During the American Civil War, Grand Gulf was the site of multiple encounters. In 1862, Admiral David Farragut attempted to take a fleet of Union gunboats past Grand Gulf to attack Vicksburg. He was harassed by guerillas shooting from Grand Gulf, which caused General Thomas Williams to attempt to burn the town. The local citizens convinced him that the gunfire did not come from citizens of the town and it was spared. Even so, the town was burned by Union forces a few weeks later. During Ulysses S. Grant's Vicksburg Campaign, Confederate forces during the Battle of Grand Gulf repelled his invasion fleet and did not let his forces pass north on the Mississippi River. Grant then took his forces south to Bruinsburg, fought the Battle of Port Gibson, and marched to Vicksburg.