Siege of Vicksburg.

I now determined upon a regular siege—­to “out-camp the enemy,” as it were, and to incur no more losses.  The experience of the 22d convinced officers and men that this was best, and they went to work on the defences and approaches with a will.  With the navy holding the river, the investment of Vicksburg was complete.  As long as we could hold our position the enemy was limited in supplies of food, men and munitions of war to what they had on hand.  These could not last always.

The crossing of troops at Bruinsburg commenced April 30th.  On the 18th of May the army was in rear of Vicksburg.  On the 19th, just twenty days after the crossing, the city was completely invested and an assault had been made:  five distinct battles (besides continuous skirmishing) had been fought and won by the Union forces; the capital of the State had fallen and its arsenals, military manufactories and everything useful for military purposes had been destroyed; an average of about one hundred and eighty miles had been marched by the troops engaged; but five days’ rations had been issued, and no forage; over six thousand prisoners had been captured, and as many more of the enemy had been killed or wounded; twenty-seven heavy cannon and sixty-one field-pieces had fallen into our hands; and four hundred miles of the river, from Vicksburg to Port Hudson, had become ours.  The Union force that had crossed the Mississippi River up to this time was less than forty-three thousand men.  One division of these, Blair’s, only arrived in time to take part in the battle of Champion’s Hill, but was not engaged there; and one brigade, Ransom’s of McPherson’s corps, reached the field after the battle.  The enemy had at Vicksburg, Grand Gulf, Jackson, and on the roads between these places, over sixty thousand men.  They were in their own country, where no rear guards were necessary.  The country is admirable for defence, but difficult for the conduct of an offensive campaign.  All their troops had to be met.  We were fortunate, to say the least, in meeting them in detail:  at Port Gibson seven or eight thousand; at Raymond, five thousand; at Jackson, from eight to eleven thousand; at Champion’s Hill, twenty-five thousand; at the Big Black, four thousand.  A part of those met at Jackson were all that was left of those encountered at Raymond.  They were beaten in detail by a force smaller than their own, upon their own ground.  Our loss up to this time was: 

Killed wounded missing

Port Gibson.....              131     719      25
South Fork Bayou Pierre.....   ..       1      .. 
Skirmishes, May 3 .....         1       9      .. 
Fourteen Mile Creek.....        6      24      .. 
Raymond...............         66     339      39
Jackson.....                   42     251       7
Champion’s Hill.....          410   1,844     187
Big Black.....                 39     237       3
Bridgeport.....                ..       1      .. 
Total.....                    695   3,425     259

Of the wounded many were but slightly so, and continued on duty.  Not half of them were disabled for any length of time.