Grierson’s Raid During the Vicksburg Campaign

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To a point, the attitudes of the citizens of Garlandville must be taken with a grain of salt. They were, after all, surrounded by heavily armed soldiers whom they had very recently shot at and were thus liable to be disagreeable. Still, such dissension did exist in the South throughout the war. Poverty, food shortages, government policies that unfairly favored large plantation owners over poor farmers, destruction of home’s and livelihoods–all this was stripping away loyalty to the Confederacy from many Southerners. The people of Garlandville had been willing to fight to defend their homes, but once they discovered the raiders meant them no harm, the obligation to bear arms against them disappeared. This was not really, as Grierson implied, due to any latent loyalty to the Union, but was rather part of the quite human desire to keep a roof over one’s head and a moderate amount of food in one’s stomach.

The raiders rode another 12 miles, stopping that night on a plantation belonging to a Dr. Mackadora, 50 miles from Newton Station. Newton had been the primary tactical objective of the raid. After leaving there, Grierson had complete discretion as to his route and final destination. The ride south through Garlandville had been to find a spot to rest and forage. His men would not be on the move again until the morning of the 26th. In the meantime, the Butternut Guerrillas were out gathering information about Confederate troop dispositions.

One of the scouts, dressed as a civilian, turned north, back toward the Southern Railroad, to cut the telegraph and perhaps burn a bridge or trestlework. Seven miles from the tracks, he ran into a regiment of Rebel cavalry from Brandon searching for Grierson. They were riding directly toward the Mackadora plantation, but the quick-thinking scout bluffed them. Claiming to have seen the raiders recently, he sent the horsemen galloping off in the wrong direction.

Grierson soon learned that Pemberton had been reinforcing Jackson and points east with infantry and artillery. He decided to move southwest, crossing the Pearl River and hitting the New Orleans, Jackson & Great Northern Railroad at Hazelhurst. From there, he would flank Confederate forces and eventually join Grant at Grand Gulf.

Pemberton, though, had finally guessed correctly regarding Grierson’s intentions. He ordered Maj. Gen. John Bowen, commander of the Grand Gulf garrison, to detach seven Mississippi cavalry companies to intercept the raiders. This, in turn, further weakened Bowen, who would soon be meeting Grant’s far superior force in battle. Pemberton was in a no-win situation. He could hardly allow a thousand enemy troops to romp around behind his lines, but the only way to stop them was by diverting men from strategically vital areas. By now, there was more than a division’s worth of troops scattered about the state hoping to stop Grierson. This, of course, was the primary objective of the raid, beyond damaging Pemberton’s supply line.

Rested and reprovisioned, the raiders set out again at 6 a.m. on April 26. They crossed the Leaf River, burning the bridge behind them. Arriving at Raleigh, they captured the county sheriff and confiscated $3,000 in cash, and then stopped for the night at Westville.

On April 27, the Butternut Guerrillas were again dressed in Confederate uniforms. Moving ahead of the main column, they seized a ferryboat on the Pearl River, presenting Grierson with an easy method of crossing. Reunited here with Forbes’ B Company, the raiders moved on to Hazelhurst. Here a string of boxcars was burned, but the flames spread to nearby buildings and suddenly the whole town was in danger of going up. Grierson set his men to work alongside the townspeople, fighting to save Hazelhurst. A hard rain fell that night, helping to contain the blaze. It was not until well after dark that the Illinoisans could move on. Now their course was due west, toward Grand Gulf.

Tags: 19th Century, America's Civil War, American Civil War, Historical Conflicts

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