Troops diverted by Grierson's Raid

[Stryker65]

Grierson's Raid is said to have pulled many Confederate troops away from their regular duties. Here is what I've found, to that extent:
- Gholson's Mississippi brigade (detached from Okolona in pursuit of Col. Edward Hatch's diversionary column)
- 2nd AL, 12th MS Battalion, and 2nd TN Cavalry, Lt. Col. Clark R. Barteau (detached from Columbus in pursuit of Col. Edward Hatch's diversionary column)
- 15th and 26th MS Infantry and Pointe Coupee Artillery, Brig. Gen. John Adams (detached from Jackson to guard Lake Station)
- 54th AL, 8th KY Infantry, Brig. Gen. Lloyd Tilghman (detached to reinforce Enterprise)
- Battalion of Wirt Adams' MS Cavalry, Capt. Stephen Cleveland (detached from Natchez to attack Capt. George W. Trafton's column)
- 20th MS Infantry, Adams' MS Cavalry, Col. Robert V. Richardson (detached to reinforce troops at Wall's Bridge)
- 9th LA Partisan Rangers, Maj. James De Baun (detached from Port Hudson to reinforce Osyka)
- Wilbourn's, Stockdale's, and Terrell's MS Cavalry, Lt. Col. Christopher C. Wilbourn (detached from Port Hudson to reinforce Tangipahoa)
- 9th TN Cavalry Battalion, Lt. Col. George Gantt (detached from Port Hudson to reinforce Clinton, and then Woodville)
- Garland's MS Cavalry, Maj. William H. Garland (detached from Port Hudson to Camp Moore)
- Miles' LA Legion, Col. William R. Miles (detached from Port Hudson to reinforce troops at Roberts' Ford)

Overall, it seems that the main troops affected were the Port Hudson garrison and Loring's division. If Banks had invested Port Hudson a month earlier, he or Grierson could have inflicted more damage on the Confederate troops in the area.

 

[johncla]

I don't have access to my library right now, but I think I read in Grabau's book that Wirt Adams' cavalry was pulled away from the area around Grand Gulf and sent east to chase Grierson, and consequently Grant's landing was unopposed.

True? Not true?
I'm missing that in the list above.

 

[1SGDan]

Remember that Grierson's Raid was a result of the Union failure to take Grand Gulf. He was intended to join the Union forces there but when that mission failed he went off own his raid.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

- 9th LA Partisan Rangers, Maj. James De Baun (detached from Port Hudson to reinforce Osyka)

That unit is very interesting throughout the War.
Even after the fall of Port Hudson, they remained active in this region until 1865.

Some troopers of the 9th LA Partisan Rangers were indeed ordered to Osyka, MS but actually gave Grierson unexpected resistance at the nearby village of Gillsburg, Mississippi ... during his final dash to safety at Union occupied Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Sadly, this is a forgotten engagement. Only a footnote in a few published works.

Factoid:

Today, the hamlet of Gillsburg is remembered as the site of the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash back in 1977.

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

Remember that Grierson's Raid was a result of the Union failure to take Grand Gulf. He was intended to join the Union forces there but when that mission failed he went off own his raid.

Was it a case of unintentional genius?

 

[Stryker65]

I don't have access to my library right now, but I think I read in Grabau's book that Wirt Adams' cavalry was pulled away from the area around Grand Gulf and sent east to chase Grierson, and consequently Grant's landing was unopposed.

True? Not true?
I'm missing that in the list above.

Really? Thought I mentioned it twice, in the fifth and sixth bullet points.

Remember that Grierson's Raid was a result of the Union failure to take Grand Gulf. He was intended to join the Union forces there but when that mission failed he went off own his raid.

Didn't know that...although that's probably because I keep confusing Horse Soldiers with what actually happened...

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Didn't know that...although that's probably because I keep confusing Horse Soldiers with what actually happened...

That's understandable.

The Horse Soldiers is an entertaining film, but pure Hollywood fantasy.

 

[jack1492]

Grierson's Raid is said to have pulled many Confederate troops away from their regular duties. Here is what I've found, to that extent:
- ...
- 15th and 26th MS Infantry and Pointe Coupee Artillery, Brig. Gen. John Adams (detached from Jackson to guard Lake Station)
- ...

(From the OR), On April 24th, Confederate Lt. Gen. Pemberton ordered Brig. Gen. John Adams to take the 26th Miss. Infantry, the 15th Miss. Infantry and one company of the Pointe Coupee Artillery eastward from Jackson via rail toward Morton Station or further east, if needed to confront the Union cavalry raiding party. Lt. Gen. Pemberton knew that the Union cavalry had already hit the railroad that day in that area. Realizing the Union cavalry had passed through, Pemberton recalled Adams' force back to Jackson.
These troops were pulled away from the Jackson, Miss. entrenchments but they didn't have anything else to do.
Don't forget the huge diversion away from Tullahoma, Tennessee where these troops were headed to before being withdrawn back to Jackson.

