.jpg?w=1)
PROPERTY FROM THE FORBES COLLECTION
GRANT, Ulysses S. Autograph letter signed ("U. S. Grant"), as commanding General of the Army of the Tennessee, to Admiral David D. Porter (1813-1891), Helena, Arkansas, 14 February 1863. 1 pages, 8vo, ruled paper. FINE.
Details
GRANT, Ulysses S. Autograph letter signed ("U. S. Grant"), as commanding General of the Army of the Tennessee, to Admiral David D. Porter (1813-1891), Helena, Arkansas, 14 February 1863. 1 pages, 8vo, ruled paper. FINE.
THE ARMY'S STAR GENERAL TO THE NAVY'S TOP ADMIRAL, ON THE SINKING OF THE STEAMER VICKSBURG
A fine autograph letter from the Vicksburg campaign, mentioning General Sherman: "The steamer Vicksburg, if sunk at al [sic], is sunk in shallow water. Gen. Sherman sent immediately on the receipt of your note to ascertain certainly whether the report of her being sunk was true but the messenger has not yet returned. Col. Bissell has been down to the point and reports as above." Grant, still relatively new to his command of the Army of the Tennessee, was trying to cut a supply route to the Mississippi through the shallow and heavily wooded bayou country, seeking an entrance point below the menacing Confederate guns guarding the approach to Vicksburg. He thought he found what he was looking for at Helena, Arkansas. A once thriving trade route linking the Yazoo Pass, Moon Lake and the Mississippi River had been blocked up by a levee. Grant blasted the levee and got his gunboats onto the now flooded bayous. The rebels, however, tenaciously defended every inch of this swampy ground, and stalled the bluecoats with hastily constructed Fort Pemberton, at the Yazoo Pass. Grant was forced to change tactics, so he decided on the breathtakingly daring move of turning away from Vicksburg and moving against Jackson further east. He destroyed the Vicksburg supply route, as well as the armies coming to reinforce it, to win victory at last.
THE ARMY'S STAR GENERAL TO THE NAVY'S TOP ADMIRAL, ON THE SINKING OF THE STEAMER VICKSBURG
A fine autograph letter from the Vicksburg campaign, mentioning General Sherman: "The steamer Vicksburg, if sunk at al [sic], is sunk in shallow water. Gen. Sherman sent immediately on the receipt of your note to ascertain certainly whether the report of her being sunk was true but the messenger has not yet returned. Col. Bissell has been down to the point and reports as above." Grant, still relatively new to his command of the Army of the Tennessee, was trying to cut a supply route to the Mississippi through the shallow and heavily wooded bayou country, seeking an entrance point below the menacing Confederate guns guarding the approach to Vicksburg. He thought he found what he was looking for at Helena, Arkansas. A once thriving trade route linking the Yazoo Pass, Moon Lake and the Mississippi River had been blocked up by a levee. Grant blasted the levee and got his gunboats onto the now flooded bayous. The rebels, however, tenaciously defended every inch of this swampy ground, and stalled the bluecoats with hastily constructed Fort Pemberton, at the Yazoo Pass. Grant was forced to change tactics, so he decided on the breathtakingly daring move of turning away from Vicksburg and moving against Jackson further east. He destroyed the Vicksburg supply route, as well as the armies coming to reinforce it, to win victory at last.