McPherson’s Seventeenth Corps and McClernand’s Thirteenth Corps failed to launch general attacks on May 19. The men were not in assaulting distance that morning, requiring more moving and positioning ...than Sherman’s command was compelled to do. Grant’s expectation of a general attack proved illusory, but that expectation could have been met if McPherson had been more active and McClernand had been able to reposition his corps more quickly. Circumstances prevented the latter from contributing more to the general effort, while native caution hamstrung the actions of the former. Grant’s mode of command—to issue general instructions for the army and
The last Thirteenth Corps attack to go in on the morning of May 22 took place south of the Southern Railroad of Mississippi and was conducted by two brigades. It targeted one of the largest and most ...complex of Lockett’s forts, Railroad Redoubt. The leading brigade, commanded by Michael K. Lawler, had mainly been responsible for the capture of the fortified bridgehead at the Big Black River five days before, with its rich haul of prisoners and guns. There at least was a possibility that Railroad Redoubt might fall as readily as the fieldworks at the river.
But the Federals
With the passage of time, veterans of the battles at Vicksburg gained valuable perspective on their experiences. For most, bitterness and disappointment continued for some time but eventually ...lessened. More and more they felt the need to cloak the events of May 22 in nostalgia. They never entirely forgot the hard touch of combat but had increasing opportunities to master the memories and move on with their lives in productive and fulfilling ways. Commemoration became vitally important to them as they grew older.
Many Federal soldiers remembered May 22 as “a terrible day,” one that would remain “eventful on the
Given leeway to conduct the assault as he saw fit, McClernand focused his attention on the 2nd Texas Lunette and Railroad Redoubt, leaving Osterhaus largely on his own to approach Square Fort. ...McClernand concentrated the strength of two divisions, Carr’s and Andrew J. Smith’s, on the two Rebel earthworks. At Railroad Redoubt, Carr’s and Smith’s troops achieved a tantalizing hope of success, but at the 2nd Texas Lunette they met only hardship and stalemate. Here Benton’s brigade broke up during a critical moment of its advance, demonstrating the difficulties of maintaining command and control on the battlefield of May 22.
By noon it had become apparent to most observers that the Federal assaults had ended well short of a breakthrough. If Grant had called off further effort, the battle of May 22 would have been counted ...as a good try with acceptable losses and a siege would have been the only option. But McClernand wrote a series of messages to Grant requesting help and urging further attacks by his colleagues to support what he thought were promising signs that his men could break through the opposing line. He based those requests on slim and confusing information about those promising signs.
McClernand’s messages and Sherman’s reaction to them led Grant to authorize renewed assaults on the afternoon of May 22. Sherman took this renewed effort very seriously. Up to that time, only one ...brigade of the Fifteenth Corps had launched an assault and it was repulsed without making a dent in the fortifications. During the latter half of the afternoon, however, five brigades tried their hand in three separate attacks, with the cooperation of one brigade from the Seventeenth Corps.
It would have been better if Sherman had been able to coordinate these efforts, but that level of coordination was not
When Sherman persuaded Grant to renew assaults in an effort to help McClernand, he was thinking mostly of Blair’s and Tuttle’s divisions as the units to call on. Sherman had earlier given Steele wide ...latitude to conduct operations along the north face of Lockett’s line as he saw fit, only recommending a possible point of attack. That point was the place Thayer’s brigade had approached without an attack on May 19. The ground at the foot of Fort Hill Ridge and at the bottom of Mint Spring Bayou offered a large sheltered spot for the assembly of an assault force
McClernand had a different tactical situation to deal with than either Sherman or McPherson on May 22. McClernand’s corps held the far left of Grant’s line, and his sector embraced not just one major ...road leading into Vicksburg but two. He intended to advance along both Baldwin’s Ferry Road and the Southern Railroad of Mississippi toward two strong Confederate works. The terrain probably was more jumbled here than elsewhere, and McClernand certainly knew no more about his opponent’s earthworks and troop dispositions than did his colleagues. He experimented with an unusual troop formation to bring his manpower close to the
The process of honoring the participants of the battle of May 22 began on many levels after that day. The less pleasant task of identifying those who failed the test of courage also began. Honor and ...infamy coexisted in the aftermath of battle, but most survivors preferred to praise than condemn, overlooking the faltering of their comrades. For a selected few, moments of battlefield conduct stuck in the public mind and made heroes of obscure soldiers. The life trajectories of these people changed dramatically because of the battle of May 22.
Although Col. Peter J. Sullivan was not in command
Grant instructed McPherson to renew offensive efforts on the Seventeenth Corps sector that afternoon, but true to his performance of the morning, the corps commander displayed little willingness to ...take those instructions seriously. He agreed to do what he could along Jackson Road and sent his reserve division under Brig. Gen. Isaac F. Quinby to help McClernand. The Thirteenth Corps commander could not have expected more of his colleague, but in the end neither of McPherson’s efforts helped him. Logan did not press his men forward with any effect, and Quinby’s fine division was frittered away by McClernand himself in
