Battle of Snyder's Bluff

Battle of Snyder's Bluff
Part of the American Civil War
Map of Snyder's Bluff Battlefield core and study areas by the American Battlefield Protection Program
Date April 29 – May 1, 1863 (1863-04-29 – 1863-05-01) Location Warren County, Mississippi 32°29′47″N 90°48′00″W / 32.4964°N 90.8000°W / 32.4964; -90.8000 Result Confederate victory
Belligerents
United States (Federals)	CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
William T. Sherman	Louis Hébert
Units involved
Blair's Division, XV Corps Mississippi River Squadron	Snyder's and Drumgould's Bluffs defenses

The Battle of Snyder's Bluff was fought from April 29 to May 1, 1863, during the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. Federal Major General Ulysses S. Grant had decided to move most of his army down the west bank of the Mississippi River and then cross south of Vicksburg, Mississippi, at Grand Gulf as part of his campaign against the city. To cover his planned crossing, Major General William T. Sherman took Francis P. Blair Jr.'s division of his XV Corps on a maneuver up the Yazoo River to feint at Confederate defenses at Snyder's Bluff and Drumgould's Bluff.

Along with a naval force commanded by Lieutenant Commander K. Randolph Breese, Sherman's men entered the Yazoo River on April 29, and the next day approached the Confederate defenses. Breese's ships bombarded the Confederate defenses in the morning, while in the afternoon, a land assault accomplished little and failed to convince the Confederates that the Yazoo River expedition was anything more than a distraction. On May 1, more infantry probes were made, but Sherman received orders from Grant to return to the main Federal force as a result of operations in the Grand Gulf area. A gunboat bombardment on the afternoon of May 1 caused more damage than the previous day's. The operation failed to convince the Confederates that it was anything more than a feint. While reinforcements to Grand Gulf were delayed, this was not caused by Sherman's operation. Federal naval element had been unable to silence Confederate defenses at Grand Gulf in the Battle of Grand Gulf on April 29, but Grant simply moved his crossing further downriver. The campaign ended in a Federal victory on July 4 and represented a major turning point in the war.