The Mississippi River was an important military highway that bordered ten states, roughly equally divided between Union and Confederate loyalties.
Both sides soon realised that control of the river was a crucial strategic priority. Confederate general Braxton Bragg said "The river is of more importance to us than all the country together."Have History Will Travel, Shiloh Day 1, 0.33. In April 1862, the Union secured two key points, New Orleans at the mouth of the river and a double-bend on the Kentucky-Tennessee line, leaving only the middle section in Confederate hands. When the major river-ports of Memphis and Vicksburg fell (followed automatically by Port Hudson), the liberation of the Mississippi was complete, and Abraham Lincoln declared "The Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea."Bruce Catton, The Penguin Book of the American Civil War, (Penguin Book 2369) p.157. Copyright © American Heritage Publishing Co, Inc, 1960.
This split the Confederacy in two, with the western half forced to operate as a separate department, the Trans-Mississippi Theater, greatly inhibiting supplies and communications, and tilting the odds decisively in favor of the Union.
State loyalties Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois were solidly pro-Union, despite some "Copperhead" (Peace Democrat) sentiment in the last-named.Peter J. Barry, "Amos Green, Paris, Illinois: Civil War Lawyer, Editorialist, and Copperhead," Journal of Illinois History, Spring 2008, Vol. 11 Issue 1, pp 39-60 Missouri was a slave-state, beset with guerrilla fighting throughout the war, with a Confederate government-in-exile. Kentucky, also a slave-state (and Lincoln's birthplace), was briefly claimed by the Confederacy during a short-lived dual government, but never left the Union.Kent Masterson Brown, ed. (2000). The Civil War in Kentucky: Battle for the Bluegrass. Mason City, Iowa: Savas Publishing Company. ISBN 1-882810-47-3. p. 80 Slave-holding Tennessee was Confederate, though the eastern counties harboured much pro-Union sentiment. Arkansas had initially stayed in the Union, but resented Lincoln's demand for troops, and seceded.The War of the Rebellion, a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Ser. I, Vol. 1, Ch. VIII–Reports, page 642, accessed January 24, 2010, http://www.simmonsgames.com/research/authors/USWarDept/ORA/OR-S1-V01-C008R.html Mississippi was deeply Confederate, as was Louisiana, though in the latter case, New Orleans came under a Union government within a Confederate state, following the fall of the city in April 1862.
Plans for control of the river
At the outbreak of war, the Union General-in-Chief, Winfield Scott, proposed an advance down the Mississippi that would cut the Confederacy in two, though the necessary rivercraft had yet to be built. Along with the policy of blockading the entire Southern coastline, the plan was derided as the ‘Anaconda’, slowly constricting the life out of the Confederacy.Wolfe, B. Anaconda Plan. (May 9, 2011). Retrieved from Encyclopedia Virginia Web. October 17, 2015 Most Union generals believed that the war could be won quickly by an early march on Richmond,Ballard, Ted. First Battle of Bull Run: Staff Ride Guide. Washington, DC: United States Army Center of Military History, 2003. ISBN 978-0-16-068078-6. P.3. while the commander in the west, General Henry Halleck, considered the Tennessee River to be more significant than the Mississippi.ORA (Official records, armies): War of the Rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate Armies. I, v. 10, p. 24. Also Winfield Scott would soon be retiring. Eventually, however, the strengths of the plan were increasingly recognised, and it became Union strategy.
As the Confederate Navy had to build almost its entire fleet from scratch,William S. Dudley, Going South: U.S. Navy Officer Resignations & Dismissals on the Eve of the Civil War. Washington: Naval Historical Foundation, 1981.Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Vol. 15, p. 337. its operations on the Mississippi would be largely defensive.
Battles
New Madrid/Island Number Ten (February 28 – April 8, 1862)
The Confederates had fortified a tight double-bend in the river, with garrisons at New Madrid, Missouri, and Island Number Ten. Union Major-General John Pope arrived unexpectedly, before winter was over, easily took New Madrid, and then ordered two gunboats to run the island batteries, covering his crossing to the east (Tennessee) bank, whereupon the outnumbered enemy surrendered.Gerleman, David, "The Campaign for Island No. 10 (February 28, 1862 – April 8, 1862," Essential Civil War Curriculum
New Orleans (April 16-28, 1862) Captain David Farragut of the Union Navy's West Gulf Blockading Squadron attacked the city's outer fortifications, Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip, at first obstructed by a defensive boom. When the boom was broken by gunboats, the fleet forced its way in, opposed by ironclads and fire-rafts, eventually enabling the infantry to occupy the city and set up a Union government for the rest of the war.Allan Nevins: Ordeal of the Union: War Becomes Revolution, 1862–1863(1960) p. 99.
Memphis (June 6, 1862) The Memphis garrison had been much depleted, following the Union capture of the rail junction at Corinth, so the Union fleet was opposed only by Confederate gunboats and rams, poorly equipped, which were destroyed in two hours. One Union boat, Queen of the West, was disabled. The Union forces were able to capture and repair four Confederate craft for their own use.Groce, W. Todd, Battle of the Rams, North & South - The Official Magazine of the Civil War Society, Issue 4, Page 24.
Baton Rouge (August 5, 1862)
Confederate area commander Earl Van Dorn had been hoping to re-take Louisiana's abandoned state capital Baton Rouge. A force under Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge attacked at dawn, killing Union commander Thomas Williams, and driving his men into defensive lines, protected by their gunboats. But the Confederate ram CSS Arkansas had broken down and it became a one-sided naval battle, forcing Breckinridge to withdraw.
