A Forlorn Hope

Union General Ulysses S Grant ordered an assault on the heights at Vicksburg, Mississippi on May 22^nd 1863.

On May 22^nd 1863 Union General Ulysses S Grant pulled together a plan to attack the Confederate held heights at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  Grant was stretching Confederate Lieutenant General John C Pemberton's line of defense.   He called for volunteers, as there wasn't much hope for survival.  This mission of “forlorn hope” called for the building of a bridge across a ditch, then placing ladders to scale the embankment.

One hundred and fifty men volunteered.  They came under Confederate fire at once, and were trapped in the ditch.  Even though the Union made several attacks against the Confederates, they were unable to cover the volunteers so they could get back to safety.  Out of the 150 men who volunteered for the storming party only 79 survived.  They would all received the Medal of Honor.

Among the men who were awarded the Medal of Honor was Leonidas Mahlon Godley.  His citation tells the story.  “The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to First Sergeant Leonidas Mahlon Godley, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 22 May 1863, while serving with Company E, 22d Iowa Infantry, in action at Vicksburg, Mississippi. First Sergeant Godley led his company in the assault on the enemy's works and gained the parapet, there receiving three very severe wounds. He lay all day in the sun, was taken prisoner, and had his leg amputated without anesthetics.”

We Will Lose Thousands Of Men

On December 29th 1862 a frontal assault was fought as part of the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou.


Part of the opening engagement of the Vicksburg Campaign, the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou or Battle of Walnut Hills was fought December 26th - 29th 1862. Three Union divisions under the command of Major General William Tecumseh Sherman disembarked at Johnson’s Plantation on the Yazoo River. A fourth division landed upstream. On December 27th 1862 the Union troops moved through the swamps toward Walnut Hills. Several attempts were made to get around these defenses on December 28th 1862.

Sherman ordered an artillery bombardment on the morning of December 29th 1862 of the Confederate defenses on Walnut Hills under the command of Lieutenant General John C Pemberton. After four hours of bombardment the Union infantry deployed in line. Sherman said at the time, "We will lose 5,000 men before we take Vicksburg, and may as well lose them here as anywhere else." At noon the Union troops moved forward. They crossed water barriers and carried the Confederate advance line by sheer numbers. When the Union soldiers came up against the main Confederate line they fell under heavy fire, and had to retreat back into the bayou. Sherman then ordered an attack against the center of the Confederate line on Chickasaw Bayou; the Indian Mound area defended by the men of Confederate General John Gregg. Five attempts were repulsed by the Confederates defending the Indian Mounds.

That night Sherman said he was "generally satisfied with the high spirit manifested" within his men, even though their attacks had failed. Sherman decided that further attacks on the Confederate position would be futile. The Union lost 1,776 killed, wounded or missing. Confederate casualties were 207.