PORT GIBSON, Battle of. After much unsuccessful effort to reach Vicksburg from the north, General Grant, late in January 1863, directed his attention to opening a canal which had been begun the year before across the peninsula on the west hank of the Mississippi. The canal proving impracticable and other plans failing, among them an expedition up the Yazoo River, Grant determined to move his army by land down the west bank of the river some 70 miles and across the Mississippi below Vicks burg, while transports for crossing should run past the Vicksburg batteries. Admiral Far ragat had already run two of his vessels past the Confederate batteries at Port Hudson and Grand Gulf, and cleared the river of the enemy's boats below Vicksburg. On the night of 16 April, Admiral D. D. Porter ran the Vicksburg bat teries with a fleet of six vessels and three transports carrying stores, one of the transports being lost. Six days later, five more transports, towing 12 barges, ran the batteries safely, a sixth being sunk and half the barges disabled. Meanwhile, Grant had marched McClernand's and McPherson's corps from Milliken's Bend for New Carthage, and upon arriving at that place and finding a limited number of transports the troops were marched to Hard Times, where a number of boats were collected from the dif ferent bayous in the vicinity, and 29 April, hav ing 10,000 troops on barges and transports, Grant was opposite Grand Gulf, prepared to land and carry the place by storm the moment the batter ies beating on the river had been silenced by the navy. Admiral Porter, with seven ironclads, opened the attack at 8 A.M., and engaged at close quarters until 1.30 P.M.; but from the great ele vation of the Confederate batteries, he found it impracticable to silence them with his guns, and therefore withdrew, when Grant immediately decided to land his men on the Louisiana shore and march them across the point to below Grand Gulf, the gunboats and transports to run the batteries. At dusk the gunboats engaged the batteries, and all the transports ran by, the gun boats following. Grant had heard of a good landing on the east bank of the river, and at daybreak of the 30th transports and gunboats began the ferrying of the troops across to Bruinsburg, 10 miles below Grand Gulf and 32 in a straight line below Vicksburg. At noon Mc Clernand's corps, four divisions, 18,000 men, had been landed, and at 4 P.M. McClernand pushed out into the country, and at 1 A.M. of 1 May met the Confederates 12 miles from Bruinsburg and four from Port Gibson, and after slight skir mish the advance division, under General Carr, lay on its arms until daybreak. The Confederate
force met was General Green's brigade, which had marched from Grand Gulf on the afternoon of the 30th. During the night it was joined by General Tracy's brigade from Vicksburg, and line was formed about three miles west of Port Gibson, across two roads converging on the town and uniting just outside of it. Green was across the southern road, and Tracy across the northern one, the roads running on two ridges, separated by a deep ravine, filled by a dense growth of cane and underbrush. At 5 A.M. I May the battle was opened by the advance of Osterhaus' division on the left, which was checked and repulsed by Tracy's brigade with much loss, and made no further progress until late in the afternoon. Carr's division, supported by Hovey's, advanced on the right and assaulted the ridge held by Green's brigade, and after a hard fight carried itapturing two guns and G over 300 prisoners, Green falling back toward Port Gibson. Gen. J. S. Bowen, commanding the Confederate forces at Grand Gulf, arrived on the field with General Baldwin's brigade, about 9 A.M., and formed line in Green's rear, Carr and Hovey continued to press Green, who was soon withdrawn and sent to assist Tracy, leaving Baldwin to oppose them. Early in the afternoon Baldwin was attacked, and a severe contest ensued, lasting nearly two hours, during which. Bowen, with two regiments of Col. F. M. Cockrell's brigade; which had arrived about noon, made a very deter mined effort to turn McClernand's right, but the attempt was defeated, and Cock rell's men joined Baldwin. Meanwhile, Lo gan's division of McPherson's corps had come up and, part of it joining Osterhaus, both ad vanced on Tracy's and Green's brigades and slowly forced them back. McClernand's troops on the right again attacked Baldwin, and just at sunset the entire Confederate force, Baldwin covering the rear, fell back through Port Gibson and destroyed the bridge over the south fork of Bayou Pierre, two miles beyond Port Gibson. Grant entered the place next morning. The Union forces engaged were four divisions of McClernand's corps and part of Logan's divi sion of McPherson's, in all about 23,000 men, and their losses were 131 killed, 719 wounded and 25 missing. The Confederate forces, under Bowen, were four brigades of 6,000 men and 13 guns. They lost five guns and reported 68 killed, 380 wounded and 384 missing. Consult 'Official Records' (Vol. XXIV) ; Greene, 'The Mississippi' ; Grant, Ulysses S., 'Personal Memoirs' (Vol. II) ;