Vicksburg (December 26, 1862 - July 4, 1863) After several failed initiatives, including an attempt to divert the river itself, General U.S. Grant marched down the west (Louisiana) bank, accompanied by gunboats that managed to run the Vicksburg batteries and ferry his army across to the east bank. From there, he pursued the enemy into their lines and besieged them until they surrendered.
Principal actions:
Snyder’s Bluff (April 29 – May 1) Diversionary feint to distract the Confederates from sending support downstream to Grand Gulf. A Union fleet moved up the Yazoo, attracting heavy fire, before retreating through the swampy terrain.NPS Snyder's Bluff
Port Gibson (May 1) After crossing to the east bank at Bruinsburg, Grant drove the Confederates back from one defensive position to the next, establishing a beachhead and forcing the enemy to abandon the port of Grand Gulf.
Jackson (May 14) Grant’s move on the Mississippi state capital caused Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston to evacuate the city, enabling Grant to destroy its factories and rail communications.Foote, Shelby (1995) . The Beleaguered City: The Vicksburg Campaign (Modern Library ed.). New York: The Modern Library. ISBN 0-679-60170-8, p. 183.
Champion Hill (May 16) Seen as the pivotal battle of the campaign. The Confederates occupied a high vantage-point, led by Brig. Gen. Lloyd Tilghman, who died in action, but Grant swept them off the crest.Eddington, William. My Civil War Memoirs and Other Reminiscences (PDF). Edwardsville, IL: Madison County Historical Society. pp. 11–12. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
Big Black River Bridge (May 17) Confederates’ last chance to avoid being driven back into their lines. General Pemberton took a position on the river, but was routed by Grant, burning the bridges as he went, but losing many prisoners.Ballard, Michael B. (2004). Vicksburg: The Campaign that Opened the Mississippi. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-2893-9, pp. 313–316.
Port Hudson (May 22 – July 9, 1863) General Nathaniel Banks had been ordered upstream to aid General U.S. Grant who was besieging Vicksburg. His orders were to capture Port Hudson, the only other remaining Confederate stronghold on the river, but his assault failed, and he settled into a siege - at 48 days, the longest in American history up till then. The eventual Confederate surrender completed the liberation of the river.
List of locations and landmarks
This is a list of notable places on the Mississippi River between roughly St. Louis, Missouri, and the Gulf of Mexico at the time of the American Civil War, listed from north to south. Where locations are opposite each other at the same point along the river, the westernmost is listed first. Steamboats of the era were fueled by wood (and coal as well) and the wood-fueled steamers burned something like 70 cords of wood per day. Therefore, there were "hundreds of wood yards" along the Mississippi during the steamboat era, "one every several miles on the busiest sections of the river."
Columbia, Missouri Chippewa, Illinois Venice, Illinois Brooklyn, Illinois St. Louis, Missouri Illinoistown, Illinois Cahokia, Illinois Carondolet, Missouri Jefferson Barracks Columbia, Illinois Oakville, Missouri Finestown, Missouri Jefferson, Missouri Kimmswick, Missouri Dicksons, Illinois Widow Beard's Island Smiths, Illinois Huger, Illinois Clifton, Missouri Illinois, Missouri Harlow, Illinois Peverlys, Missouri Harrisonville, Illinois Herculaneum, Missouri Joachim Creek Platin Bock, Missouri Selma, Missouri Hardscrabble, Illinois Cliffdale, Missouri Rush Tower, Missouri Penitentiary (Illinois) Isle du Bois Creek Fort de Chartres Establishment Creek Prairie du Rocher, Illinois Frenchmans, Missouri Little Rock, Missouri Rivière au Vases Kaskaskia, Illinois St. Mary's Landing, Missouri Prattes Landing, Missouri Chester, Illinois St. Mary's River Mancoes, Illinois Liberty, Illinois St. Omer's Island Baileys Landing, Missouri Lagoarses Island Devil's Bakeoven Breesville, Illinois Big Muddy River Apple Creek Birmingham, Missouri Crawfords Ferry, Missouri Union Point, Illinois Devils Tea Table (?!!!) Sheppards Landing, Missouri Bainbridge, Missouri Hamburg Landing, Illinois Devil Island Clear Creek Clear Creek Landing, Missouri Cape Girardeau, Missouri Rock Island, Illinois Cape La Croix, Missouri Thebes, Illinois Commerce, Missouri Santa Fe, Illinois Powers Island West Philadelphia, Missouri Goose Island Mound City, Illinois Fort Holt Cairo, Illinois Cairo and Fulton Railroad Bird's Point, Missouri Fort Jefferson Little Mayfield Creek Ohio City, Missouri Bickwiths Landing, Missouri First Chickasaw Bluff Mayfield River Norfolk, Missouri Iron Bank Baldwinsville, Missouri Columbus, Kentucky Belmont, Missouri Wolf Landing, Missouri or Wolf Island Landing Wolf Island St. James, Missouri Chalk Bank James Landing, Missouri Taylor Landing, Kentucky Mills Point, Missouri Second Chickasaw Bluff Little Obion River Hickman, Kentucky James Bayou New Madrid, Missouri Smith's Landing, Missouri Point Pleasant, Missouri Island No. 10 Obionville, Tennessee Donaldson Point Island No. 10 Madrid Bend Chepousa Creek Smiths Landing Point Pleasant, Missouri Obionville, Tennessee Reelfoot Lake Mrs. Merrifeather's Landing Cypress Bend Riddles Point, Missouri Solitude, Missouri Gayoso, Missouri Walkers Bend Little Prairie, Missouri Booths Point, Tennessee Mitchell Landing Reelfoot River Cottonwood Point, Missouri Bearfield Point Dyersburg, Tennessee Needham's Cutoff Hales Store Redfoot River Hales Point Canadian Reach Deer River Mill Bayou Ashport, Tennessee Friendship Bar