civil War, January–June, 1863.
Statistics
United States of America
- Casualties: Roughly 20.
- Forces Engaged: Naval flotilla and part of the 13th Army Corps.
- Troop Strength: Roughly 5,000.
Confederate States of America
- Casualties: Fewer than 20.
- Forces Engaged: Army of Vicksburg, including the Fort Pemberton garrison.
- Troop Strength: Roughly 2,000.
Significance
The Yazoo Pass Expedition is important to American History because Union forces failed to overcome Vicksburg’s strong Confederate defenses during the Vicksburg Campaign. Union engineers created a new route toward the city by breaching a Mississippi River levee, but Confederate forces responded by constructing Fort Pemberton. Several Union attacks failed to defeat the fort, and Grant eventually canceled the expedition. Although the operation ended in a Confederate victory, flooding caused by the levee breach damaged thousands of acres of farmland and destroyed thousands of bales of Confederate cotton and other supplies.
History
Grant Captures Fort Henry and Fort Donelson
By late 1861, President Abraham Lincoln was pressuring Union commanders in the West to invade the South. In early 1862, Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant’s forces gained control of two of the three main rivers connecting the North and South in the Western Theater by capturing Fort Henry, on the Tennessee River, and Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland River.
Control of the Mississippi River
Promoted to major general on February 16, 1862, for his achievements, Grant soon turned his attention to controlling the Mississippi River. If federal forces secured control of the river, they would divide the Confederacy and give it easy access to supplies from the Gulf of Mexico and territories in the American West. 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.
Geography
Vicksburg is on the eastern side of the Mississippi, roughly fifteen miles south of the mouth of the Yazoo River. The city was known as “The Gibraltar of the Confederacy” because it sits on a high bluff overlooking a horseshoe-shaped bend in the river. The bluff upon which the city sits made it nearly impossible to assault from the river. Farragut made two attempts to do so in May and June 1862, but both excursions failed.
Battle of Chickasaw Bay
In December 1862, a federal attempt to capture the city by land failed miserably when Major General John C. Pemberton’s Army of Vicksburg mauled Major General William T. Sherman’s Federals at the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou (December 26–29, 1862).
Creating the Yazoo Pass
Undeterred by Sherman’s setback, Grant hatched another operation in the late winter of 1863 to advance on Vicksburg, known as the Yazoo Pass Expedition. On February 3, 1863, Union engineers breached a levee on the Mississippi River about 300 miles north of Vicksburg, flooding a channel that previously connected the Mississippi River to the Tallahatchie River via Moon Lake and the Coldwater River. The channel, including its connected waterways, was known as the Yazoo Pass.
Union Forces Advance
With the navigable connection created, a naval flotilla of two ironclads, six gunboats, and two rams, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Watson Smith, passed through the gap on February 24, 1863, and began steaming toward the Tallahatchie River. Smith’s expedition also included troop transports carrying 4,500 Union soldiers from the 13th Army Corps, commanded by General Leonard F. Ross.
Confederate Obstacles
On February 9, 1863, Pemberton learned about the Union expedition. He immediately dispatched a small contingent of soldiers to fell trees and otherwise hinder the progress of the Federal flotilla, which was already moving excruciatingly slow because of natural obstructions and Smith’s lack of urgency.
Confederates Advance
As concern about the newest threat to Vicksburg traveled up the Confederate chain of command all the way to President Jefferson Davis, Pemberton sent Major General William W. Loring’s 1,500-man division up the Yazoo River to halt the Federals in February.
Loring arrived at Greenwood, Mississippi, on February 21, 1863. He quickly began constructing defenses at the junction of the Tallahatchie and Yazoo Rivers, about four miles downriver from Greenwood. By March 11, Loring’s men had created a series of artillery batteries, protected by earthworks and cotton bales, connected by lines of rifle pits and entrenchments. The largest gun in Loring’s arsenal was a 32-pounder that had a clear field of fire nearly two miles up the Tallahatchie River, from where the Union flotilla would be coming. Besides the breastworks, Loring’s soldiers constructed an obstructing raft to block the river, and they scuttled a ship named the Star of the West in the channel to further impede navigation. The Confederates named the formidable stronghold Fort Pemberton, but the Federals referred to it as Fort Greenwood.
