Mississippi in the American Civil War
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Mississippi was the second state to secede from the Union on January 9, 1861. It joined six other Cotton States to form the Confederate States of America in February. Mississippi's location along the lengthy Mississippi River made it strategically important to both the North and South; dozens of battles were fought in the state as armies repeatedly clashed near key towns and cities.
Mississippi troops fought in every major theater of the war, although most were concentrated in the west. The only President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis, was a native Mississippian. Prominent Mississippi generals included William Barksdale, Carnot Posey, Wirt Adams, Earl Van Dorn, and Benjamin G. Humphreys.
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[edit] Mississippi politics
For years prior to the Civil War, Mississippi had heavily voted Democratic, especially as the Whigs declined in their influence. During the 1860 presidential election, the state supported Southern Democrat candidate John C. Breckinridge, giving him 40,768 votes (59.0% of the total of 69,095 ballots cast). John Bell, the candidate of the Constitutional Union Party, came in a distant second with 25,045 votes (36.25% of the total), with Stephen A. Douglas of the Northern Democrats receiving 3,282 votes (4.75%). Not a single Mississippian voted for Abraham Lincoln, who won the national election.[1]
Long a hotbed of secession and states' rights, Mississippi left the Union on January 9, 1861, briefly forming the Republic of Mississippi before joining the Confederacy not a month later. Although there were small pockets of citizens who remained sympathetic to the Union, the vast majority of Mississippians embraced the Confederate cause, and thousands flocked to the military. Around 80,000 white men from Mississippi fought in the Confederate Army; some 500 white Mississippians fought for the Union. As the war progressed, a considerable number of freed or escaped slaves joined the United States Colored Troops and similar black regiments. More than 17,000 black Mississippi slaves and freedmen fought for the Union.[2]
[edit] Mississippi towns during the war
[edit] Corinth
Corinth's location at the junction of two railroads made it strategically important. Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard retreated there after the Battle of Shiloh, pursued by Union Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck. Beauregard abandoned the town when Halleck approached, letting it fall into Union hands. Since Halleck approached so cautiously, digging entrenchments at every stop for over a month, this action has been known as the Siege of Corinth.
Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans moved to Corinth as well and concentrated his force with Halleck later in the year to again attack the city. The Second Battle of Corinth took place on October 3–4, 1862, when Confederate Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn attempted to retake the city. The Confederate troops won back the city but were quickly forced out when Union reinforcements arrived.
[edit] Jackson
Despite its small population, Jackson became a strategic center of manufacturing for the Confederacy. In 1863, during the campaign which ended in the capture of Vicksburg, Union forces captured Jackson during two battles—once before the fall of Vicksburg and again soon after its fall.
On May 13, 1863, Union forces won the first Battle of Jackson, forcing Confederate forces to flee northward towards Canton. Subsequently, on May 15 Union troops under William Tecumseh Sherman burned and looted key facilities Jackson. After driving the Confederates out of Jackson, Union forces turned west once again and soon placed Vicksburg under siege. Confederates began to reassemble in Jackson in preparation for an attempt to break through the Union lines now surrounding Vicksburg. Confederates marched out of Jackson to break the siege in early July. However, unknown to them, Vicksburg had already surrendered on July 4. General Ulysses S. Grant dispatched Sherman to meet the Confederate forces. Upon learning that Vicksburg had already surrendered, the Confederates retreated back into Jackson, thus beginning the Siege of Jackson, which lasted for approximately one week before the town fell.
[edit] Natchez
Natchez remained largely undisturbed, although Union troops under Ulysses S. Grant occupied the town in 1863. Grant set up his temporary headquarters in the mansion "Rosalie." Like almost everywhere else in the United States, numerous Natchez residents did in fact fight or participate otherwise in the war and many families lost their antebellum fortunes.
Despite the city's relatively peaceful atmosphere under Union occupation, residents remained somewhat defiant of the Federal authorities. In 1864, the Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Natchez, William Henry Elder, refused to obey a Federal order to compel his parishoners to pray for the President of the United States. In response, the Federals arrested Elder, convicted him, and jailed him briefly across the river in Vidalia, Louisiana. Eventually Elder was released and returned to his duties until 1880, when he was elevated to archbishop of Cincinnati.
[edit] Vicksburg
Vicksburg was the site of the Battle of Vicksburg, an important battle in which the Union forces gained control of the entire Mississippi River. The battle consisted of a long siege brought about by the fact that the city is located on a high bluff overlooking the Mississippi River and thus was largely impregnable to invaders. The capture of Vicksburg and the simultaneous defeat of Lee at Gettysburg marked the turning point in the Civil War.
[edit] Others
Columbus was an important hospital town early in the war. As a result, it largely avoided Union attack. Many of the casualties from the Battle of Shiloh were brought there, and thousands were buried in the town's Friendship Cemetery. Canton was an important rail and logistics center. Many wounded soldiers were treated in or transported through the city, and, as a consequence, it too has a large Confederate cemetery.
Meridian's strategic position at a major railroad junction made it the home of a Confederate arsenal, military hospital, and prisoner-of-war stockade, as well as the headquarters for a number of state offices. After the Vicksburg campaign, Sherman's Union forces turned eastward. In February 1864, his army reached Meridian, where they destroyed the railroads and burned much of the area to the ground. After completing this task, Sherman is reputed to have said, "Meridian no longer exists."
A makeshift shipyard was established on the Yazoo River at Yazoo City after the Confederate loss of New Orleans. The shipyard was destroyed by Union forces in 1863, then Yazoo City fell back into Confederate hands. Union forces retook the city the following year and burned most of the buildings in the city.
[edit] Battles in Mississippi
Battle of Big Black River Bridge
Battle of Brice's Crossroads
Battle of Champion Hill
Battle of Chickasaw Bayou
Battle of Corinth I
Battle of Corinth II
Battle of Grand Gulf
Battle of Iuka
Battle of Jackson
Battle of Meridian
Battle of Okolona
Battle of Port Gibson
Battle of Raymond
Battle of Snyder's Bluff
Battle of Tupelo
Battle of Vicksburg
[edit] Notes
- ^ Leip, David. 1860 Presidential Election Results. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections (October 21, 2006).
- ^ Mississippi Soldiers in the Civil War
[edit] External links
National Park Service map of Civil War sites in Mississippi
