Invasion of Kentucky & the Battle of Perryville
On June 23, 1862, Gen. Braxton Bragg relieved Beauregard for health reasons. After leaving a small force to oppose Grant near Corinth, he shifted his army east to Chattanooga with the goal of invading Kentucky in conjunction with a force under Maj. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith. Marching from Knoxville, Smith occupied Lexington, KY on August 30. To counter the Confederate move, Buell was sent north to protect Louisville and Cincinnati. Arriving in Louisville in late September, Buell was reinforced, but was slow to move against Bragg and Smith.
After almost losing his command due to his hesitancy, Buell moved back south towards Bragg and Smith. On October 8, his army encountered Bragg near the town of Perryville. Beginning as a skirmish over a water source, a full-scale battle soon erupted. Fighting through the day, the Confederates won a tactical victory. That night, after realizing he was badly outnumbered, Bragg ordered a retreat to Harrodsburg where Smith was waiting to join him. Bragg assessed the situation, and with no additional support coming, opted to fall back to Murfreesboro, TN. Buell, despite his superiority, failed to pursue and returned to Nashville. For this lack of initiative he was replaced by Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans on October 24.
Battle of Stones River
Following a period of re-supply and reorganization at Nashville, Rosecrans moved quickly after Bragg. Marching southeast towards Murfreesboro with 43,000 men, Rosecrans arrived near the town on December 29. Though the armies deployed on the 30th, the fighting did not begin until Bragg launched a major attack on the Union right early on the 31st. Led by divisions under Maj. Gens. Patrick Cleburne and John McCown, the Confederates drove the Union troops back, with only a strong defensive stand by Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan's division preventing a rout. Behind the strong leadership of Rosecrans, the Union troops regrouped and formed a defensive perimeter centered on the Nashville Turnpike. Continued attacks through the afternoon were beaten off with heavy casualties.
That night, after a council of war, Rosecrans decided to continue the battle. Before sunrise, he shifted some troops across the adjacent Tennessee River to occupy the heights north of town. On January 2, Bragg renewed his attacks, but with little success. The following day, Rosecrans received reinforcements and supplies. Believing his adversary was only going to grow stronger, Bragg began a retreat south towards Tullahoma, TN the next night. The Battle of Stones River cost Rosecrans over 13,000 casualties, while Bragg suffered over 10,000.
First Attempts on Vicksburg
As fighting was taking place in Kentucky and Tennessee, Grant began to move against the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, MS. One of the last major obstacles to the Union conquest of the Mississippi, Vicksburg was located on high bluffs at a sharp turn in the river. Given free rein by Halleck, Grant designed a two-prong attack, with Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman advancing down the river with 32,000 men, while he advanced south along Mississippi Central Railroad with 40,000 men. These movements were to be supported by an advance north from New Orleans by Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks.
Establishing a supply base at Holly Springs, MS, Grant pressed south to Oxford, hoping to engage Confederate forces under Gen. Earl Van Dorn near Grenada. In December 1862, Van Dorn, badly outnumbered, launched a large cavalry raid around Grant's army and destroyed the supply base at Holly Springs, halting the Union advance. Sherman's situation was no better. Moving down the river with relative ease, he arrived just north of Vicksburg on Christmas Eve. After moving up the Yazoo River, he disembarked his troops and began moving through the swamps and bayous toward the town. Encountering a strong line of Confederate earthworks at Chickasaw Bluffs on the 29th, he ordered his men to attack. While the assault had some initial success, it was repulsed with heavy casualties following a Confederate counterattack. Lacking support from Grant, Sherman opted to withdrawal.
As Sherman moved back up the Mississippi, he was met by a force led by Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand. A political appointee, McClernand had been given permission by Lincoln to raise a corps in southern Illinois for the purpose of taking Vicksburg. Technically superior in rank, he added Sherman's force to his own. A glory seeker, McClernand opted to move up the Arkansas River to attack Fort Hindman near the town of Arkansas Post. Working with gunboats let by Flag Officer David D. Porter, McClernand successfully captured the fort on January 11, 1863. Upon hearing of McClernand's actions, Grant was furious and shifted his forces to the river so that he could command the entire army in person. Through the winter, Grant explored various options for bypassing Vicksburg using the bayous in the area as well as building canals across the neck of land opposite the town.
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