Indianola running the Batteries - Feb 1863

Forrest

Sergeant
Joined
Sep 25, 2015
Any speculation as to which batteries these two are? My guess is two of the 1st TN batteries on the North side of town:

feb12indianolarunning.jpg
 
This woodcut has me curious about some other things as well. I had read where an artilleryman defending the East side of the city said that sometimes you couldn't "prick the cartridge" without getting your hand shot (for a breech-loading cannon). Given the Union sharpshooting, surely you couldn't have had muzzle-loading cannon along the outer defenses (see man at far right who would have been very exposed-also, is he standing on a ledge outside of the embrasure?). I thought Columbiads were moved from the river to the outer defenses at times, which doesn't make sense due to exposure of the artillerymen.

I have also read that men in the rifle pits of the river defenses also had to worry about sharpshooters (though not as much) - so how did the Columbiad (muzzle-loading) artillerists in the river defenses protect themselves from sharpshooters across the river, when firing during daylight? I know they didn't fire much during daylight, but it did happen, and they lost very few men to sharpshooters.

The above is probably all very elementary to the artillery experts here, so I appreciate you indulging me. I just purchased a 10" Columbiad resin model and have been studying my Confederate field guide, so hoping to get a better feel for what was involved in manning them.
 
This woodcut has me curious about some other things as well. I had read where an artilleryman defending the East side of the city said that sometimes you couldn't "prick the cartridge" without getting your hand shot (for a breech-loading cannon). Given the Union sharpshooting, surely you couldn't have had muzzle-loading cannon along the outer defenses (see man at far right who would have been very exposed-also, is he standing on a ledge outside of the embrasure?).

Good question. My speculation would be, that those big guns produced enough smoke for rammers to do their part, however, once the cartridge was about to be pricked, most of the smoke probably cleared for the sharpshooters.
 
This woodcut has me curious about some other things as well. I had read where an artilleryman defending the East side of the city said that sometimes you couldn't "prick the cartridge" without getting your hand shot (for a breech-loading cannon). Given the Union sharpshooting, surely you couldn't have had muzzle-loading cannon along the outer defenses (see man at far right who would have been very exposed-also, is he standing on a ledge outside of the embrasure?). I thought Columbiads were moved from the river to the outer defenses at times, which doesn't make sense due to exposure of the artillerymen.

I have also read that men in the rifle pits of the river defenses also had to worry about sharpshooters (though not as much) - so how did the Columbiad (muzzle-loading) artillerists in the river defenses protect themselves from sharpshooters across the river, when firing during daylight? I know they didn't fire much during daylight, but it did happen, and they lost very few men to sharpshooters.

The above is probably all very elementary to the artillery experts here, so I appreciate you indulging me. I just purchased a 10" Columbiad resin model and have been studying my Confederate field guide, so hoping to get a better feel for what was involved in manning them.
Sharpshooters were a big problem in the rear lines, and on the Northern River batteries where sharpshooters occupied the area where the National Cemetery is now, and around the bend of the river. But the River Batteries in the middle of the line didn't have much trouble with sharpshooters because the Mississippi River was appx a mile wide in front of Vicksburg.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't this from a Northern newspaper? In which case I would have reservations about how literally to take the representation of the Southern gun positions...
That's a good point. Since this print was published in March, the positions were probably based on guesswork - I have collected some information regarding Union guesswork about batteries during 1862, and they are all over the place.

So the answer to my first question might be: "they represent what the artist thought the batteries north of town might have looked like."
 
They certainly wouldn't have had much to worry about in the way of sharpshooters from Union gunboats running the batteries. Standard procedure as it evolved for that process was basically to batten down the hatches, bring steam up to maximum, and try to get by as quickly as possible, rather than to stop to engage with any caliber of weapon.

ETA: Talking mostly about river ironclads of the Indianola's ilk there. Farragut's ships handled it a bit differently; not being armored, they laid down a (generally blind) heavy fire, with grapeshot if they were going to be close enough, mostly to suppress Confederate fire rather than to try to do much in the way of damage.
 
Good question. My speculation would be, that those big guns produced enough smoke for rammers to do their part, however, once the cartridge was about to be pricked, most of the smoke probably cleared for the sharpshooters.

I hadn't thought of the smoke as providing cover.
 
They certainly wouldn't have had much to worry about in the way of sharpshooters from Union gunboats running the batteries. Standard procedure as it evolved for that process was basically to batten down the hatches, bring steam up to maximum, and try to get by as quickly as possible, rather than to stop to engage with any caliber of weapon.

My question regards the sharpshooters on the other side of the river - river defense artillerymen have stated in journals and letters that sharpshooters on the opposite shore were a concern to them. Certainly danger from them was much less than from those on the Eastern side of town, but as far away as the opposite shore of the Mississippi was, soldiers were still not out of range and they were aware of that fact.

