(click on image for an enlargement in a new window)

The Bayou Expeditions: Grant Moves Against Vicksburg— and Fails (continued)

THE YAZOO PASS EXPEDITION. The Yazoo Pass project, which sought to turn the right flank of Vicksburg by sending an expedition through the Delta waterways to the bluffs north of the city, was for a time the most promising of the bayou attempts. By exploding a mine in the Yazoo Pass, 325 river miles north of Vicksburg, access from the Mississippi into the rivers of the Delta was secured. With paddle wheels reversed against the roaring current which surged through the crevasse, and suffering extensive damage in collisions with trees and floating debris, the gunboats and transports carrying a division of infantry began the hazardous journey. Almost a month was required to reach the calmer waters of the Coldwater River.

Notified of the threat, Pemberton dispatched Maj. Gen. W. W. Loring's Division to halt the Union advance. Fort Pemberton, over looking the Yalabusha River 90 miles north of Vicksburg, was quickly constructed of earth and cotton bales. The land surrounding the fort was completely flooded, permitting approach by water only. On March 11, the Union gunboats began an artillery bombardment and were promptly greeted by a heavy return fire as "Old Blizzards" Loring gained his nickname by pacing the parapet and urging his gunners to, "Give them blizzards, boys! Give them blizzards!" Grant had planned to send 30,000 men through the Yazoo Pass; but Loring's gunners blasted back every attempt to pass the fort, forcing the fleet to withdraw. The Yazoo Pass expedition was one of the great flanking attempts of the war—the route from Milliken's Bend to the rear of Vicksburg through the pass was over 700 miles, yet it was only 30 miles direct from Milliken's Bend to Vicksburg.