Vicksburg

1. Vicksburg Confederate Forces

2. The Confederate Departmental System • The Confederacy had a vast amount of territory that needed to be somehow organized militarily • But the South’s strong adherence to the principle of states’ rights impeded efforts of form an efficient, centralized command system • The result was a departmental organization of regional commands • Divided the Confederacy up based on geography • Most operational decisions were left to the departmental commanders, theoretically allowing the Confederate government to focus on only the most important strategic decisions • The reality was that departmental commanders tended to operate in isolation from each other with only limited unity of effort

3. Confederate Forces: Army • John Pemberton • Five divisions totaling 43,000 effectives • Pemberton fell under Joe Johnston’s Department of the West • But Pemberton was allowed to report directly to Richmond, bypassing Johnston • The Trans-Mississippi Department was commanded by Edmund Kirby Smith • The geographically based Confederate departmental system would often inhibit unity of effort among commands

4. John Pemberton • Promoted to brigadier general on 17 June 1861. • In February, 1862, Pemberton was appointed major general in command of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. • Six months later he was made lieutenant general and given command over Mississippi and Tennessee.

5. John Pemberton • Honest and dedicated, but ill-suited for the leadership demands of Vicksburg • Served under William Worth, an inflexible and irascible commander, in Mexico • Previous Civil War service had focused on fortifications and batteries to defend against naval attack • Virtually no experience in leading an army in the field • An example of the “Peter Principle”

6. John Pemberton • Personal disadvantages • A northerner (born in Pennsylvania) whose association with the South was by marriage • Caused suspicion • Lacked the appropriate personality • “Wanting in polish he was too positive and domineering in manner to suit the sensitive and polite people among who he had been thrown.” (Alfred Roman) • “A poor jerk”

7. John Pemberton • Unpopular • Many brother officers were jealous of his rapid rise in rank • Doesn’t have a close lieutenant like Grant has in Sherman • Largely vilified throughout the South after the loss of Vicksburg • Reduced in rank to lieutenant colonel, but proved his loyalty to the South by continuing to serve in backwater assignments in various locations

8. Trans-Mississippi Department • Edmund Kirby Smith commanded the Trans-Mississippi Department from Mar 1863 to Apr 1865 • Pemberton told him, “You can contribute materially to the defense of Vicksburg and the navigation of the Mississippi River by a movement upon the line of communications of the enemy on the western side of the river....To break this would render a most important service.” • The Confederate departmental system would hamstring any such cooperation. • The loss of Vicksburg would isolate Smith’s command and the Trans-Mississippi Confederacy would become known as “Kirby Smithdom”

9. Unity of Effort • Pemberton was responsible for one side of the Federal high-speed avenue of approach (the Mississippi) and Smith was responsible for the other • Violates unity of effort • “Each enemy avenue of approach is assigned to only one subordinate unit.” • FM 3-21.21

10. Joseph Johnston • One of the Confederacy’s senior generals • Preceded Lee as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia • Became commander of the Department of the West in Nov 1862 • Considered the department too large for coordinated movements • Upset that his two immediate subordinates (Pemberton and Bragg) had direct access to Richmond • Didn’t get along well with Davis • Personality conflict as well as strategic disagreement over the significance of the western theater • Had a propensity for defensive warfare • “Joe Johnston was not in a positive frame of mind as the Vicksburg campaign developed.” • Michael Ballard, Vicksburg, NPS, p. 13

11. Jefferson Davis • West Point class of 1828, hero of the battle of Buena Vista in Mexico, excellent Secretary of War under Franklin Pierce • Appeared to have all the qualities necessary to be a great commander-in-chief • Perhaps because of overconfidence stemming from these superior qualifications, Davis micromanaged and did not effectively use his staff in directing the war effort • Poor relationship with Johnston and direct line of communication to Pemberton resulted in his giving orders to Pemberton that conflicted with Johnston’s guidance to Pemberton Confederate Secretaries of War Leroy Pope Walker 1861 Judah Benjamin 1861-1862 George Randolph 1862 Gustavus Smith 1862 (acting) James Seddon 1862-1865 John Breckinridge 1865 Davis went through six secretaries of war

12. John Bowen • West Point class of 1853 • Pemberton’s best combat general • “Had Pemberton had a few more Bowens to send into the field, the Vicksburg campaign might have turned out differently.” • Michael Ballard, Vicksburg, NPS, p. 11 • Wounded at Shiloh • Fought a rear-guard action that saved Van Dorn’s army at Corinth • Later brought charges against Van Dorn who was eventually cleared by court-martial • Little patience with incompetent subordinates or superiors

13. William Loring • Lost his arm in Mexico • Commanded a division in the Vicksburg Campaign • Had a history of disputes with his superiors • Argument with Stonewall Jackson over troop placements in Romney, Va in 1862 • Defense of Fort Pemberton repelled Grant’s Yazoo Pass expedition in May 1863 • Requested reinforcements which Pemberton didn’t have to give and wasn’t sure Loring could effectively use anyway • Led to an open rift between the two, especially on Loring’s part

14. Lloyd Tilghman • West Point class of 1836 but very limited military experience • Surrendered Fort Henry which led to the fall of Fort Donelson in 1862 • Once a friend of Pemberton’s, but the two had a falling out over an incident involving unauthorized destruction of army property • Tilghman was arrested and later cleared, but the tensions between the two remained • Will be killed covering the Confederate withdrawal at Champion Hill

15. John Gregg • Commanded a brigade at Vicksburg • Background in law, politics, and journalism • Lack of military training will manifest itself at Raymond when he grossly underestimates McPherson’s strength

16. Earl Van Dorn • West Point class of 1842 • Veteran of Mexico and Seminole fighting • Defeated as an independent commander at Pea Ridge and Corinth • Found his calling as Pemberton’s cavalry commander • Dec 1862 raid against Grant’s Holly Springs depot will cause Grant to restructure his campaign in order to minimize his logistical vulnerability

17. Nathan Bedford Forrest • Self-made millionaire • No formal military education but an instinctive tactical genius • “Get there first with the most” • Refused to surrender at Fort Donelson and led 4,000 Confederates to escape • His raid against Jackson, TN will combine with Van Dorn’s raid against Holly Springs to seriously disrupt Grant’s logistics

18. Confederate Forces: Navy • By 1863 the Confederate “River Defense Fleet” had been virtually destroyed in fighting below New Orleans and above Memphis • Only five of twenty-five gunboats survived into 1863, mostly by hiding upstream in such tributaries as the Red, Arkansas, White, and Yazoo Rivers • The last ironclad, The Arkansas, was scuttled by own crew in August 1862 after her steam engines failed • Thus, at the time of the Vicksburg campaign, there were no Confederate ironclads and only a handful of gunboats on the western rivers

19. Confederate Forces: Navy • The greatest potential threat to the U.S. Navy during the Vicksburg campaign was from its own vessels falling into Confederate hands • In February 1863, the ram Queen of the West and the ironclad Indianola ran downstream past the Vicksburg batteries • Confederates captured the Queen of the West when she ran aground and then used her to disable the Indianola • The Queen of the West was later destroyed in action on the Atchafalaya River

20. Confederate Forces: Navy • The Confederates scuttled the Indianola in February when a Union “monitor” ran the Vicksburg batteries, as if on its way to recapture the Indianola • This “monitor” was in fact an unmanned, unpowered barge rigged out to resemble an ironclad

21. Confederate Forces: Counter-riverine • In the absence of a navy of their own, the Confederates made skillful use of mine torpedoes and shore-based snipers to harass the Federal Navy • Some 40 Federal vessels were hit by mines

22. Next • Joint Operations