Saturday, July 4, 1863
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| Expedition from: | Batesville, AR | May 30 - February 3, 1864 | Expedition from: | Beaver Creek, KY | July 3 - 11, 1863 | Expedition to: | Beverly, WV | June 29 - July 4, 1863 | Skirmish: | Big Black River, MS | July 4, 1863 | Affair: | Black Fork Hills, MO | July 4, 1863 | Expedition to: | Bottom's Bridge, VA | July 1 - 7, 1863 | Skirmish: | Cassville, MO | July 4, 1863 | Skirmish: | Cowan, TN | July 4, 1863 | Skirmish: | Cross Hollow, AR | July 1863 | Campaign: | Dix's Peninsula, ? | June 24 - July 7, 1863 | Skirmish: | Emmitsburg, MD | July 4, 1863 | Skirmish: | Fairfield Gap, PA | July 4, 1863 | Skirmish: | Fayetteville, WV | July 4, 1863 | Skirmish: | Fort Craig, New Mexico Territory | July 4, 1863 | Campaign: | Gettysburg, PA | June 3 - August 11, 1863 | Engagement: | Green River Bridge, KY | July 4, 1863 | Attack: | Helena, AR | July 4, 1863 | Skirmish: | Huttonsville, WV | July 4, 1863 | Skirmish: | Messenger's Ferry, MS | July 4, 1863 | Campaign: | Middle Tennessee | June 23 - July 7, 1863 | Action: | Monterey Gap, PA | July 4, 1863 | Operation: | Morgan's Raid | July 2 - 26, 1863 | Capture of: | North Mountain Depot, WV | July 4, 1863 | Campaign: | Peninsula, VA | June 24 - July 7, 1863 | Siege: | Port Hudson, LA | May 21 - July 8, 1863 | Expedition to: | Pound Gap, KY | July 3 - 11, 1863 | Affair: | Rocky Hill Station, KY | July 4, 1863 | Expedition: | Sioux Expedition, Dakota Territory | June 16 - September 13, 1863 | Expedition against: | Snake Indians, Idaho Territory | May 4 - October 26, 1863 | Skirmish: | South Anna Bridge, VA | July 4, 1863 | Expedition to: | South Anna River, VA | July 1 - 7, 1863 | Expedition to: | Southwestern Virginia | July 3 - 11, 1863 | Engagement: | Tebb's Bend, KY | July 4, 1863 | Expedition to: | Trenton, NC | July 4 - 8, 1863 | Campaign: | Tullahoma, TN | June 23 - July 7, 1863 | Action: | University Depot, TN | July 4, 1863 | Siege: | Vicksburg, MS | May 18 - July 4, 1863 | Surrender of: | Vicksburg, MS | July 4, 1863 | Operation: | Vicksburg, MS | January 20 - July 4, 1863 | Expedition to: | Weldon & Wilmington Railroad, NC | July 3 - 7, 1863 | Expedition from: | White House, VA | July 1 - 7, 1863 | Raid: | Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, NC | July 3 - 7, 1863 |
(Source: Compendium of the War of the Rebellion Vol. I, p. 660-991. Frederick H. Dyer.)
Naval Events:
Vicksburg, long under assault and siege by water and land, capitulated to General Grant. W. T. Sherman congratulated Rear Admiral Porter for the decisive role played by the Navy in effecting the surrender: "No event in life could have given me more personal pride or pleasure than to have met you to-day on the wharf at Vicksburg--a Fourth of July so eloquent in events as to need no words or stimulants to elevate its importance. . . . In so magnificent a result I stop not to count who did it; it is done, and the day of our nation's birth is consecrated and baptized anew in a victory won by the United Navy and Army of our country." Observing that he must continue to push on to finish the operations in the west by seizing Port Hudson, Sherman added: "It does seem to me that Port Hudson, without facilities for supplies or interior communication, must soon follow the fate of Vicksburg and to leave the river free, and to you the task of preventing any more Vicksburgs or Port Hudsons on the banks of the great inland sea. Though farther apart, the Navy and Army will still act in concert, and I assure you I shall never reach the banks of the river or see a gunboat but I will think of Admiral Porter, Captain Breese, and the many elegant and accomplished gentlemen it has been my good fortune to meet on armed or unarmed decks of the Mississippi squadron."(Source: Civil War Naval Chronology 1861-1865. pp. I:1-41; II:1-117; III:1-170; IV:1-152; V:1-134. 1971: Naval History Division, Navy Department.)Major General Herron spoke as warmly in a letter to Porter: "While congratulating you on the success of the Army and Navy in reducing this Sebastopol of Rebeldom, I must, at the same time, thank you for the aid my division has had from yourself and your ships. The guns received from the Benton, under charge of Acting Master Reed, a gallant and efficient officer, have formed the most effective battery I had, and I am glad to say that the officer in charge has well sustained the reputation of your squadron. For the efforts you have made to cooperate with me in my position on the left, I am under many obligations."
