Confederate cavalry under Earl Van Dorn struck the Union supply depot at Holly Springs, Mississippi, capturing the garrison and destroying stores meant to support Ulysses S. Grant’s overland advance toward Vicksburg. The raid disrupted Union logistics and helped force Grant to reconsider how to reach Vicksburg. It set the stage for a shift from an overland approach to a river-and-bayou campaign.
Union forces under William T. Sherman attempted to approach Vicksburg from the northeast via the Yazoo River route. The attacks failed against strong Confederate defenses in difficult swamp and ridge terrain. The defeat showed how hard a direct approach to Vicksburg’s defenses could be.
A Union expedition led by John A. McClernand, supported by naval forces, moved against the Confederate stronghold at Arkansas Post (Fort Hindman). The fort surrendered after combined land and naval pressure. The victory removed a Confederate base that threatened Union river traffic and improved Union security on the river system feeding the Vicksburg effort.
Rear Admiral David D. Porter led part of the Union fleet and transports past Confederate guns on the Vicksburg bluffs during the night. This risky move put vessels below Vicksburg, making it possible to ferry Grant’s army across the Mississippi and operate on the city’s southern and eastern approaches. It was a key step toward breaking the stalemate from earlier failed approaches.
Union cavalry under Benjamin Grierson rode from Tennessee to Baton Rouge in a long raid across Mississippi. The raid damaged railroads and diverted Confederate attention and troops away from Grant’s main movement toward Vicksburg. It helped Grant operate with fewer immediate threats to his marching columns.
After crossing the Mississippi River into Mississippi, Grant’s forces fought Confederates near Port Gibson. The Union victory secured a firm “beachhead” for continued operations inland and helped force the Confederates to abandon Grand Gulf as a major blocking position. With this opening, Grant could march toward rail and road hubs east of Vicksburg.
Grant’s army fought and defeated a Confederate force at Raymond, Mississippi. The battle contributed to Grant’s decision to turn east and strike Jackson, the state capital and an important rail and communications center. This move aimed to prevent Confederate reinforcements from organizing effectively against the Union advance.
Union forces under Sherman and McPherson entered Jackson after fighting a delaying Confederate defense. Grant’s forces then cut telegraph lines and destroyed railroad and industrial resources important to Confederate operations. By neutralizing Jackson as a supply and coordination hub, Grant reduced the risk of a coordinated Confederate counterattack while he turned back toward Vicksburg.
At Champion Hill, Grant’s forces attacked and defeated John C. Pemberton’s army in what is widely viewed as the campaign’s pivotal field battle. The loss forced Confederates to retreat toward Vicksburg rather than remain in open country where they could maneuver. The result helped trap Pemberton inside Vicksburg’s defenses, where a siege became likely.
Union troops attacked Confederate defenses at the Big Black River and captured large numbers of prisoners and artillery. The Confederate retreat became disorganized, and the survivors fell back behind Vicksburg’s fortifications. The battle cleared the last major field position between Grant and Vicksburg, enabling the Union army to surround the city.
Grant’s army reached Vicksburg and invested (surrounded) the city, beginning a siege that combined trench warfare, artillery bombardment, and efforts to cut off supplies. Vicksburg’s location on high bluffs made it difficult to take by direct assault, so the Union relied on sustained pressure. The siege aimed to seize control of the Mississippi River by forcing the garrison to surrender.
Grant attempted major assaults against Vicksburg’s defenses, but the attacks were repulsed with heavy Union losses. After these failures, Union forces increasingly relied on siege engineering—digging trenches, building approaches, and maintaining steady bombardment. This shift reflected the strength of the Confederate fortifications and the steep, broken terrain around the city.
Confederate forces attacked Union supply and recruiting sites on the Louisiana side of the Mississippi, including Milliken’s Bend. Newly recruited Black Union soldiers fought in close combat, and naval gunboats helped drive off the attack. The fight mattered both for protecting Grant’s supply network during the siege and for demonstrating the combat role of African American troops.
After weeks of siege and worsening conditions inside the city, Pemberton surrendered Vicksburg and his army to Grant. The surrender gave the Union control of a crucial stretch of the Mississippi River and was a major strategic turning point in the war’s Western Theater. It also allowed Grant to shift attention to remaining Confederate forces in Mississippi.
Soon after Vicksburg fell, Union forces under Sherman moved east to confront Joseph E. Johnston’s army near Jackson. After days of operations and siege-like fighting around the city, Johnston withdrew, and the Union ended the expedition later in July. This closing phase helped secure the campaign’s results by reducing immediate Confederate pressure in central Mississippi.
Vicksburg Campaign (December 1862–July 1863)