Battle of Champion Hill The Battle of Champion Hill , or Bakers Creek , fought May 16 , 1863 , was the pivotal battle in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War . Union commander Maj . Gen . Ulysses S . Grant and the Army of the Tennessee pursued the retreating Confederate Lt . Gen . John C . Pemberton and defeated his army twenty miles to the east of Vicksburg , Mississippi , leading inevitably to the Siege of Vicksburg and surrender . Background and opposing forces . Following the Union occupation of Jackson , Mississippi , on May 14 , both Confederate and Federal forces made plans for future operations . General Joseph E . Johnston , commanding all Confederate forces in Mississippi , retreated , with most of his army , up the Canton Road , but he ordered Lt . Gen . John C . Pemberton , commanding three divisions ( about 23 , 000 men ) , to leave Edwards Station and attack the Federals at Clinton . Pemberton and his generals felt that Johnston ’ s plan was dangerous and decided instead to attack the Union supply trains moving from Grand Gulf to Raymond . On May 16 , however , Pemberton received another order from Johnston repeating his former directions . Pemberton had already started after the supply trains and was on the Raymond - Edwards Road with his rear at the crossroads one - third mile south of the crest of Champion Hill . Thus , when he ordered a countermarch , his rear , including his many supply wagons , became the vanguard of his force . Battle . On May 16 , at about 7 : 00 a . m . , the Union forces engaged the Confederates and the Battle of Champion Hill began . Pemberton ' s force drew up into a three mile ( 5 km ) - long defensive line that ran from southwest to northeast along a crest of a ridge overlooking Jackson Creek . Grant observed in his " Personal Memoirs " , " . . . where Pemberton had chosen his position to receive us , whether taken by accident or design , was well selected . It is one of the highest points in that section , and commanded all the ground in the range . " Pemberton was unaware that one of the three Union columns was moving along the Jackson Road against his unprotected left flank on Champion Hill . For protection , Pemberton posted Brig . Gen . Stephen D . Lee ' s Alabama brigade atop Champion Hill where they could watch for the reported Union column moving to the crossroads . Lee spotted the Union troops and they soon saw him . If this force were not stopped , it would cut the Rebels off from their Vicksburg base . Pemberton received warning of the Union movement and sent troops to his left flank . Union forces at the Champion House moved into action and emplaced artillery to begin firing . When Grant arrived at Champion Hill around 10 : 00 a . m . , he ordered the attack to begin . John A . McClernand ' s corps attacked on the left , James B . McPherson ' s on the right ; William T . Sherman ' s corps was well behind the others , departing Jackson . By 11 : 30 a . m . , Union forces had reached the Confederate main line and at about 1 : 00 p . m . , they took the crest while the troops from Carter L . Stevenson ' s division retired in disorder . McPherson ' s corps swept forward , capturing the crossroads and closing the Jackson Road escape route . The division of John S . Bowen then counterattacked in support of Stevenson , pushing the Federals back beyond the Champion Hill crest before their surge came to a halt . They had insufficient troops to hold that position , however . Pemberton directed William W . Loring to send forces from the southern area of the line ( where they were only lightly engaged with McClernand ' s ineffective attack ) to reinforce the Hill , but Loring refused , citing a strong Union presence to his front . Grant then counterattacked , committing forces that had just arrived from Clinton by way of Bolton . Pemberton ' s men could not stand up to this assault , so he ordered his men from the field to the one escape route still open : the Raymond Road crossing of Bakers Creek . By now , Loring had acceded to Pemberton ' s direction and marched toward the fighting , but by a circuitous route that kept them out of action . Brig . Gen . Lloyd Tilghman ' s brigade formed the rearguard , and they held at all costs , including the loss of Tilghman , a victim of artillery fire . In the late afternoon , Union troops seized the Bakers Creek Bridge , and by midnight , they occupied Edwards . The Confederates fell back to a defensive position at the Big Black River in front of Vicksburg . The Battle of Big Black River Bridge there the next day would be the final chance for Pemberton to escape . Aftermath . Champion Hill was a bloody , but decisive , Union victory . In his " Personal Memoirs , " Grant observed , " While a battle is raging , one can see his enemy mowed down by the thousand , or the ten thousand , with great composure ; but after the battle these scenes are distressing , and one is naturally disposed to alleviate the sufferings of an enemy as a friend . " Grant criticized the lack of fighting spirit of his rival , McClernand , dissatisfied that he had not killed or captured Pemberton ' s entire force . McClernand ' s casualties were low on the Union left flank ( south ) ; McPherson ' s on the right were the bulk of the Union losses , about 2 , 500 . The Confederates had about 3 , 800 casualties . Their effective loss included most of Loring ' s division , which had marched off to join Joseph E . Johnston in Jackson . Battlefield preservation . Large sections of the battlefield remain well preserved , including original roads , as evidenced by a view of the field from approximately the site of the Davis sketch . The map reference refers to the small stone historical marker at the corner of Billy Fields Road and DJ Johnson road , very central in the field . As of October 2012 , residential development had encroached only limited parts of the field , near the center , along DJ Johnson Road . Thousands of acres of the core battlefield are privately owned , listed as II . 1 . Class A ( opportunity for comprehensive preservation , good integrity , low threat ) by the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission . Discontinuous portions of the battlefield , totaling over 800 acres ( 3 . 2 km² ) , are owned by the State of Mississippi . These properties are being held for possible future inclusion in Vicksburg National Military Park . The Civil War Preservation Trust ( CWPT ) has been able to protect of the battlefield through conservation easements and land purchases . In October 2007 , Sid Champion , together with three family members who co - own the land , worked with the CWPT to craft a unique easement to protect of the family farm comprising a key part of the field . The Coker House stands adjacent to a south portion of the Champion Hill battlefield . It was used as a hospital by Federal forces and upon departing , they extensively looted both the house and the plantation stores . Bullet holes in the front door and jamb and cannonball holes on the west side of the Coker House remained as evidence of the Battle , prior to renovation . In 1985 , the historic property was donated to the Jackson Civil War Roundtable and later deeded to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History . As of 2005 the house was in ruins , but it has since been rebuilt , reusing original materials where possible , it having been decided that refurbishment was impossible . Historical marker plaques at the house detail the battle and the history of the house .