Combat· American Civil War
Grand Gulf bombardment
A supporting bombardment in the campaign that would finally take Vicksburg.
In March 1863, as Grant maneuvered to get his army across the Mississippi below the fortress city, the navy bombarded the Confederate batteries at Grand Gulf, on the bluffs downstream, the Marine detachment aboard the flagship Hartford serving her guns in the action. The bombardment was part of the long effort to clear the river approaches and prepare the way for Grant's crossing, which was made a little farther down at Bruinsburg. No Marine casualties are recorded for the action. It was one of the many naval operations that supported the Vicksburg campaign from the river while Grant worked his army into position, the gunboats and the deep-water ships hammering the Confederate strongpoints along the bluffs. The reduction of Grand Gulf and the crossing below it set Grant loose on the campaign that would invest and take Vicksburg in July.
Podcast episodes on American Civil War
Record no. 450