Blasting Their Way

After direct assaults on the Confederate fortifications on May 19 and 22 ended in heavy Union losses and Vicksburg's defenses held strong, Grant shifted to a formal siege. At Third Louisiana Redan, siege warfare was concentrated against the earthen fort as Federal troops worked around the clock in the brutal Mississippi summer to dig deep trenches along Jackson Road from the Shirley House toward the position. The 45th Illinois Infantry tunneled beneath the point of the redan and packed the mine with more than 2,200 pounds of black powder. On June 25 an explosion tore a huge hole in the fort's walls, and Union troops rushed into the crater, but a second wall halted them. After 26 hours of fierce fighting, the Confederates held their ground, forced the Union troops to withdraw, and Vicksburg's defenses remained intact.

Vicksburg, Mississippi · United States