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At dawn on May 16, Pemberton received Johnston's message announcing
the fall of Jackson and ordering him to move toward Clinton and a
junction with Johnston's small force. How Johnston expected that to
happen when he was moving the Jackson army northeast away from Clinton
he did not say. In any event Pemberton ordered an about-face to get his
army moving northwest to Brownsville, where he would then turn toward
Clinton.
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THE BATTLE OF BAKERS CREEK, MAY 16. (LC)
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But it was too late. Pemberton's pickets clashed with the advance of
McClernand's corps down the Raymond Edwards road and the Middle road,
the latter located between the Jackson-Edwards and Raymond-Edwards
roads. Pemberton, making poor use of cavalry to screen his advance, had
been caught off guard and would now have to fight it out with the Union
columns on his front. He posted his three divisions in defensive
positions along Jackson Creek ridge.
In contrast to the bungling on the Confederate march to battle, Grant
continued to manipulate his corps with great skill.
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In contrast to the bungling on the Confederate march to battle, Grant
continued to manipulate his corps with great skill. While McClernand
assembled his troops and marched to the coming fight, McPherson sent his
corps down the Jackson road, approaching the Bakers Creek area just east
of Edwards practically unnoticed. The Union marches were brisk and
without any hint of the problems that plagued the Confederates.
May 16 promised to be a hot day and would test the endurance of many
soldiers, blue and gray. Men on the Rebel left and Yankee right fought a
particularly exhausting fight in a series of charges and
countercharges.
Action on this sector of the battlefield developed as the
Confederates sparred with McClernand's corps. Stephen D. Lee, commanding
a brigade in Stevenson's division, received word of McPherson's approach
on the Jackson road well beyond Pemberton's left. The Jackson road
veered to the southwest over a lofty eminence known locally as Champion
Hill. The initial phase of the day's fight would be fought in the area
of this hill that gave the battle its name.
Pemberton shifted his left to meet the threat posed by McPherson but
waited almost too long in sending reinforcements to meet the aggressive
attacks by Logan's and Hovey's divisions. The hard-charging bluecoats
moved forward about 10:30 A.M. and by 1:00 P.M. had practically wrecked
Stevenson's division.
(click on image for a PDF version)
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BATTLE OF CHAMPION HILL, MAY 16, 1863, 10:30 A.M. TO 1:00 P. M.
Union troops advance toward the Big Black. The two armies meet on the
Raymond and Middle roads. Pemberton posts his army from the ridge
overlooking Jackson Creek over to the Jackson road. The extension of his
line is made necessary by the approach of Logan's and Hovey's divisions.
Lee's brigade rushes to meet the Yankees. Hovey and Logan attack. Lee
sees that he is overwhelmed by superior Federal numbers. Barton's
brigade is sent to Lee's left, but the Union onslaught is too much and
Pemberton's left begins to collapse. With his left battered and forced
back, Pemberton is in danger of losing his entire army.
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Belatedly recognizing the dilemma on his left, Pemberton ordered
Bowen and Loring to send help to Stevenson. Both insisted that it was
too dangerous on their own fronts to weaken their forces. This was only
partially true because McClernand had not shown the fighting spirit of
McPherson. The hesitation of the two Confederate generals indicated the
absence of a good working relationship with the commanding general.
Loring and some of his brigade commanders had been observed earlier
openly laughing at Pemberton's orders.
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THIS 1887 KURZ AND ALLISON PRINT SHOWS LOGAN RALLYING HIS MEN AT
CHAMPION HILL. (COURTESY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS LIBRARY, DUKE UNIVERSITY)
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Finally Bowen rushed his troops to Champion Hill, the "hill of death"
Hovey called it, just in time to prevent the collapse of the Rebel
left. In one of the most brilliant charges of the war, Bowen's division,
led by Francis Cockrell and his Missourians, crashed through Hovey's
brigades and reached the crest of Champion Hill. Cockrell held a
magnolia flower in one hand and his sword in the other as he cheered his
troops on. Bowen's success threatened the right wing of Grant's army.
But as in the other recent battles, Grant had reserves to throw into the
breach, while Bowen looked in vain for support to hold his position.
Pemberton desperately needed the two divisions he had left in
Vicksburg.
(click on image for a PDF version)
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BATTLE OF CHAMPION HILL, MAY 16. 1863, 1:00 P.M. TO 5:30 P.M.
With the most immediate danger on his left, Pemberton sends word to Bowen and
Loring to rush reinforcements to the Jackson road. Bowen's charge sends
the Yankees reeling over Champion Hill. Union reinforcements arrive and
blunt Bowen's attack. With no support from Loring, who had refused
Pemberton's order, Bowen retreats. His right saved, Grant gets his
troops on the Middle and Raymond roads in motion. The pressure threatens
Bowen's flank and prevents Loring from assisting him. Pemberton is
convinced the day is lost and orders a withdrawal. The route across
Bakers Creek via the Jackson road is cut off by the Federals, and the
Confederates are forced toward the Raymond road route back to the Big
Black. Loring's troops fight a fierce holding action so the army can
escape.
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Bowen had to retreat, and Grant at last spurred McClernand into
action to prevent Pemberton from shifting any more troops from his right
to the Champion Hill area. The heavy Federal pressure forced Pemberton
to order a retreat. Loring's division held long enough to give Bowen's
and Stevenson's divisions time to escape across Bakers Creek to their
Big Black entrenchments. During the holding action by Loring,
Pemberton's former friend, Lloyd Tilghman, was struck and killed by a
Union artillery shell. Loring decided that he might get cut off by
advancing Union troops of Eugene Carr's division if he tried to follow
the other Confederate divisions. He led his division south and northeast
back toward Jackson, where he ultimately linked up with Johnston.
During the battle at Champion Hill, Pemberton had on hand 23,000 to
Grant's 32,000 (Sherman arrived too late to participate in the fight).
Confederate losses totaled 3,800 while Grant counted about 2,400
casualties.
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UNION TROOPS PURSUE CONFEDERATES RETREATING AT CHAMPION HILL. (FRANK AND
MARIE WOOD PRINT COLLECTION)
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Champion Hill was the decisive battle of the Vicksburg campaign and
one of the most significant struggles of the Civil War. Had Grant lost,
he would have probably been cut off from his base at Grand Gulf and the
very existence of his army threatened. But as subsequent events proved,
when he won at Champion Hill, Grant won Vicksburg.
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