Sold – The Vicksburg Campaign

The Civil War Mementos and Effects of General Hugh Ewing, General W.T. Sherman’s Brother-in-law

Including a fragment of the flag that flew over

his headquarters at the siege of Vicksburg

The Ewing family was a prominent one in the Antebellum period. Thomas Ewing was Secretary of the Treasury in 1841 and in 1849 became the nation’s first Secretary of the Interior. Three of his sons became Union generals in the Civil War:?Hugh, Charles and Thomas Jr.; his foster son was William T. Sherman, for whom he obtained an appointment to West Point. Sherman then married his daughter, and was thus both foster brother and brother-in-law to the Ewing sons. During the gold rush in 1849, Hugh Ewing went to California, where he joined an expedition ordered by his father, then Interior Secretary, to rescue immigrants who were imprisoned in the Sierra by heavy snows.

When the Civil War broke out, Hugh was quickly in the service as colonel of the 30th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He used his connections to aid Sherman overcome an early scandal that had led to his being relieved of command. Ewing would soon become one of Sherman’s generals, and the one Sherman considered his most reliable division commander. Before joining up with Sherman, Ewing was in the West?Virginia theater in early 1862. Then in the September 1862  Campaign, Ewing’s command played a significant role. On September 14, at the Battle of South Mountain, he led the assault that drove the enemy from the summit; and at midnight of that day, he received an order giving him command of his own brigade. At Antietam three days later, Ewing’s brigade was placed upon the extreme left of the army, where, according to the report of the commander of the left wing, Gen. Ambrose Burnside, “by a brilliant change of front he saved the left from being completely driven in.”

Ewing transferred West to serve under his brother Sherman, and was with him throughout the 1863 campaign before Vicksburg. Vicksburg was the last remaining Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, and if it could be taken, the Union would split the Confederacy, gain complete control of this essential waterway, and complete the naval encirclement of the South that included the blockade at sea. Many in the Union leadership considered it the most important target of all. Grant first tried to breach the Confederate positions around Vicksburg by assaults, and Sherman’s forces, along with Ewing’s units, were involved. The assaults failed, except the final one on May 22, at which point the siege of Vicksburg began. There Sherman’s corps held the northern sector. The seige lasted until July 4, 1863, when the city and its defenders surrendered. Joseph Johnston was chief commander of the Confederate Department of the West, and was moving his army towards Vicksburg in a belated attempt to break the siege when the city was taken. No sooner had Union forces entered the city than Grant gave Sherman orders at once to attack Johnston, and Ewing’s command was one of the units given that assignment. They left Vicksburg and ended up laying siege to Jackson, which they occupied a week later. Then, by a succession of rapid marches which General Grant characterized as “almost unequalled,” Sherman (with Ewing as one of his generals) wrested the possession of Walnut Hills, Miss. from the Confederates, cutting their force in two, and compelling the evacuation of Haines’, Snyder’s, Walnut, and Chickasaw Bluffs, together with all their works. This enabled Grant at once to open communication with the fleet and his new base on the Yazoo and Mississippi Rivers, above Vicksburg.

After the Vicksburg campaign, Ewing was placed in command of a division that formed the advance of Sherman’s army. In late 1863, Union troops held Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Confederate forces established themselves along Missionary Ridge and on Lookout Mountain, both of which had excellent views of the city and Union supply lines. Generals Grant, Sherman, and Thomas planned a double envelopment of Confederate forces, with the main attack by Sherman against the northern end of Missionary Ridge. Sherman arrived with his 20,000 men of the Army of the Tennessee on November 20 and immediately determined that the Confederates holding the positions he would attack were from Gen. Carter Stevenson’s command. The assault began on November 23 and ended in victory two days later. Sherman was quickly sent by Grant to strike to the southeast back into Mississippi, where he would receive supplies at Eastport and could repair supply roads. Then, hearing of a Confederate force heading up through Alabama into Tennessee to threaten Nashville, while in Iuka on November 27, 1863, Sherman received orders from Grant to intercept that force. Sherman immediately went to do so with all his regiments. This stopped the Confederate counterattack. Ewing became ill in 1864 and never returned to a major role in the conflict. After the war, he was U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands.

The following items owned by General Ewing came down through his family, and we obtained them directly from one of his descendants. They have never before been publicly seen no less offered for sale.

The Flag: A 7 by 10 inch fragment of the U.S. flag that flew over Ewing’s headquarters at Vicksburg.

The Campaign Map: A 12 by 18 inch hand-drawn map of the Vicksburg area, showing Union troops movements and marked with the position of Union units and siege lines before and during the siege. Ewing has himself drawn in the route that his division used to bypass Vicksburg on the south as a prelude to the eventual encirclement of the city. In faded writing at bottom, it is marked by Ewing as received. Although undated and unsigned by the engineers who prepared it, considering the paper it is written on, and the similarities in handwriting and ink color to known war date maps, we believe this was a map made by high command for Ewing during the siege.

Sherman’s Headquarters: An 8 by 11 inch pencil drawing captioned “Maj. Genl. W.T. Sherman Head Quarters, Walnut Hills, Miss., June 27, 1863.”

Announcement of the Surrender of Vicksburg: Autograph Letter Signed, Vicksburg, Sunday, July 5, 1863, to his wife Henrietta, whom he addressed as “My Love.” “Vicksburg surrendered yesterday at 10 o’clock. We move immediately on Johnston’s camp commanding the entire army. I fear love that my letters will now be interrupted but I will try & write frequently. Love to all. Tom is just over & we start at once.”