On May 14, John C. Pemberton, on his way to take command around Edwards Station, received a message from Joseph E. Johnston suggesting a move against a federal force in Clinton, then gathered his generals amid open friction over the army's next course of action. Though reluctant to move his force from Grant and Vicksburg, he agreed to march south to Dillon's Plantation in hopes of cutting off Grant's supply line and forcing the Federals into a fight. After fighting a Confederate force at Raymond, Ulysses S. Grant changed his plans, shifting from Edwards Station and the railroad to an advance on Jackson by sending James B. McPherson's corps to Clinton and converging with William T. Sherman's corps to capture the state capital, while John A. McClernand's corps watched the roads west to Vicksburg for Pemberton. On May 15, poor planning and lack of experience delayed Pemberton's army because it lacked enough rations and ammunition and had to wait for supplies from Vicksburg. Leaving Edwards Station at 1:00PM, the army found the bridge over Baker's Creek washed away by heavy rains, turned around, and marched over the Jackson Road through the evening and well past midnight before bivouacking near Champion Hill. Meanwhile, Sherman remained in Jackson destroying railroad track, telegraph lines, and military stores, while McClernand and McPherson coordinated movements toward Edwards Station and Pemberton's army, and Grant kept in constant contact with them as his troops refitted, ate well, and rested. On May 16, after another message from Johnston, Pemberton decided to reverse course and march back to Edwards Station, but there was no unity of action as he and Loring were openly cold to each other. During this rearward movement, Carter Stevenson's division was pushed off Champion Hill and past the army's only line of retreat. An early afternoon counterattack by John Bowen's division briefly regained the crossroads before a reinforced Federal assault forced it back. Ordered to support Bowen, Loring balked and only halfheartedly brought his command into battle. Realizing the army had been defeated, Pemberton ordered a retreat through Edwards Station to the Big Black River defenses, while Loring, cut off on the east side of Baker's Creek, marched south and finally linked up with Johnston in Jackson. Grant, having learned of Pemberton's force and location from two railroad employees who had passed through Edwards Station the night before, recalled Sherman from Jackson and moved with McPherson on the Jackson Road, while McClernand advanced on the Middle and Raymond-Edwards Roads. Ordered not to bring on a general engagement until the army was concentrated, McClernand's advance was delayed for hours as communication slowed when the battle began. Grant observed the fighting along Champion Hill and continued adjusting his plans as needs arose. Federal reinforcements finally drove the weary Confederates back over the ridge in a precipitous retreat, and the decisive battle for Vicksburg became a resounding Union victory and the beginning of the end of Confederate control of the Mississippi River.
