Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1885-09-11
THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG.
EXTRACTS FROM CENTRAL GRANTS
ACCOUNT OF THE FAMOUS ssIGn.
BegInuIng of the Siege-ExpIOdin-
Wines Before the City General
PomherInn,s SlIcIne 70 Eacnne

Wines Before the City General
PembertOn's scheme 10 Escape.
The following extracts are taken from
General Grants account of the siege o.
Vicksburg, published in the Century.
Describing the beginning of the siege
:he general whites:
"We had no siege guns except six
thirty-two FOUNDERS, and there were
lone at the West to draw from. Admiral
Porter, however, supplied us with a
battery of navy guns of large caliber, and
with these, and the field artillery used in
The campaign, the siege began. The
first thing TO do was to get the artillery
IN batteries where they would occupy
commanding positions; then, to establish
the camps, under cover from the fire of
the enemy, but as near up as possible; !;
and then to construc.l rifle pits and COW
cred ways, to conieGt the entire COM
mand by the shortest route The enemy
did not harass us much while we were
constructing our batteries. Probably
their artil cry ammunition was short, and
their infantry was kept down by our
sharpshooters, who were always on the
alert aud ready to fire at head when
ever it showed itself above the rebel
works.
"In no place were our lines more than
six hundred yards from the enemy. 1t
was necessary, therefore, to cover our
men by something more than the ordinary
parapet. To give additional protection,
sand-bags, bullet-proof, were placed
along the tops of the parapets, far enough
apart to make loophoes for musketry
/ On top of these, logs were put. BY these
means the men were enabled to walk
about erect when off duty, without fear
of annoyance from sharpshooters. The
enemy used in their defence explosive
musket- balls, thinking, no doubt, that,
bursting over our men in the trenches,
they would do some execution. lido not
remember single case where man was
injured by piece of one of these shells.
When they were hit, and the ball ex-
ploded, the wound was terrible. In these
cases a solid ball would have hit as we'll.
Their use is barbarous, because they pro,
duce increased suffering without any
corresponding advantage to those using
them
"The enemy could not resort to our
method to protect their men, because we
had an incxhaustible supply of ammu-
milton to draw upon, and used it freely.
Splinters from the timber would have
made havoc among the men behind.
"There were no mortars with the be.
siegers, except those that the navy had
in front of the city; but wooden ones
were made by taking logs of the toughest
wood that could be found, boring them
out for six or twelve FOUNDER shells, and
binding them with strong iron bands.
These answered as coehorns, and shells
were successfully thrown from them into
the trenches of the enemy.
"The labor of building the batteries
and of lntrenching was largely done by
the pioneers, assisted by negroes who
came within our lines and who were paid
for their work; but details from the line
had often to be made. The work was
pushed forward as rapidly as possible,
and when an advanced position was Sc
cured and covered from the fire of the
enemy, the batteries were advanced. BY
:he 30th of June there were two hundred
and twenty guns in position, mostly light
field pieces. beside a battery of heavy
guns belonging TO, and manned and
commanded by, the navy. Viewer now
as strong for defense against the garrison
Of Vicksburg as they were against US;
out knew that johnson was in our rear,
and was receiving constant re-enforce.
/ nents from the East. He had at this
time larger force than had had at any
Zine prior to the battle of Champion
Hill" -" =.
Writing about the explosion of mines
before the beleaguered city, Genera
Grant says:
"From the 23d of May the work, ol
fortifying, and pushing forward oul
position nearer to the enemy, had beer
steadily progressing. At the point or
the Jackson road in front Of Ransom''
brigade sap was run up to the enemy''
parapet, and by the 25th of June we had
it undermined and the mine charged
The enemy had countermined, but did
not succeed in reaching our mine. At this
particular point the hill on which stood
!he rebel work rises abruptly. Our SAP
IAN close up to the outside of the ene-
my's parapet. In fact this parapet was
also our protection. The soldiers of the
two sides occasionally conversed pleas.
lntly across this barrier; sometimes they
would exchange the hard bread of the
Union soldiers for the tobacco of the
Confederates, and at other times they
threw over hand -grcnades, the rebels
throwing them first, and our men Otter
catching them III their hands and return
ing them.
"Our mine had been started some dis
tance back down the hill consequently
when it had extended as far as the para
pet, it was many feet below it. Thi
caused the failure of the enemy in hi
search to find and destroy it. On tn,
] 25th of June, at o'clock, all being
ready, the mine was exploded. A heav!
artillery fire all along the line had beer
ordered to open with the explosion. The
effect was to bow the top of the hill
off and make crater where it stood
The breach was not sufficient to enable
us to pass column of attack through.
In fact, the enemy, having failed tC
reach our mine, had thrown up lint
farther back, where most of the mer
guarding that point were placed. There
were few men, however, left
at the advance line. and Others
were working in the counter
mine, which was still being pushed t.
ind ours. All that were there wer,
thrown into the air, some.of them coming
down on our side, still alive. remem
ber one colored man, who, having beer
lnder ground at work when the explo
sion took place, was thrown to our side
He was not much hurt, but terrib',
frightened. Some one asked him hoy
high he had gone up. "Dun no, massa