Porter noted the statistical contributions of the Squadron in compelling the fall of Vicksburg. Writing Secretary Welles that 13 naval guns had been used ashore, many with officers and men from the fleet to work them, he added: "There has been a large expenditure of ammunition during the siege; the mortars have fired 7,000 mortar shells, and the gunboats 4,500; 4,500 have been fired from the naval guns on shore, and we have supplied over 6,000 to the different army corps." General Grant wrote: "The navy, under Porter, was all it could be during the entire campaign. Without its assistance the campaign could not have been successfully made with twice the number of men engaged." Reflecting on the fall of Vicksburg, Porter wrote: "What bearing this will have on the rebellion remains yet to be seen, but the magnitude of the success must go far toward crushing out this revolution and establishing once more the commerce of the States bordering on this river. History has seldom had an opportunity of recording so desperate a defense on one side, with so much courage, ability, perseverance, and endurance on the other. . . . Without a watchful care over the Mississippi, the operations of the army would have been much interfered with, and I can say honestly that officers never did their duty better than those who have patrolled the river from Cairo to Vicksburg. . . . The capture of Vicksburg leaves us a large army and naval forces free to act all along the river. . . . The effect of this blow will be felt far up the tributaries of the Mississippi."
Indeed, the effect was felt throughout the North and South, for, as Porter had noted, Port Hudson could not long hold out, and the war in the west was won. The great produce of the Midwest could flow freely down the Mississippi to New Orleans, and the South was severed.
Raphael Semmes later wrote: "This [the surrender of Vicksburg] was a terrible blow to us. It not only lost us an army, but cut the Confederacy in two, by giving the enemy the command of the Mississippi River. . . . Vicksburg and Gettysburg mark an era in the war. . . . We need no better evidence of the shock which had been given to public confidence in the South, by those two disasters, than the simple fact, that our currency depreciated almost immediately a thousand per cent!"
President Lincoln could write: "The Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea. . . . Nor must Uncle Sam's web feet be forgotten. At all the watery margins they have been present. Not only on the deep sea, the broad bay, the rapid river, but also up the narrow, muddy bayou, and wherever the ground was a little damp, they have been and made their tracks."
U.S.S. Tyler, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Prichett, repulsed an attack on Helena, Arkansas, by a large body of Confederate troops. The Southerners had penetrated the outposts of the outnumbered Union Army, under Major General Benjamin M. Prentiss, when Tyler steamed into action and, in Porter's words, "saved the day. . . ." Tyler's heavy fire halted the Confederate attack and compelled a withdrawal. The Southern losses were heavy; Lieutenant Commander S. L. Phelps, commanding the Second Division of the Mississippi Squadron, reported that "our forces have buried 380 of his killed, and many places have been found where he had himself buried his dead. His wounded number 1,100 and the prisoners are also 1,100. . . ."
Mahan, later analyzing the contributions of Tyler's action at Helena, wrote that to her powerful battery and the judgment with which it was used must be mainly attributed the success of the day; for though the garrison fought with great gallantry and tenacity, they were outnumbered two to one."
Prentiss advised Porter of Prichett's "valuable assistance" during the battle: "I assure you, sir, that he not only acquitted himself with honor and distinction during the engagement proper, but with a zeal and patience as rare as they are commendable, when informed of an attack on this place lost no time and spared no labor to make himself thoroughly acquainted with the topography of the surrounding country. And I attribute not a little of our success in the late battle to his full knowledge of the situation and his skill in adapting the means within his command to the end to be obtained." The Union's force afloat, lead by capable and tireless commanders, repeatedly shattered Confederate hopes for taking the offensive.
Additional Information:
The Battle of Vicksburg, Mississippi. (MS011) (Grant's Operations Against Vicksburg [March-July 1863]).
The Battle of Port Hudson, Louisiana. (LA010) (Siege of Port Hudson [May-July 1863]).
The Battle of Vicksburg, Mississippi. (MS011) (Grant's Operations Against Vicksburg [March-July 1863]).
The Battle of Helena, Arkansas. (AR008) (Grant's Operations Against Vicksburg [March-July 1863]).
(Source: Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report: Battle Summaries. National Park Service. In The Civil War Battlefield Guide, 2nd ed., 1998. Edited by Frances H. Kennedy.)