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    Reevaluation Of Pemberton At Vicksburg
    Reevaluation Of Pemberton At Vicksburg
    Reevaluation Of Pemberton At Vicksburg
    Ebook88 pages1 hour

    Reevaluation Of Pemberton At Vicksburg

    By Major Malcolm G. Haynes

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    Historians have largely agreed that Pemberton should shoulder the blame for the poor Confederate performance during the Vicksburg campaign. General consensus exists among American Civil War historians that Pemberton proved a confused, indecisive, and incompetent commander and his poor leadership led to the Confederate defeat. However, an examination of the Vicksburg campaign conducted at the operational level of war shows that throughout the campaign, Pemberton led a capable and competent defense not just of Vicksburg, but of the Mississippi Department he commanded. He relied on an operational approach that involved fighting from prepared defensive positions in favorable terrain deep in his own territory and anchored by natural obstacles. To attack such a position, Pemberton knew an opponent would need a large force operating over an extended line of communications (LOC). Pemberton intended to interdict his opponent’s LOC using a strong cavalry force, thus preventing the enemy from achieving the offensive momentum necessary to break through Vicksburg’s defenses. This was a sound operational approach. However, it failed because of an ineffective Confederate command structure that, among other failures, denied Pemberton the resources, particularly adequate cavalry forces, required to implement his operational approach.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGolden Springs Publishing
    Release dateNov 6, 2015
    ISBN9781786253002
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      Book preview

      Reevaluation Of Pemberton At Vicksburg - Major Malcolm G. Haynes

      This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING—www.picklepartnerspublishing.com

      To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – picklepublishing@gmail.com

      Or on Facebook

      Text originally published in 2012 under the same title.

      © Pickle Partners Publishing 2015, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

      Publisher’s Note

      Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

      We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

      A REEVALUATION OF PEMBERTON AT VICKSBURG

      by

      MAJ Malcolm G. Haynes

      US Army

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Contents

      TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

      Abstract 5

      Introduction 6

      Literature Review 10

      Methodology 13

      Pemberton’s Early Military Career 14

      The River Crossing 20

      Maneuver in Eastern Louisiana 20

      Crossing the Mississippi River 26

      The Battle of Port Gibson 34

      Summary 36

      Grand Gulf through Champion Hill 37

      The Withdrawal to Vicksburg 40

      Conclusion 42

      REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 44

      Bibliography 46

      ABSTRACT

      Historians have largely agreed that Pemberton should shoulder the blame for the poor Confederate performance during the Vicksburg campaign. General consensus exists among American Civil War historians that Pemberton proved a confused, indecisive, and incompetent commander and his poor leadership led to the Confederate defeat. However, an examination of the Vicksburg campaign conducted at the operational level of war shows that throughout the campaign, Pemberton led a capable and competent defense not just of Vicksburg, but of the Mississippi Department he commanded. He relied on an operational approach that involved fighting from prepared defensive positions in favorable terrain deep in his own territory and anchored by natural obstacles. To attack such a position, Pemberton knew an opponent would need a large force operating over an extended line of communications (LOC). Pemberton intended to interdict his opponent’s LOC using a strong cavalry force, thus preventing the enemy from achieving the offensive momentum necessary to break through Vicksburg’s defenses. This was a sound operational approach. However, it failed because of an ineffective Confederate command structure that, among other failures, denied Pemberton the resources, particularly adequate cavalry forces, required to implement his operational approach.

      INTRODUCTION

      On July 4, 1863, underneath an old oak tree, Confederate General John C. Pemberton surrendered Vicksburg to General Ulysses S. Grant. Believed by many to be an impregnable fortress, the Gibraltar of the Confederacy, once besieged, had fallen in a matter of weeks. The defeat at Vicksburg remains a watershed moment in American history, propelling Grant to national fame and signaling the death knell of the Confederacy. Many military historians view the Vicksburg campaign as one of the most important in all of history.{1}

      J.F.C. Fuller, writing in 1956 after two world wars and the Korean War, called the Vicksburg campaign one of the most important ever fought by American combat forces.{2} The authors of the U.S. Army’s Field Manual (FM) of 1986 that earned fame as the AirLand Battle edition of FM 100-5: Operations called the Vicksburg campaign the most brilliant campaign ever fought on American soil.{3} Students at the School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS), the U.S. Army’s premier school for operational level planners, study Vicksburg in more detail than any other campaign because it provides students one of the first and best examples of operational art.

      Operational art is the arrangement of tactical actions in time, space, and purpose to achieve strategic objectives.{4} In securing Vicksburg, Grant achieved several important Union strategic objectives. He kept the mid-western states that depended on Mississippi River commerce loyal to the Union. At the same time, he split the Confederacy in half, isolating the western states from those to the east. Finally, because of its symbolic importance, the loss of Vicksburg dealt the Confederacy a devastating psychological blow. The manner in which Grant arranged his tactical engagements is just as impressive as the strategic outcomes.

      Grant struggled for months to capture Vicksburg. His first attempt in November 1862, a two-pronged overland campaign, ended in failure. Throughout the winter of 1862, Grant tried a series of maneuvers to bypass Vicksburg or secure key terrain on one of Vicksburg’s flanks. All these Bayou Expeditions failed. Finally, in April 1863, Grant launched a bold and risky plan. He maneuvered his forces to the south through eastern Louisiana, relying on a long and vulnerable line of communication (LOC). To divert Confederate attention and prevent them from attacking his vulnerable LOC, Grant launched a series of diversionary attacks—the most famous of which historians refer to as Grierson’s raid. Once Grant had maneuvered his forces south of Vicksburg, he crossed the Mississippi river at Bruinsburg and established a lodgment. In a break with standard practices, Grant then dispensed with a traditional LOC and foraged for sustenance as he outmaneuvered Confederate forces and cut Vicksburg’s LOC at Jackson, Mississippi. He then defeated Confederate forces at the

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