On May 22, 150 unmarried Union volunteers known as the Forlorn Hope advanced up the road carrying planks and hastily built ladders after four straight hours of cannon fire against the Confederates. Their task was to bridge the seven-foot-deep ditch in front of a Confederate fort 200 yards ahead, but deadly fire from the fort cut them down in the open road. Only a handful reached the ditch alive and remained pinned down there. A second Union advance was then ordered, and the Federals were again ripped apart as they moved along the road. The heavy casualties of May 22 convinced General Grant to lay siege to Vicksburg. Almost half of the Forlorn Hope volunteers became casualties in the assault, and the survivors received the Medal of Honor.
