Throughout the winter of 1862-63, Union Major General Ulysses S. Grant orchestrated a series of Bayou Expeditions aimed at capturing Vicksburg. The Steele's Bayou Expedition, personally led by Rear Admiral David D. Porter, was the most daring of these operations and Grant's most determined unsuccessful attempt to take the strategic city. Federal forces hoped to reach the Yazoo River above the Confederate batteries at Snyder's Bluff, from where they could move northward to aid the Yazoo Pass Expedition or south directly against Vicksburg. Union plans for controlling the Mississippi River depended on isolating Vicksburg by outflanking the Confederate batteries at Snyder's Bluff and gaining control of the Yazoo River and Mississippi Delta. The powerful batteries at Snyder's Bluff, overlooking the Yazoo River, anchored the Confederate fortifications north of Vicksburg, prevented Union naval excursions upriver, and helped protect the Confederate Navy Yard at Yazoo City.
