Sold – In the Wake of the First Union Victory of the Vicksburg Campaign, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant Makes Arrangements With His Confederate Counterpart, Gen. John C. Pemberton, For Aiding Sick and Wounded Prisoners of War

Gen. Ulysses S. Grant commanded the Army of the Tennessee, which operated in southern Tennessee and northern Mississippi, and Confederate leaders wanted to prevent him from linking up with Buell. They had an army under Gen. Sterling Price, and Price was ordered to prevent such a link up, and to join with Bragg's army if feasible. In the Battle of Iuka on September 19, Price's advance was stopped and almost 700 of his men were captured, many of them wounded. He retreated to join with another Confederate force under Gen. Van Dorn. This combined army moved toward Corinth, Miss., where on October 3-4 it was thrown back with a significant loss, and almost 2,000 Confederates were captured, again with many of them being wounded. A large number of the Confederate wounded from both of these battles had fallen into Union hands and were being cared for at a hospitals in Iuka and Jackson. On October 10, 1862, Gen. John C. Pemberton was brought in to command Confederate forces in this region, and the focus of his forces was switched from being an auxiliary player in the struggle for Kentucky to being the defender of the crucial Mississippi River and in particular Vicksburg.

On November 2, 1862, Grant began the Vicksburg campaign, when his troops headed toward the Confederate supply depot and railroad junction at Holly Springs, Miss. Pemberton's men occupied that place, but by the 9th Grant, showing his natural aggressiveness, planned to attack it. Two days later Gen. Halleck in Washington confirmed Grant as senior Union commander in the region, meaning he could now implement his plan to take Vicksburg without impediment. This called for a two-pronged approach in which part of his army, under Gen. William T. Sherman, would reach Vicksburg through an advance using the Yazoo River, while Grant's portion of the army would come down through Mississippi. Grant started by taking Holly Springs on November 13, the first Union victory of the Vicksburg campaign. In all likelihood, wounded Confederate prisoners were taken to Jackson. Grant made Holly Springs his jumping-off point for his expedition, and the place was soon inundated with supplies to support his army. Sherman, for his part, began operating at the mouth of the Yazoo. Meanwhile, Pemberton was looking for a way to stop Grant's advances.

On November 19, Pemberton wrote a letter to Grant, addressed to the "General Officer commanding United States forces, So.W. Tennessee." In it, he wrote, "With your consent I desire to send for the use of the sick & wounded soldiers of the Confederate Army now in hospital at Iuka, some necessary clothing, and also $1000 with which to purchase provisions suitable to their condition. Will you be good enough to inform me at what point they shall be delivered. The stores will be forwarded to Abbeville there to await your decision. I propose also to send, say once a week, ambulances for such convalescents as it may be proper to remove. I desire, General, to express my thanks for the kind treatment which the Confederate surgeon in charge informs me has been extended to our sick and wounded by the United States authorities at Iuka. Requesting as really a reply as may be convenient…" Grant is sometimes accused of having been careless of men's lives, but in this letter we see that this is an unfair accusation, as he is praised for his kindness.

Autograph letter signed, Headquarters Dept. of the Tennessee, LaGrange, Miss., November 23, 1862, to Pemberton, indicating that Confederate prisoners were now at Jackson, and saying that his soldiers will transport supplies to the hospitals for wounded Confederates, or if Pemberton wishes his men to transport the supplies, Grant will provide safe passage and also allow ambulances to transport out the wounded and sick. "Your letter of the 19th inst. reached here yesterday during my temporary absence from this place, hence the delay in answering. The goods you speak of sending for the use of your wounded, now confined to hospitals in Jackson, will be received at any point between here and Abbeville, say Holly Springs, and sent by our conveyance in charge of some responsible officers to their destination. Should you prefer sending these articles by your own conveyance then they can go from some point on the Mobile and Ohio Road by way of Bay Springs. This route will be left free for your ambulance whilst engaged in removing the sick and wounded." Letters between major Civil War commanders that crossed the battle lines for delivery are very uncommon. This is just the second one we have had in all of our years in this field, and the first of Grant.

Grant's plans to take Vicksburg initially failed. Neither the march down through Mississippi nor operations on the Yazoo accomplished their goals, nor was Grant able to construct a canal to bypass Vicksburg. However, in late April 1863, Grant landed his army below Vicksburg at Bruinsburg, Miss. His forces rapidly moved inland, and pushed back the threat posed by Confederate Gen. Joseph Johnston's forces near Jackson. Once his rear was clear, Grant moved back towards Vicksburg, from the east. Victories at Champion Hill and Big Black Bridge left Pemberton’s army weakened and besieged in Vicksburg. With the fall of Vicksburg and the surrender of Pemberton’s forces on July 4, 1863, one of the greatest Union victories of the Civil War was secured. As Abraham Lincoln wrote in celebration, "The Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea."