MAY 22, 1863:
The Siege
of Vicksburg (Day Five):
Ulysses S. Grant makes a second
attempt at a full frontal assault on Vicksburg. This time, more wisely, he
orders a preliminary heavy artillery bombardment of the Confederate works
before he launches his all-out attack at 10:00 AM.
The thrust against Stockade Redan is, as it was three days
earlier, quickly repulsed. Billy Yank, on the Jackson Road, quickly recoils
under Johnny Reb’s fire.
However, the Confederates are forced to evacuate the
so-called Railroad Redoubt, and the South Fort and Square Fort are invested. A
later Rebel counterattack retakes the Railroad Redoubt and the pressure is
taken off the South Fort and the Square Fort.
Grant’s second assault fails at the cost of 3,200 men,
wounded, killed, and missing. The Confederates lose less than 500. Faced with
the large combined losses (4,500) of the two direct assaults, Grant decides to
forego further direct attacks and simply siege the city, concluding that
"they could not last always."
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