The Humane Side of Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, in a Remarkable, Rare, Unpublished War Date Order

This order was designed to be shown by the woman to any troops coming to provision at her expense and lacks any specific addressee; we have never seen such a remarkable and touching note by Grant having reached the market

 

“Mrs. Bagnum will be protected from further impressments of provisions and supplies by the Federal Army while remaining at their homes”

 

“Should they desire it they may be permitted to go out of our lines Southward at the discretion of the commanding officer”

 

A letter from the storied Vicksburg campaign.

After occupying Willow Springs, Mississippi, on his way to Vicksburg, on May 5, 1863, Gen. U. S. Grant divided his force. The XVII Corps advanced on Hankinson’s Ferry 5 miles north in two columns. Gen. M. M. Crocker’s division heading up this road encountered a Confederate roadblock held by Col. F. M. Cockrell’s Missourians on Kennison Creek. After a spirited clash in which Crocker was compelled to use 5,000 troops, the Rebels fell back. Covered by Cockrell’s stand, the Confederate army had retired across the Big Black River.

The 20th Ohio reached Hankinson’s Ferry just as the Rebel engineers were preparing to destroy the bridge. While Union guns roared, the Ohioans charged over the bridge, scattering the Confederates. Possession of the bridge enabled Grant to send patrols across the Big Black and up the Vicksburg road. Such thrusts helped confuse the Confederate leaders about Federal intentions. The XVII Corps camped in these fields south of the river from May 3-7. From May 4-7, Grant’s headquarters were at Hankinson’s Ferry. On May 7, 1863, Grant rode to Rocky Springs, marking the start of a new plan to attack Vicksburg, Mississippi. Grant’s new plan was to reach the railroad east of Vicksburg and approach from there. Then, instead of engaging Vicksburg from the south, Grant would march his men 60 miles northeast to the state capital, Jackson, and attack the Confederate forces there first, preventing them from supporting Confederate General Pemberton at Vicksburg and cutting off that city’s vital rail connection from the east. After another engagement at Big Black River Bridge on May 17, Pemberton’s men fell back in disarray to their defenses at Vicksburg, and Grant arrived at the city’s outskirts and trapped Confederate forces.

If Pemberton harbored hopes of breaking out of his trap, by July 3, his men were too famished to effectively fight. His only option was surrender. That afternoon, Grant and Pemberton met between the lines under an oak tree and Pemberton surrendered Vicksburg. At almost the same moment, some 15,000 Confederates were charging up Cemetery Hill during Pickett’s Charge on the climatic third day of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Local Mississippi resident Mrs. Bagnum somehow got a meeting with Grant, related her story that Union troops were looting her property, and asked Grant to put a stop to it. She was also seeking a way to get through Union lines. Grant was sympathetic, perhaps surprisingly so, and wrote this memorable letter.

Autograph letter signed, Head Quarters, Dept. of the Tennessee, Hankinson’s Ferry, Mississippi, May 7, 1863, being a very rare protective order and pass for a Southern woman. Grant orders: “Mrs. Bagnam will be protected from further impressments of provisions and supplies by the Federal Army while remaining at their homes. Should they desire it they may be permitted to go out of our lines Southward at the discretion of the commanding officer nearest their residence. U.S. Grant, Maj. Gen.”

A search of auction records found no other Grant letters about impressment of civilian goods, nor have we ever seen one. The Grant Papers has nothing like it, and it may well be unique. Originally obtained by the collector from noted dealer Kenneth Rendell. A fascinating Grant war-dated letter showing his humane side towards Southern civilians, in a way we’ve never seen before.

This letter lacks addressee. It was clearly given to the woman to be shown should any Union troops come to provision themselves at her expense.