Battle of Champion Hill or Bakers Creek ~ Civil War Battles

The Battle of Champion Hill, or Bakers Creek, fought May 16, 1863, was the pivotal battle in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. Union commander Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and the Army of the Tennessee pursued the retreating Confederate Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton and defeated his army twenty miles to the east of Vicksburg, Mississippi, leading inevitably to the Siege of Vicksburg and surrender.

Battle of Champion Hill Background and opposing forces

Following the Union occupation of Jackson, Mississippi, on May 14, both Confederate and Federal forces made plans for future operations. General Joseph E. Johnston, commanding all Confederate forces in Mississippi, retreated, with most of his army, up the Canton Road, but he ordered Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton, commanding three divisions (about 23,000 men), to leave Edwards Station and attack the Federals at Clinton. Pemberton and his generals felt that Johnston’s plan was dangerous and decided instead to attack the Union supply trains moving from Grand Gulf to Raymond. On May 16, however, Pemberton received another order from Johnston repeating his former directions. Pemberton had already started after the supply trains and was on the Raymond-Edwards Road with his rear at the crossroads one-third mile south of the crest of Champion Hill. Thus, when he ordered a countermarch, his rear, including his many supply wagons, became the vanguard of his force.

Battle

On May 16, at about 7:00 a.m., the Union forces engaged the Confederates and the Battle of Champion Hill began. Pemberton's force drew up into a three mile (5 km)-long defensive line that ran from southwest to northeast along a crest of a ridge overlooking Jackson Creek. Grant observed in his Personal Memoirs, "... where Pemberton had chosen his position to receive us, whether taken by accident or design, was well selected. It is one of the highest points in that section, and commanded all the ground in the range."

Pemberton was unaware that one of the three Union columns was moving along the Jackson Road against his unprotected left flank on Champion Hill. For protection, Pemberton posted Brig. Gen. Stephen D. Lee's Alabama brigade atop Champion Hill where they could watch for the reported Union column moving to the crossroads. Lee spotted the Union troops and they soon saw him. If this force were not stopped, it would cut the Rebels off from their Vicksburg base. Pemberton received warning of the Union movement and sent troops to his left flank. Union forces at the Champion House moved into action and emplaced artillery to begin firing.

When Grant arrived at Champion Hill around 10:00 a.m., he ordered the attack to begin. John A. McClernand's corps attacked on the left, James B. McPherson's on the right; William T. Sherman's corps was well behind the others, departing Jackson. By 11:30 a.m., Union forces had reached the Confederate main line and at about 1:00 p.m., they took the crest while the troops from Carter L. Stevenson's division retired in disorder. McPherson's corps swept forward, capturing the crossroads and closing the Jackson Road escape route. The division of John S. Bowen then counterattacked in support of Stevenson, pushing the Federals back beyond the Champion Hill crest before their surge came to a halt. They had insufficient troops to hold that position, however. Pemberton directed William W. Loring to send forces from the southern area of the line (where they were only lightly engaged with McClernand's ineffective attack) to reinforce the Hill, but Loring refused, citing a strong Union presence to his front.

Grant then counterattacked, committing forces that had just arrived from Clinton by way of Bolton. Pemberton's men could not stand up to this assault, so he ordered his men from the field to the one escape route still open: the Raymond Road crossing of Bakers Creek. By now, Loring had acceded to Pemberton's direction and marched toward the fighting, but by a circuitous route that kept them out of action. Brig. Gen. Lloyd Tilghman's brigade formed the rearguard, and they held at all costs, including the loss of Tilghman, a victim of artillery fire. In the late afternoon, Union troops seized the Bakers Creek Bridge, and by midnight, they occupied Edwards. The Confederates fell back to a defensive position at the Big Black River in front of Vicksburg. The Battle of Big Black River Bridge there the next day would be the final chance for Pemberton to escape.

Battle of Champion Hill Aftermath

Champion Hill was a bloody, but decisive, Union victory. In his Personal Memoirs, Grant observed, "While a battle is raging, one can see his enemy mowed down by the thousand, or the ten thousand, with great composure; but after the battle these scenes are distressing, and one is naturally disposed to alleviate the sufferings of an enemy as a friend."

Grant criticized the lack of fighting spirit of his rival, McClernand, dissatisfied that he had not killed or captured Pemberton's entire force. McClernand's casualties were low on the Union left flank (south); McPherson's on the right were the bulk of the Union losses, about 2,500. The Confederates had about 3,800 casualties. Their effective loss included most of Loring's division, which had marched off to join Joseph E. Johnston in Jackson.

Battle of Champion Hill

Part of the American Civil War