Indiana 34th Infantry (Union)

Island Number Ten

In addition to prosecuting the coastal blockade and pursuing Confederate commerce raiders, the U.S. Navy's other main role in the Civil War, and arguably its most important one, was seizing and controlling the Mississippi River and its tributaries. In this effort, the main obstacle was not the tiny Confederate navy, but rather the formidable shore fortifications erected by the Confederates along the banks of the Tennessee, Cumberland and Mississippi Rivers. This war, therefore, was less often a matter of s…READ MORE

Port Gibson

On April 30, 1863, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's army crossed the Mississippi River at Bruinsburg, 30 miles south of his objective of Vicksburg. Grant hoped to move east toward the capital at Jackson to block the Confederate army there under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston from reinforcing Vicksburg. Port Gibson, ten miles east of Bruinsburg on the Bayou Pierre River, commanded the best approach routes and was the first Federal objective. A Confederate force there was commanded by Maj. Gen. John S. Bowen. Grant's A…READ MORE

MajorRobert B. Jones

Brigadier GeneralGeorge F. McGinnis

Brigadier GeneralAlvin P. Hovey

Champion Hill

The Battle of Champion Hill was the largest and bloodiest action of Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Vicksburg Campaign.READ MORE

Vicksburg

In mid-May, 1863, after six months of unsuccessful attempts, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Tennessee finally converged on Vicksburg, defended by a Confederate army under Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton. Capture of the Mississippi River town was critical to Union control of the strategic river. Vicksburg was located on a high river bluff defended with artillery, and Pemberton's men had constructed a series of fortifications in an 8-mile arc surrounding the city on the landward side. After crossing the…READ MORE

Palmito Ranch

Union Col. Theodore H. Barrett, commanding forces at Brazos Santiago, Texas, dispatched an expedition composed of 250 men of the 62nd U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment and 50 men of the 2nd Texas Cavalry Regiment under the command of Lt. Col. David Branson to the mainland, on May 11, 1865, to attack reported Rebel outposts and camps. At 2:00 am, on May 12th, the expeditionary force surrounded the Rebel outpost at White's Ranch, but found no one there. Later that morning, people on the Mexican side of the rive…READ MORE