Battle of Fort Pemberton
On March 11, 1863, the Confederate batteries opened fire on Smith’s flagship, the USS Chillicothe, as it rounded the last bend in the river above Fort Pemberton. The salvo caused considerable damage to the Chillicothe, forcing a quick withdrawal. Over the next five days, the Union naval forces made two more unsuccessful attempts to subdue the Confederate stronghold. On March 17, Lieutenant Commander Smith reported himself unfit for duty because of illness, and Lieutenant Commander James P. Foster, captain of the Chillicothe, assumed command of the expedition. After consulting with General Ross, Foster decided that any further attempts to subdue Fort Pemberton would be futile. On March 18, Foster ordered the flotilla to return to Helena, Arkansas, on the Mississippi, ending the Battle of Fort Pemberton.
Union Counterattack
As the Federals withdrew upriver after their loss at the Battle of Fort Pemberton, they encountered Union Brigadier General Isaac F. Quinby, leading part of his division downstream to reinforce the expedition. Quinby assumed command of all the army forces and ordered them back downstream. He intended to disembark near Fort Pemberton and then send the transports upstream to return with the rest of his division to prepare for a land assault against the Confederate stronghold. Spearheaded by the naval gunboats, the assault on March 23 had barely begun before the Chillicothe struck an underwater mine and withdrew.
Grant Reconsiders
Even before this latest failure to subdue Fort Pemberton, General Grant began to have second thoughts about the expedition. On March 22, 1863, Grant notified Major General James B. McPherson that “The party that first went in have so delayed as to give the enemy time to fortify. I see nothing for it now but to have that force return the way they went in.” Five days after Quinby’s unsuccessful assault, Grant formally canceled the Yazoo Pass Expedition. On March 28, Grant informed Brigadier General Benjamin M. Prentiss, Quinby’s commander, “The troops that have gone down the Yazoo Pass are now ordered back.” Prentice passed the message down the chain of command, and Quinby began the withdrawal on April 5. The flotilla cleared the Yazoo Pass on April 8, 1863, ending the expedition.
Aftermath of the Expedition
Although the Yazoo Pass Expedition was a military failure for the Union, it inflicted some economic hardship on the Confederacy. The breach in the levee on the Mississippi River flooded thousands of acres of farmland, causing a Confederate loss of 4,000 to 5,000 bales of cotton, plus other staples, and an estimated financial loss of over one million dollars.
Loss of life during the Battle of Fort Pemberton was minimal. Each side suffered fewer than twenty casualties (killed, wounded, missing/captured).
Timeline
- 1861 — President Abraham Lincoln pressured Union commanders in the West to invade the South.
- 1862, February 16 — The Union promoted Ulysses S. Grant to Major General following his victories at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson.
- 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, July — President Abraham Lincoln recalled Henry Halleck to Washington and left Ulysses S. Grant in charge of Union operations in the Western Theater.
- 1862, December — Grant divided the Army of the Tennessee and launched his first attempt to capture Vicksburg.
- 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, February 3 — Union engineers breached a Mississippi River levee and opened the Yazoo Pass route.
- 1863, February 9 — John C. Pemberton learned about the Union expedition and sent troops to obstruct the waterways.
- 1863, February 21 — William W. Loring arrived at Greenwood, Mississippi, and prepared defenses near the Tallahatchie River and Yazoo River.
- 1863, February 24 — Watson Smith led the Union flotilla through the Yazoo Pass toward the Tallahatchie River.
- 1863, March 11 — Confederate batteries at Fort Pemberton opened fire on the USS Chillicothe, starting the Battle of Fort Pemberton.
- 1863, March 17 — Watson Smith reported himself unfit for duty, and James P. Foster assumed command of the expedition.
- 1863, March 18 — Foster ordered the Union flotilla to withdraw toward Helena, Arkansas.
- 1863, March 22 — Grant informed James B. McPherson that he believed the Union forces at Fort Pemberton should withdraw.
- 1863, March 23 — Union forces renewed their attack, but the Chillicothe struck an underwater mine and withdrew.
- 1863, March 28 — Grant formally canceled the Yazoo Pass Expedition, ordering his troops to withdraw.
- 1863, April 5 — Isaac F. Quinby started withdrawing Union forces.
- 1863, April 8 — The Union flotilla cleared the Yazoo Pass, ending the expedition.
AP US History
Definition
Yazoo Pass Expedition (1863) — The Yazoo Pass Expedition was a Union operation during the Vicksburg Campaign that tried to approach Vicksburg via waterways north of the city. Union engineers breached a Mississippi River levee on February 3, creating a route through the Yazoo Pass. Confederate forces under William W. Loring built Fort Pemberton to block the advance. Union naval attacks failed to capture the fort, and Ulysses S. Grant canceled the expedition on March 28. Union forces completed their withdrawal on April 8, resulting in a Confederate victory.
Alignment
The Yazoo Pass Expedition is part of the following AP US History sections:
