The Battle of Grand Gulf

Abraham Lincoln considered Vicksburg, Mississippi, the key to the Civil War. Lincoln knew the importance of securing the Mississippi River, since it was the lifeline of commerce and supplies to the North. Until the Union Army controlled the Mississippi River, effectively splitting the South in two and severing a vital supply line, they'd never be able to proceed with their goal of toppling Richmond. And Vicksburg was the key strategic pin in seizing control of the Mississippi.

In the spring of 1863, the North kicked off the Vicksburg Campaign, with Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and the Union Army of the Tennessee marching towards the pivotal Warren County objective. The Battle of Grand Gulf, fought on April 29, was one of the campaign's initial struggles.

Union Read Adm. David D. Porter commanded seven ironclad ships in an assault of the fortifications and artillery batteries around Grand Gulf, Mississippi. The plan called for Porter's group to destroy the guns and allow Gen. John A. McClernand's XIII Army Corps, which were being carried on accompanying transports and barges, to occupy the area. Porter's ships succeeded in dispatching the lower guns around Fort Wade, but Fort Coburn, positioned higher, remained out of reach and continued to hammer the Union ironclads.

Unable to defeat the Rebel artillery, Porter regrouped and attacked again, this time merely providing cover for the transports and barges to continue down river. Grant had marched his troops overland below the Gulf and met up with the river party at Bruinsburg. While the Confederacy won the Battle of Grand Gulf, it merely forced a slight change of plans for Grant's men, and the Union Army continued unimpeded towards their ultimate goal of Vicksburg.