Clark served from 1863 to1865.Link to the catalog
1863: Natchez writer Sarah Dorsey first published
Agnes Graham, Dorsey’s first work of fiction, was published serially in a southern literary journal.
January 1, 1863: President Abraham Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation
The executive order abolished slavery in all Confederate states. As a result, black soldiers were able to fight for the Union and slavery became a central issue in the Civil War.
Image: Illustrated drawing from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. The except describing the drawing reads, “Few incidents have been more curious and instructive than that witnessed some time before the fall of Vicksburg, when the slaves of Jefferson Davis from his plantation on the Mississippi came into camp. It seemed in itself the doom of slavery…”
March 1863: Yazoo Pass Expedition fails
In an effort to by-pass Vicksburg, the Federals sent the navy into the flooded Mississippi Delta through the Yazoo Pass. The expedition failed when Confederates at Fort Pemberton near Greenwood successfully repulsed the Union gunboats in mid-March. To aid in this attempt, Confederate forces sunk the ship The Star of the West in the Tallahatchie River near Greenwood to prevent the passage of Union ships.
April 30, 1863: Union navy lands at Bruinsburg
Finding an unguarded landing at Bruinsburg, south of Grand Gulf, the Union launched the largest amphibious landing conducted by the U. S. Army until the Normandy Invasion on June 6, 1944.Link to the catalog
May 1863: Union besieges Vicksburg
Arriving at Vicksburg, Grant launched two assaults against the Confederate lines (May 19 and May 22). After both assaults failed, Grant decided to lay siege to Vicksburg. After 47 days, Pemberton asked for terms of surrender on July 3 and surrendered his garrison on the Fourth of July.
Image: As supplies dwindled in Vicksburg during the siege and throughout Mississippi, residents were forced to improvise for basic necessities. This is an example of a candle made from a corn cob.
May 1, 1863: Battle of Port Gibson
After landing at Bruinsburg, Ulysses S. Grant moved his army inland and fought a day-long battle against Confederate General John Bowen’s smaller force. Pushing Bowen back, Grant finally established a foothold on Mississippi soil.Link to the catalog
May 12, 1863: Battle of Raymond
General James B. McPherson, commanding the right wing of Grant’s army, met a small force of Confederates at Raymond. After learning that there were Confederate troops in the Jackson vicinity, Grant decided to turn toward Jackson before moving against Vicksburg.
May 14, 1863: Battle of Jackson
Two days after the Battle of Raymond, Union forces entered Jackson after a brief skirmish with forces under Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston, who fell back from Jackson. After burning factories, warehouses, and other parts of the city, Grant’s troops turned west toward Vicksburg.
Image: This necklace was stolen from a home during the Battle of Jackson by Daniel Jones, who served in the the 17th Iowa Infantry. The necklace was preserved by his family and returned to the state in 2010.
May 16, 1863: Grant is victorious at Champion Hill
Confederate General John C. Pemberton, commanding the troops in Vicksburg, attempted to cut Grant’s supply line to the southeast. Leaving some troops in Vicksburg, Pemberton’s army was met by Grant’s fast-moving army at Champion Hill, near Edwards. After a bloody engagement, Pemberton retreated with most of the army intact across the Big Black River.
Image: The Coker House, built in 1852, is located on the southern portion of the Champion Hill Battlefield. It sustained fire from both Federal and Confederate artillery and served as a field hospital. The house was restored in 2008 by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Visitors are welcome at the site which is located three miles east of Edwards on Highway 467 in front of the Cal-Maine Foods plant. For more information, call 601-446-6502.
May 17, 1863: Battle of the Big Black River Bridge
Attempting to hold the river crossing to get as many troops across as possible, Pemberton was again defeated by Grant’s troops on the east bank of the Big Black River. The remaining Confederate forces fell back into the defenses at Vicksburg.Link to the catalog
June 7, 1863: Black Mississippians fight in Battle of Milliken’s Bend
In one of the earliest battles involving black soldiers, Union forces successfully repulsed an attempt by Confederates in Louisiana to capture this supply depot on the Mississippi River.
July 5-25, 1863: Sherman’s Expedition to Jackson and Siege of Jackson
Following the surrender of Vicksburg, Union General William T. Sherman returned to Jackson to defeat Joseph E. Johnston’s army. After a brief siege, Johnston retreated across the Pearl River and Sherman returned to Vicksburg.Link to the catalog
April 17, 1863: Colonel Benjamin Grierson’s Union cavalry raid
In order to distract Confederate forces from landing on the Mississippi River, Grant ordered Colonel Benjamin Grierson on a raid from Lagrange, Tennessee, to Newton Station to cut the Mississippi Central Railroad. After reaching Newton on April 24, Grierson continued south to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.