Under Siege! (10 page)

F
OR SEVERAL WEEKS
, Lucy and her mother and brothers had been content in their country home near the little town of Bolton’s Depot. “My mother, so comfortably fixed … considered herself safe,” Lucy said. But that all changed when they learned that Bolton’s Depot was in the direct path of the Union army: “Suddenly one day,” remembered Lucy, “there flashed through the town the news,
the Yankees are coming!”
Fearing for her family’s lives, Indiana McRae determined that they must return immediately to Vicksburg. She hastily packed, ordering Rice to have the surrey and a wagon “ready to make an early start for Vicksburg tomorrow morning.”

When Rice asked what was going on, Lucy’s mother was reluctant to inform him, for she desperately needed his help and feared he would run away. When she did finally tell him, Lucy recalled, “I remember so well how the man almost rebelled, so anxious was he to get to the Federal army. I can see how fine and faithful he was to obey his mistress, when every fiber in his heart was crying out for that freedom.”

Rice loaded all the trunks and household possessions he could fit into the wagon. Everything else had to be left behind. Early the next morning they started out. Rice drove the wagon, while Lucy, her mother and brothers, and their other slave, Mary Ann, followed behind, crowded into a surrey.

For ten-year-old Lucy, their journey that day was the adventure of a
lifetime. As frightened as she was, she was caught up in the drama unfolding before her eyes. “When we drove into the little village of Bolton’s Depot, all was confusion,” she related. “Confederate cavalry and infantry were grouped about. To my young eyes this was exciting beyond expression, and right close did we children huddle to mother as she sat in the surrey, driving as fast as our heavy loads permitted. She inquired as to news, and the reply that the Yankees were close on us caused her much alarm.

“Mother kept Rice ahead with his heavy load, and our progress was slow. I shall never forget how my heart would beat as they talked of the Yankees being so close behind us. I do not know what I thought they were, but it was certainly something very dreadful. We pushed on, being stopped here and there and questioned. When we reached the Joe Davis place, belonging to the brother of the President, we found the plantation deserted … In answer to our request for water, a negro woman told us she was looking for the army every minute. Mother said, ‘drive on, Rice,’ but Rice was not eager to go. Mother was constantly saying, ‘drive on, Rice, or they will catch us.’ On our journey we could hear the roaring of cannon, and afterwards knew it was the Battle of Champion’s Hill.”

After long hours on a road jammed with horses, wagons, and carriages also fleeing toward Vicksburg, they finally reached the city. According to Lucy, with great relief they found that “there were no pickets along the road, no guards to ask questions, and we drove right on into town.”

THE ROAD TO VICKSBURG
May 15-19, 1863

O
n May 15, Grant and most of his army departed Jackson, leaving the city in flames. Fred rode with his father. Everyone was tense, uncertain of what lay before them on the road to Vicksburg. The constant rain, the muddy roads, and the harsh hot sun slowed Grant’s army. Northerners who had been in Mississippi since the beginning of Grant’s campaign were becoming toughened to the heat and humidity, but newer troops, used to cool breezes, struggled to keep up.

The army stopped for the night, then was on the road early the next morning when spies confirmed that Pemberton was moving eastward toward them with 22,000 men. Grant, heading west, had 30,000 men. Even with greater troop strength, he expected a tough fight against Pemberton. They had served together in the Mexican War, and Grant knew that Pemberton was smart, strong, and disciplined. “This I thought of all the time he was in Vicksburg and I outside of it; and I knew he would hold on to the last,” Grant later wrote.

Pemberton also knew a hard fight was ahead. His spies had reported Grant’s troop strength, and he immediately regretted having left 10,000 of his men behind in Vicksburg—something he had to do in case the Yankees
attacked from the river. He had expected to meet up with General Joe Johnston and merge their two armies, knowing that together they would outnumber the Federals. But where was Old Joe? Pemberton had received no word from him since Johnston had abandoned Jackson several days earlier.

Pemberton had other problems as well. He and his generals disagreed on strategy for the upcoming battle. Also, because Pemberton was a Northerner, some of the troops did not trust his leadership. He was from Philadelphia, and two of his brothers were Union officers. His wealthy family had disowned him when he decided to fight for the South—a decision influenced by his beautiful young wife, Patty, who was from Virginia and was passionately pro-Confederate.

Fortunately for Pemberton, all his generals and their men were united in their determination to beat the Yankees, even if they had to do it without Joe Johnston’s help.

On May 16, Grant’s and Pemberton’s armies met halfway between Jackson and Vicksburg on a farm belonging to the Champion family and began lining up opposite each other. The land included a high hill that became the center of what would be known as the Battle of Champion’s Hill—the fiercest and most bloody battle of the Vicksburg campaign.

In the bloody Battle of Champion’s Hill, when soldiers ran out of ammunition, they fixed their bayonets and charged.

On that morning, Grant was in high spirits, confident the day would end in victory. He called out to his men that this was the day they would fight the battle that would win Vicksburg. On a signal from officers, the battle began. Cannon roared their opening volleys and the two sides charged each other, then regrouped and charged again. Generals usually stayed far enough behind the front lines to be out of the range of fire, but on this day Grant stayed close to the men, riding up and down the lines on his horse, shouting orders, and encouraging and inspiring his troops.

Fred witnessed his father’s bravery during a crucial moment. “Our line broke and was falling back when Father moved forward and rallied the
men. He rode to all parts of the field, giving orders to the generals, and dispatching his staff in all directions.” Appreciative soldiers fought hard for their commander. Many later reported seeing him on the battlefield, and several commented on his humbleness and his encouragement to the men, who always cheered when they saw him.

Both sides gave their all. When they were the attackers, the Confederates often employed their famed Rebel yell, meant to terrorize the bluecoats. One Union soldier described it as sounding like 10,000 starving and howling wolves.

Pemberton and his officers kept watching for Joe Johnston to join the battle, but Johnston didn’t come. Finally, after a long and bloody day, the Union, with its superior numbers, forced the Confederates to withdraw in defeat.

N
IGHT FELL
. Bill Aspinwall, a Union soldier, had fought hard all day. He had been shot in the shoulder but could not get medical assistance because his injury was light compared to so many others. In pain and too exhausted to do anything more, he bedded down on a corner of the battlefield. Nearby lay a Confederate soldier who was severely wounded. Feeling sorry for him, Aspinwall offered to share his blanket, and the soldier accepted. Though they had fought against each other hours before, now they lay under the stars and talked. The Confederate was growing weaker. Fearful he would die, he gave Aspinwall a card with the address and names of his wife and children and asked him to let his family know what had happened to him. Aspinwall promised he would. He drifted off to sleep, and when he awoke, the Confederate was dead.

Aspinwall couldn’t write because of his shoulder injury, but he found another soldier who penned a letter to the Confederate’s wife. Then he made his way to a Confederate field hospital and gave the letter to an officer, who thanked him and said he would see that it was delivered.

Such acts of kindness were not uncommon. Grant later wrote, “While a battle is raging one can see his enemy mowed down by the thousand, or the ten thousand, with great composure; but after the battle these scenes are distressing, and one is naturally disposed to do as much to alleviate the suffering of an enemy as a friend.”

It had been a terrible day on both sides, with a combined estimate of over 8,000 men dead. In describing the Battle of Champion’s Hill, one soldier commented, “We killed each other as fast as we could.”