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The Battle of Jackson was fought on May 14, 1863, in Jackson, Mississippi, as part of the Vicksburg campaign during the American Civil War.After entering the state of Mississippi in late April 1863, Major General Ulysses S. Grant of the Union Army moved his force inland to strike at the strategic Mississippi River town of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
The re-capture of Jackson by the Union Army effectively ended the last potential Confederate threat to re-take Vicksburg. Historian Michael Ballard wrote that Johnston's retreat was the last major action by a large Confederate force in Mississippi and that most of his "Army of Relief" would be combined with the Army of Tennessee.
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.
Vicksburg was strategically vital to the Confederates. Jefferson Davis said, "Vicksburg is the nail head that holds the South's two halves together." [4] While in their hands, it blocked Union navigation down the Mississippi; together with control of the mouth of the Red River and of Port Hudson to the south, it allowed communication with the states west of the river, upon which the ...
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Capt. Morton's guns bombarded the Union supply depot and the 28 steamboats and barges positioned at the wharf. All three of the Union gunboats—Key West, Tawah, and Elfin—were disabled or destroyed.[7] The Union garrison commander ordered that the supply vessels be burned to prevent their capture by the Confederates.
The removal of the burn ban becomes effective Nov. 16. The burn ban was put in place due to extreme drought conditions. From Aug. 1 through Nov. 14, MFC wildland firefighters responded to 1,506 ...
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."