I will have to look up the exact date that west bank sharpshooters are first mentioned - it might be that once sharpshooting began in 1863, the artillerymen quit firing the Columbiads during the day. I know during the summer of 1862 Union boats ran the batteries during the day at times, and were fired upon, but I don't believe there was any Union presence on the opposite shore.

Also, it could be that sharpshooters weren't accurate from that far away, and the artillerymen who expressed concern were being overly-dramatic.
 
but I don't believe there was any Union presence on the opposite shore.

You're quite correct; apart from the attempted canal a little farther up- and down-river, there was no lasting Union presence on the point opposite Vicksburg (DeSoto Point, I think). (I doubt there was much of a Confederate presence either, frankly, given its status as a sort of swampy no-man's-land...)
 
Sharpshooters were a big problem in the rear lines, and on the Northern River batteries where sharpshooters occupied the area where the National Cemetery is now, and around the bend of the river. But the River Batteries in the middle of the line didn't have much trouble with sharpshooters because the Mississippi River was appx a mile wide in front of Vicksburg.

The width of the Mississippi was a touch over 1/2 mile + the distance between the shore and the batteries.
 
The width of the Mississippi was a touch over 1/2 mile + the distance between the shore and the batteries.
If you measure the distance today across the Yazoo canal then across Lake Centennial it is about a mile. As it is across the river at the present day bridges.
 
You're quite correct; apart from the attempted canal a little farther up- and down-river, there was no lasting Union presence on the point opposite Vicksburg (DeSoto Point, I think). (I doubt there was much of a Confederate presence either, frankly, given its status as a sort of swampy no-man's-land...)

Just to keep things clear, there were definitely Union batteries at Desoto during the 1863 siege - the map scale indicates that it was no more than 3/4 mile between the Union batteries and the Confederate batteries in front of the town. They were complete with cannon and sharpshooters.

Regarding the Union gunboats used during 1862, their cannon fire was so infeffective that M.L. Smith had his men continue to construct river batteries during their presence. On the other hand, the Confederate batteries were also mostly ineffective at stopping the Union boats from going in either direction in front of them. They prevented a city front landing, but not the Union boat traffic.

It's hard to keep this stuff straight during discussions, as the 1862 siege and 1863 siege were quite different in terms of positions and activity along the river. Also, other than the Official Records, most historians have chosen to ignore the 1862 activity.
 
At the time the Indianola went past, it's really the 1862-like conditions we're talking about. I'm not sure I was aware of the DeSoto Point batteries during the siege, but conditions had changed at that point, as you point out.
 
You're quite correct; apart from the attempted canal a little farther up- and down-river, there was no lasting Union presence on the point opposite Vicksburg (DeSoto Point, I think). (I doubt there was much of a Confederate presence either, frankly, given its status as a sort of swampy no-man's-land...)
Actually Desoto peninsula was inhabited. Many of the homes were burned to expose the ironclads running the batteries in 1863. And the Union Army placed Parrott Rigles there during the siege. There used to be some cisterns still visible there.
 
If you measure the distance today across the Yazoo canal then across Lake Centennial it is about a mile. As it is across the river at the present day bridges.

Per Civil War period maps, the width of the river at the point between the opposing batteries being discussed, in 1863, was a touch over 1/2 mile.
 
At the time the Indianola went past, it's really the 1862-like conditions we're talking about. I'm not sure I was aware of the DeSoto Point batteries during the siege, but conditions had changed at that point, as you point out.

Yes, you are right - it was February 1863, before any Union Desoto batteries had been created. I confused the issue by asking about artillerymen protection in a thread discussing 1862-like conditions. When Farragut was bombing the Confederate batteries during 1862, he was so ineffective that M.L. Smith had his men continue constructing batteries during the shelling - they had 3 river defense batteries when Farragut began his run past the batteries, and 10 after Farragut had given up (from the Official Records). So the Confederate artillerymen weren't concerned about much of anything during that period, although they did lose two men to a Union shell that exploded in a gunpit.

It was the Columbiads in the engraving that got me thinking about this issue, and they were used in the river defenses throughout the 1863 siege after Union batteries at DeSoto had been established. As you mentioned earlier, this engraving is likely speculation and perhaps during 1863 the artillerymen were better protected. Just as the historians avoid the less-romantic 1862 siege, they also avoid talking much about activity in the river defenses during the 1863 siege. Really, all we are given by them are discussions of the starving townspeople, activity along the Eastern front and anything Grant did or Pemberton and Johnston failed to do. Higgins and his riverfront batteries are a side-note.

I'm going to post some map images that show the Desoto Union battery locations in 1863.
 
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