Details
GRANT, ULYSSES, S., President. Autograph letter signed ("U.S. Grant") as Major General, to General Charles Hamilton, Lagrange, Tennessee, 26 November 1862. 2 1/4 pages, 4to, silked, very lightly soiled.
GRANT TAKES CHARGE, AND PREPARES FOR HIS FIRST ATTEMPT ON VICKSBURG: "SHERMAN LEAVES MEMPHIS TODAY"
The newly appointed commander of the Department of the Tennessee writes the commander of the Left Wing, XIII Corps, of the Army of the Tennessee, giving detailed instructions: "You will be prepared to move with your entire command, except one regiment of [General John] McArthur's Division now in charge of Contrabands, Southward, making Coldwater the first day, by the most Easterly roads found practicable for Artillery...[General Isaac] Quinby will march directly from Moscow, taking everything clean from that place, leaving no garrison...No provision will be made for a reserve for the entire command...[General W.T.] Sherman leaves Memphis today and is instructed to reach water [the Mississippi River] to the Southwest of Holly Springs on Sunday next. Our march must be so arranged as to reach water to the South, Southeast & Southwest of Holly Springs..."
Grant had taken command of the Army of the Tennessee in October 1862 and immediately planned a two-pronged assault on the Confederate stronghold. The overland advance from the south was halted by 3500 cavalry led by Confederate General Earl Van Dorn, who attacked Grant's rear on 20 December 1862, capturing his advance base at Holly Springs. Sherman's army landed by boat at Chickasaw Bluffs, just a few miles north of Vicksburg, but he too was repulsed by the rebels. The Union army made several more attempts to assault and capture Vicksburg by land and by water in 1862 and 1863, but they were not successful until 4 July 1863 when Grant's armies finally starved the Confederates into submission.
GRANT TAKES CHARGE, AND PREPARES FOR HIS FIRST ATTEMPT ON VICKSBURG: "SHERMAN LEAVES MEMPHIS TODAY"
The newly appointed commander of the Department of the Tennessee writes the commander of the Left Wing, XIII Corps, of the Army of the Tennessee, giving detailed instructions: "You will be prepared to move with your entire command, except one regiment of [General John] McArthur's Division now in charge of Contrabands, Southward, making Coldwater the first day, by the most Easterly roads found practicable for Artillery...[General Isaac] Quinby will march directly from Moscow, taking everything clean from that place, leaving no garrison...No provision will be made for a reserve for the entire command...[General W.T.] Sherman leaves Memphis today and is instructed to reach water [the Mississippi River] to the Southwest of Holly Springs on Sunday next. Our march must be so arranged as to reach water to the South, Southeast & Southwest of Holly Springs..."
Grant had taken command of the Army of the Tennessee in October 1862 and immediately planned a two-pronged assault on the Confederate stronghold. The overland advance from the south was halted by 3500 cavalry led by Confederate General Earl Van Dorn, who attacked Grant's rear on 20 December 1862, capturing his advance base at Holly Springs. Sherman's army landed by boat at Chickasaw Bluffs, just a few miles north of Vicksburg, but he too was repulsed by the rebels. The Union army made several more attempts to assault and capture Vicksburg by land and by water in 1862 and 1863, but they were not successful until 4 July 1863 when Grant's armies finally starved the Confederates into submission.