Battle of Chickasaw Bayou

Battle of Chickasaw Bayou
	Part of the American Civil War
	; "Where Sherman failed" (from the Photographic History of The Civil War)
Date	December 26–29, 1862
Location	Warren County, Mississippi32°24′20″N 90°50′52″W / 32.40556°N 90.84778°W
Result	Confederate victory
Belligerents
United States (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
William T. Sherman	John C. Pemberton; Stephen D. Lee
Units involved
Army of the Tennessee ; Mississippi River Squadron	Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana
Strength
30,720	13,792
Casualties and losses
1,776 (208 killed, ; 1,005 wounded, ; 563 captured/missing)	187 (57 killed, ; 120 wounded, ; 10 missing)

The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, also called the Battle of Walnut Hills,^[3] fought December 26–29, 1862, was the opening engagement of the Vicksburg Campaign during the American Civil War. Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton repulsed an advance by Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman that was intended to lead to the capture of Vicksburg, Mississippi.

On December 26, three Union divisions under Sherman disembarked at Johnson's Plantation on the Yazoo River to approach the Vicksburg defenses from the northeast while a fourth landed farther upstream on December 27. On December 27, the Union army pushed their lines forward through the swamps toward the Walnut Hills, which were strongly defended. On December 28, several futile attempts were made to get around these defenses. On December 29, Sherman ordered a frontal assault, which was repulsed with heavy casualties, and then withdrew. This Confederate victory and the victory against Grant at Holly Springs frustrated Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's attempts to take Vicksburg by a direct approach.

^ ^a ^b ^c Eicher, pp. 390–91.
^ Smith 2022, pp. 380–381.
^ The National Park Service battle description, Archived September 3, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, gives a second alternate name, Chickasaw Bluffs. Although this may be derived from a variation on "Bluffs over Chickasaw Bayou" (referring to Drumgould's Bluff), the geographic location known as Chickasaw Bluffs is distant from the battlefield. Other references to this article do not use this name.

[Eicher-1] Eicher, pp. 390–91.

[FOOTNOTESmith2022380–381-2] Smith 2022, pp. 380–381.

[3] The National Park Service battle description, Archived September 3, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, gives a second alternate name, Chickasaw Bluffs. Although this may be derived from a variation on "Bluffs over Chickasaw Bayou" (referring to Drumgould's Bluff), the geographic location known as Chickasaw Bluffs is distant from the battlefield. Other references to this article do not use this name.

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