, 1863-08-15
1t possible for the commander Of il to have.

e!uA3 uG u " aAQ lll0l 10 POSSIBLE OpPOItu.
nifty Of carrying the euemy's stronghold
should be allowed to escape through fault Of
mine, ordered Quimby's division, which FAs
all Of McPherson's corps then present. d bu5
1ou1 brigndes, to report to McC1efnand. ana aIa
notified him Of the order. showed nus ais-
10 satisfy him Of the necessity Of an active
diversion on their part to hold as much force
in tlteir fronts as Was possible. The diversion
was promptly and vigorously made, and re-
suited In the increase Of our mortality List
fully fifty per cent, without advancing our
position or giving us other advantages,
About $50 ?. m, received McCIenand's
fourth dispatch, as follows:
HEADQUARTERS 18TH Anxr conrs,l
May 2a, 1863.
GExEnA1: / hare received your dlepatch in re-.
gard to Gen. Qntmhy's division and General Nc;
press the enemy with all possible speed and doubt
not win force my way through. have lost no
ground. My men are in tWo Of the enemy's forts,
Several prisoners hpYe been taken who intimate
pressed. JOIN A. McC1EESASn,
Major General Commanding.
Mnjor General y. s. Grant, Department 81 the
Tennessee.
The assault Of this day proved the quality
Of the soldiers Of this army. Without entire
success, and with heavy loss, there was no
murmuring or complaining, no falling back,
nor other evidences Of decentralization.
After the failure Of the ga, I determined
upon regular siege. The troops now being
fully awake to the necessity Of this worked
diligently and cheerfuly. The work pro-
gTcssed rapidly mud satisfactorily until the Sd
st.s5 Of JGly' when ali was about ready for tnal
There vas great scarcity of engineer off,
earR in fha hnrtnuinr hftt Y1r6or fh. al-{j1Fp9
superiutendence Of Capt. F. E. Prime, Of the
engineer corps, Lieut. Col. Wilson, of my
staf, and Capt c. B. Comstock, of the en-
gineer corps, who Joined this command dur
ing the siege, snch practical experience was
gained rs would enable any division Of this
army hereafter to condnct a siege with con
siderable skin, IN the absence Of regular en-
gincer officers.
TIE CAr1TuLATIoN.
On the afternoon Of the Sd Of July, letter
Was received from Lieut.. Gen. Pemberton,
commanding the Confederate forces at Vteks-
burg, proposing m armistice and the appoint
| the capitu1atlon Ct the place. The correspon.
dence, copies Of which herewith transmit,
resulted IN the surrender of the city and gar
risoa Of Vieksburg at 10 o'clock a. M. July
4. 1858, On the following terms: The entire
garrison, officers and men, were to be paroled,
until exchanged by the proper authorities;
officers and men each to be furnished with j
parole signed by myself; officers to be allow
ed their side arms and private baggage; and
the field, staff and cavalry officers one horse
each the rank and file to be allow wed all their
their own stores sufficient to Inst them beyond
our lines; the necessary cooking utensils for
preparing their food; and thirty wagons to
transport such articles as could not well be
carued. These terms regarded more favor
able to the Government than an unconditional
surrender. 1t saved us the transportation Of
them North, which at TINT time would haye
been very difficult, owing to the limited
amount OF river transportation on baud, and
the expense Of subsisting them It left
our army free TO operate against Johnston,
who Was threatening us from the direction Of
need for the movement Of troops to any point
the eSigcncy Of the service might require
deem 1t proper to 6tate here, In order that
the correspondence may be fully understood,
that after my answer to General Pemberton'e
letter Of the morning Of the Sd, we had per-
tion. The particulars and incidents Of the
siege will be contained In the reports Of diyis-
ion md corps commanders, which will be for.
Warded as soon as received.
brought forward during the Siege, In ad-
dit1on to Laumsn's division aad tour zegI-
lS+
Smiths and Kimbsll's division Of the 1Cth
army corps, and assigned Major General G. G.
| Wasbburre to command Of same. On the
11rh Of June, Major General F. J. Herron's
| division from the department Of the Missouri
arrived, and on the 18th two divisions Of the
commanding, arrived This increase Ia my
force enabled ne to make the Investment
most complete, and ut the same time left me
large reserve to watch the movements Of
Johnston. Herron's division WAS put into
position on the extreme left, south of the
tween Heron and McClernand. Smiths aud
Kimhali's division and Parke's corpse we're
cent to Haine's Bluff. This place I had fortified
to the land side and every preparation made to
resist heavy force. Johnston crossed Big
BLACK River with portion Of his force, and
everything indlcated TINT he would make au
attack about the 25th OF Jnue- Our position
In front Of Vicksburg having been made as
strong againsta sortie from tie enemy as his
works were against an assault, I placed Maior
General Sherman In command Of all the
troops designated to look after Johnston.
stou. IN addition to that ut Halne's Bluff, was
one division from each Of the Thirteenth, FIf
teeuth, and Seventeenth army corps, and Lau-
mans division. Johnston, however, not at
tacking. I determined to attack him the mo-
ment Vicksburs was la our possession, and
accordingly notified Sherman that / should
again make an assault On VicEsbug at day
Light on the 9Th, and for him to have up sup
plies Of al descriptions, ready to more upon
receipt Of orders If the assault should prove
a succesa- His preparations were immedi-
ately made, and when the place surrendered
on the 4th, two days earlier than had fixed
for the nttaek, Sherman was found ready, and
moved at once with force increased bI the
remainder Of both the Thirteenth and Fiji.
teenth nImy corps, and IL at present invest
ing Jackson, where Johnston has made =
eta.d.
In The march from Bplnsburg to y1cksburs,
covering period Of twenty dayg, before SUD.
plies could be obtained from Government
stores. OILY fve days rations WIS Issued, and
three days Of thcse we're taEen in hayersacks
nt the start, aud were soon exhausted AL
other subsistence wns obtained from the
WIS commenced without wagons, except such
Us could be picked up through the, country.
The country was abundantly euMRpliea M With
corn, bacon, becf, and mutton. The troops
S s,;psared &c ia sstfer spirit or t< more cont
dent Of tnceess.
: TEE GR1ERsoE EXPEDITION.
In accordance with previous instructions,
Najor General 8. A. Hurlbut started Colonel
{2ow B3gadier Genexa1} B. q. Gsierson, with
q caynlry force from In Grange, Tenn. to
!, .-eakc q raid through the central portion OF
he srs..s :. Of Mississippi to destroy railroads
and other puossc property, for the purpose Of
creating . diversion IN 7:vor Of the e., army 15y
moSing 70 the t' a'tack s,,. or ,v.lcksnn1 oa 1ae
rived at Baton Rouge on the ID Of May, hay
ing successfully traversed the whole Stats Of
Mississippi This expedition was skt1lfally
conducted, aud reflects great credit on Col.
Grlesson and nll his command The notice
given this raid BY the Southern press confirms
80 -F3 i Zrn~ has 1an,.