Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-05-19

The BEGINNING 0 The BREAK
Confederate Power Was Shattered / in |.
Tic West BY This Tedious Siege
or Union Forces.

ut is just ie years ago today that
Gen. Grant made his first assault on
{ vicksburg. said Col r M. sterrett,
executive director fytie forty-thlrd na-s
tionals oncampmcnt of 6. 4 r. which llS'l'.
,sill be held In this city next August.
The colonel was in o reminiscent mood,
and spoke Of the siege of5the Mississippi
stronghold. which began q, =! May ",
& 1853, as the beginning OF Grants sreat
career as the military genius Of the
Civil war, and also as the beginning Of
the breaking of the confederate poEYer
i iii the west,
Late in April GEM Grant came uf,
the river with troops transports and
f.,lnboats, below v cksburg. pr epafed TO
open up q series of operations against
that town. Grant crossed the r'iver ~
Bayou Pierre, two weeks BEFORE ING
assault took place. The 'Tliirteenth
( corps. under Gen. icGiernand, a1la mo
Seventeenth corps, under Gen. NJ cI'her-
son were fcrried across the stream
Sheqnnan,s forces, which had been bu ~
Keeping the. confederate force IN the
garrison at Vicksburg from receiving
Teinforcenents, was also on tho ground
when the attack began. ,f,,
The confederate forces ct Vicksbufg
were commanded by Gen. John @. Penn
berton, who was acting under orders
from Glen. Johnston. PelnbertonS mad
been ordered by Johnston to move out
from virksburg, VIXEN he, Johnston,
would form junction With him and
crush Grant by weight of superior
numbers. This Pemberton attempted
to do. but Grant saw the peril of the
situation and instantly took measures
Ito strike Penberton before such y
Junction could be effected. On May
10, the Union forces under Nc Glern--F
and and Mop hersons met Pemherton's
army and after q desperate strugg
lin which some OF the U MON forces
were compelled to fall back. the con-
under tile added disability Of the
4 treachery Of one of their generals In i
refusing to fight. broke ranks and Eel
back In confusion. he general ref us
4 ing To obey orders was Lorfng, and he
shared the panic of the troops and i
moved from the field leaving his ar
ati1lerY behind. Pemherton retired
within the walls of Eicksbul'g
GRANT INVESTS yIcIlsBURG.
!. on the morning OF May 10, General
Grants army completely invested
yicksburg on the land ide, and by the Z
aid of II Successful lovcnent by Ad
Iniral Porter, WAS able to receive sup
plies for his army By way OF tho Mis-
asissfppi river
O'Clock iii the afternoon. was Eegun
by Sherinan's corps. Blalr.s gu vision
took the lead. Tho ground was Very
rough, cleft by deep chasn1s /; In fact
was such II tangle OF hills and obs
astacles that approach was difficult
Il and perilous. Blair's regiments
moved steadily on, however, de-
livering the first blow to General
Schoup's Louisiana brigade, which
struck back powerfully. After a slight
reeoil, Blair's troops moved on across
tho ditch to the exterior slope of the
works where the Thirteenth regulars,
under Gen. Giles Smith, planted the tia5
OF the Republic. The Elghty-third In-
diana and One Hundred and Twenty
seventh Illinois also gained the slope
but We're unable to enter5in the face OF
determined resistance. Perceiving that
the dedestruction was useless Sherman
recalled the men at dark, and the as
sault was abandoned for that day.
sLRREND ER TO GRANT.
"on3the 22nd, however, Grant orderad
another assault by his whole line. Iii
order that the attack should be per-
fectly planned. the time of the assault
y WIS arranged and the corps and divi-a
sion commanders set their watches by
that of Gen. Grant At the appointed
hour the storfning columns all moved
forward, while Admiral Porter's NOR
& tars were belchlng forth shot and she'll
from his river squadron. AS on the
10th, Blair's division formed the adj
+ vance Of Sherman's column. At the
SAME time the batteries OF Wood, Bar
rett, Waterhousa. Spoor and Hart con-
( centrated their fire on the northeast
bastion of the works OF the enemy. The
van moved forward NTH never a foe
in sight until they reached the salient
of the 'hastion. When suddenly up
sprang two rows Of Confederate sharp
4 shooters, whose terrible NolleyS swept
down the advancing Union line In an
( instant. The rear of the column then
& attempted to push on, but was repulsed
with heavy. losses. All the divisions of
the assaulting force storIned the Vari-
Gus positions Of the C0nfederates, but
When darkenss fell no decided adyan-
tage had been gained, and the troops
were withdrawn AfcC'lcrnands; forces
really gained some of the intrench-
5 merts of the enemy, but they We're not
reinforced and his advantage MAS not
maintained.
& when Gen, Grant found he could
= not carry the stronghold by assault, he
decided on n general siege, aud the post
was completely invested. How the.
heroic I'enberton held out with his
? force against starvation Is Well known
history, concluded the Colonel. on