Vicksburg Campaign: Battle of Arkansas Post
January 9-11, 1863
All photo's for this page were taken from: http://www.civilwaralbum.com
After the failure of Grant’s initial attempt to take Vicksburg, Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand launched his own attempt to take the city. McClernand, a War Democrat, had convinced Lincoln that he should be allowed to raise his own army. Halleck, now the head of the whole army and no friend of Grant, didn’t approve of McClernand’s action and gave Grant overall command of the Vicksburg area including McClernand. The effect of Lincoln’s meddling was that McClernand was the second ranking officer on the field, outranking Sherman.
Confederate rifle pits
After Sherman’s retreat from Chickasaw Bayou McClernand ordered Sherman to join him in an attack against Fort Hindman upstream from the Mississippi on the Arkansas River. Grant was still out on his overland campaign to take Oxford and out of touch with Sherman. Given McClernand's rank, Sherman really no choice in the matter and had to do as he was told, so he joined McClernand, going as far as planning the attack.
Much is made of Vicksburgs control of the river, preventing the free flow of Union shipping, but the South couldn't use the river either. It was full of Union gunboats. Fort Hindman was suppose to control the Arkansas River but the Arkansas didn't flow anywhere the Union wanted to go and the Union's presence at the mouth on the Mississippi prevented Confederate river traffic from moving supplies to where they were needed. All of this made Fort Hindman superfluous and a pointless place to attack; but McClernand wanted a victory and the glory that went with it and Fort Hindman offered the opportunity for both.
The river view at Fort Hindman, the fort iself is gone.
Sherman’s troops overran the Confederate outer defenses on January 9th. On January 10th Rear Adm. David D. Porter bombarded the fort from the Arkansas River. On January 11th Union artillery opened up on the fort from across the river while the infantry moved into position to attack. Porter’s boats resumed their shelling and the Confederate defenders, seeing the hopelessness of their position, surrendered. Taking Fort Hindman made no difference whatsoever to the battle at Vicksburg but it was a victory at a time when victories were hard to come by.
Grant was furious with McClernand for launching an attack without his approval, but the operation had been planned and executed by his friend Sherman, and it didn't hurt anything, so Grant let it go; but, he ordered McClernand back to the Mississippi and began looking for an opportunity to sack him.
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