The Second Assault on Vicksburg

Undaunted by his failure on the 19th, but realizing that he had been too hasty, Grant made a more thorough reconnaissance of the Vicksburg defenses prior to ordering another assault. Early on the morning of May 22, Union artillery opened fire, and for four hours bombarded the city's defenses. Then, at 10:00 a.m. the guns fell silent along the entire Federal, and Union infantry was thrown forward along a three-mile front. Sherman attacked once again down the Graveyard Road, McPherson in the center along the Jackson Road, and McClernand on the south along the Baldwin Ferry Road and each side of the Southern Railroad of Mississippi. Although flags of all three corps were planted at different points along the exterior slopes of the Confederate fortifications, and McClernand's troops were able to make a short-lived penetration at Railroad Redoubt, the Federals were again driven back, sustaining losses in excess of 3,000 men.