 

[JohnG0609]

it seems that the main troops affected were the Port Hudson garrison and Loring's division.

The troops of Loring's division were the troops from Port Hudson. Pemberton ordered up Buford's and Rust's brigades from Port Hudson. He relieved Rust and sent him to the Trans-Mississippi. The regiments of all three were re-constituted into two brigades under Tilghman and Buford and although assigned to Loring's division, they were promptly ordered to Tullahoma. The first elements of Buford's brigade had made it to Tullahoma when ordered back, the rest were scattered out along the railroad east of Mobile. Tilghman had not started shipping yet so was still in Jackson. The 6th Mississippi, 1st Confederate Battalion, and the Pettus Flying Artillery (Hudson's) were left unbrigaded and ordered to Grand Gulf on 04/17.

 

[Stryker65]

The troops of Loring's division were the troops from Port Hudson. Pemberton ordered up Buford's and Rust's brigades from Port Hudson. He relieved Rust and sent him to the Trans-Mississippi. The regiments of all three were re-constituted into two brigades under Tilghman and Buford and although assigned to Loring's division, they were promptly ordered to Tullahoma. The first elements of Buford's brigade had made it to Tullahoma when ordered back, the rest were scattered out along the railroad east of Mobile. Tilghman had not started shipping yet so was still in Jackson. The 6th Mississippi, 1st Confederate Battalion, and the Pettus Flying Artillery (Hudson's) were left unbrigaded and ordered to Grand Gulf on 04/17.

Ah, you're right! I was confusing them for Loring's later division, the one that was all Mississippi/Alabama troops, but I realize that most of the Mississippi regiments were at this time in Smith's division or spread around the department.

 

[W Charles Young]

Remember that Grierson's Raid was a result of the Union failure to take Grand Gulf. He was intended to join the Union forces there but when that mission failed he went off own his raid.

Actually, Grierson's raid was well underway before the Federal failure to take Grand Gulf. The failure at Grand Gulf and the subsequent lack of contact with Grierson convinced him not to try for Grand Gulf but to push on to Baton Rouge.

 

[W Charles Young]

For a first rate account of the raid and the troops involved, Timothy B. Smith's account is unmatched.

 

[JohnG0609]

Ah, you're right! I was confusing them for Loring's later division, the one that was all Mississippi/Alabama troops, but I realize that most of the Mississippi regiments were at this time in Smith's division or spread around the department.

One correction, the 6th MS was in Tilghman's brigade but still sent to Grand Gulf.

 

[Stryker65]

One correction, the 6th MS was in Tilghman's brigade but still sent to Grand Gulf.


View attachment 566207

Of course -- the 6th, 15th, and 22nd were with Breckinridge's original division, IIRC.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Off topic, but there was an even larger Union raid through some of the same area during November of 1864.

Union General John Wynn "Blackjack" Davidson was ordered to take a force twice the size of Grierson's from Baton Rouge
"east" through the Florida Parishes of Louisiana and into Southwest Mississippi. The strategic goal was destroying the Mobile and Ohio railroad. At the time, this rail line (that ran parallel to the Alabama/Mississippi border) was one of the last rails supplying Hood's
Tennessee "invasion" to draw Sherman away from his Georgia campaign. A secondary objective was to test the northern land defenses of Mobile, Alabama if possible.

This raid had mixed results and while documented in the official records, it's widely unkown by many folks.
Due to the vast amounts of yams confiscated by the Union cavalry for subsistence, this expedition was referred to by locals as "The Great Sweet Potato Raid".

I may start a separate thread about this forgotten part of the War.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Overall, it seems that the main troops affected were the Port Hudson garrison and Loring's division. If Banks had invested Port Hudson a month earlier, he or Grierson could have inflicted more damage on the Confederate troops in the area.

I don't think Banks was willing to try to invest Port Hudson until Vicksburg had been invested.

If damage had been the primary goal of Grierson's Raid I think more men would have been sent. It was more about being a distraction. Every unit looking for Grierson or guarding against him was not observing or impeding Grant.

 

[tony_gunter]

I don't think Banks was willing to try to invest Port Hudson until Vicksburg had been invested.

If damage had been the primary goal of Grierson's Raid I think more men would have been sent. It was more about being a distraction. Every unit looking for Grierson or guarding against him was not observing or impeding Grant.

If I recall correctly, Banks could have invested Port Hudson but, like Butler before him, had been given conflicting goals to open the river and establish a government in Louisiana. Banks decided on the Bayou Teche campaign to kill two birds with one stone.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

If damage had been the primary goal of c's Raid I think more men would have been sent. It was more about being a distraction. Every unit looking for Grierson or guarding against him was not observing or impeding Grant.

That was the Union plan from the start.
And it worked brilliantly.

Grierson did manage quite a bit of destruction
... considering his small numbers.

But his tactical achievements paled in comparison to the strategic value of distracting Confederate strategy within the CSA Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana.