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Brief History of the Antebellum Town The town was also noted for its numerous churches: the Baptist, Methodist and Episcopal. St. Mark's Episcopal, erected in 1855 and later used as a hospital to treat Union soldiers, is the only antebellum church still standing.
Citizens of Raymond, full of optimism and hope for the future of their beloved Southland, never dreamed that the town's courthouse and churches would soon be turned into hospitals to treat wounded soldiers - all casualties of the Battle of Raymond. Citizens would later refer to this time as the 'saddest day ever' in the history of Raymond. Grant's Army Moves into Mississippi Following the Battle of Port Gibson on May 1, the Union army began an 11-day trek - one that would eventually lead to Rocky Springs, Utica, and Raymond. Grant marched his army northeasterly toward the railroad at Edwards Station using the Big Black River to protect his left flank. They marched in parallel lines; McClernand's corps marched to the left - Sherman's corps in the middle - and McPherson's corps to the right. Grant's object was simple: destroy the Southern Railroad of Mississippi - Vicksburg's lifeline to the Confederacy. "For days we scarcely slept at all; it was hurry here and quick step there, day or night. None of the soldiers or subordinates could tell the direction we were marching. We had few rations, little water, and almost no rest." Maj. S. H. M. Byers, 5th Iowa. By May 11, McPherson's Corps had reached the outskirts of Utica - nine miles from Raymond.
Gregg's Army Marches to Mississippi Before sunrise on the morning of May 11, a sharp bugle blast broke the silence of the early morning hours signaling the brigade to prepare for another march. They arrived in Raymond late that afternoon. Setting up headquarters, he began to make plans to intercept the enemy. On the same afternoon, McPherson received an order from U. S. Grant saying: "Move your command tonight to the next cross-roads if there is water, and tomorrow with all activity into Raymond." Following orders, McPherson roused his men up early and had them on the road toward Raymond by 3:30 a.m. The Confederate army beat the Union army to Raymond, but only by hours. Early on the Morning of
the Battle of Raymond Gregg's Brigade Moves into Position to
Intercept Union Army "I moved the 7th Texas Regiment led by Col. H. B. Granbury to support the picket at the junction of the Port Gibson and Utica Roads, and had moved the 50th Tennessee Regiment led by Lt. Col. T. W. Beaumont out on the lower Gallatin road, and order the 10th and 30th Tennessee Regiments, consolidated, led by Col. Randal McGavock, to support it. I also ordered up the 3rd Tennessee Regiment led by Col. C. H. Walker a half mile out and placed it in position between the roads. I placed Captain H. M. Bledsoe, with his three pieces of artillery, on the road leading to Utica and Port Gibson, near their junction." General John Gregg. "Our brigade numbered some 200 thousand five hundred muskets and the cavalry report that the Federal force approaching us numbered some twenty-five hundred, the brigade felt that meeting and driving them back would be a mere breakfast spell. We marched out to meet them and soon the 7th Texas and 3rd Tennessee had hot work." Lt. Col. James Turner, 30th Tennessee Even though some skirmishing had occurred during the early morning hours, the battle began at 10:00 in the morning. Col. Manning Force, commanding the 20th Ohio that marched in the lead position of the Union army, recalled the opening moments of the battle: "The 20th Ohio marched as advance guard of the division on the right side of the road to Raymond, with four companies deployed in front as skirmishers till the deployed line reached the edge of the timber bordering 14 Mile Creek; there the column was halted - the Rebel battery on the hill beyond the creek throwing shell over the timber into the open field." When the first plumbs of cannon fire were seen in the air, Manning Force looked at his watch. The time was 10:00 a.m. The battle had begun. Heavy Artillery: Captain Hiram
Bledsoe, Confederate, and Captain Steven DeGolyer, Union The Battle of Raymond as Recalled by
the Men who Fought General Gregg now ordered the 7th Texas Regiment to attack across Fourteen-Mile Creek; its right anchored on the Utica Road and on its left the 3rd Tennessee Regiment. In support was the 41st Tennessee. With the attack to be initiated by the Texans and taken up from right to left.
"We hadn't time to more than turn our heads when from out of the quiet woods on the other side of the brook there came a great yell of thousands of voices, followed by a crashing roar of musketry as one doesn't often hear unless he has been prepared for it." Lt. Henry Dwight, 20th Ohio Infantry The Union soldiers were not prepared for the Texan's attack. "At the first rush, the Rebel line far outflanked the Indiana Regiment on our right, and the whole regiment broke into inch bits, the guys making good time to the rear. This left the Johnnies clear road to pass our flank, and they made good use of their chance, working well to our rear before long and putting bullets into the reverse of our lines the best they knew how." Lt. Henry Dwight, 20th Ohio Infantry As the Confederate attack rolled right to
left, the 3rd Tennessee changed in support on the Texan's left flank.
The initial first hour of the battle, as
the 20th Ohio was being flanked on its right, resulted in a high number
of casualties. General Logan's command performance had brought the time needed for additional Union regiments to rush into line, and the tide of the battle began to turn. "We got to the line formed by the 23rd Indiana and the 20th Illinois who were hugging the ground close, and set up a yell as if the Fiends of Hell had broke loose and rushed right over those regiments and over the creek or run which was some 10 to 15 feet in width and a bank of 10 feet deep, with some 2 feet of water. Here many of us fell killed and wounded so that the stream was crimson with blood." Pvt. Gouldsmith Molineaux, 81st Illinois Infantry
"The battle was now fierce. Almost hand-to-hand so close were they that some of the boys fixed their bayonets ready to stab them. Both lines stood equally firm, both equally determined as a couple of bull dogs engaged in a death struggle. The air was full of hissing bullets, they cut up the ground and made the dust fly in our rear as though a heavy shower of hail was falling." Sgt. Ira Blanchard, 20th Illinois The Confederate regiments marched to the sound of the firing, General Gregg having lost command and control in the fog of war. Confederate Col. Randal McGavock, 10th Tennessee, marched his men from the Gallatin Road ambush position to the thickest of the fighting and was shot down while charging the Union lines. Finally, however, General Logan had his entire division on the field, and by 1:30 p.m. General Crocker's division began to stream onto the battlefield. As if things weren't bad enough for General Gregg's Confederates, one of Captain Bledsoe's three cannons burst. Confederate Brigade Retreats Gregg now realized he had grossly underestimated the size of the Union force and by 4:00 p.m. ordered his commanders to retreat. "We ceased firing and advanced. The ground rose into a hill beyond the creek; dead and wounded were found there where they had fallen or crawled behind trees and logs. We emerged into open ground upon a hilltop, and were greeted by cheers of the brigade below at the crossing of the road." Col Manning Force, 20th Ohio "We had to leave many of our wounded in the woods, not being able to carry them away, in spite of their entreaties not to be abandoned. Our whole force then fell back to Raymond and immediately commenced their retreat." Capt. Flavel Barber, 3rd Tennessee Infantry The official but still disputed casualty count for the Battle of Raymond is small compared to battles such as Shiloh or Gettysburg - 515 Confederate and 442 Union. The Confederate dead lie in the Confederate Cemetery in the old section of the Raymond City Cemetery. The Union dead were disinterred from the battlefield graves after the war and buried in the Vicksburg National Cemetery. On May 5, 21001, at the national re-enactment of the Battle of Raymond, spectators as well as re-enactors, pause to pay tribute to those who fell on the Raymond battlefield. Lest we forget.
The Confederate Dead Abernathy, Samuel H., Co
A, 3rd Tennessee Infantry Related Links Grant's March | Home | Grant's March | Gregg's March | Battle of Raymond | Order of Battle | Commanders | Soldiers Who Fought | Diaries & Accounts | Copyright (c) James and Rebecca Drake, 1998 - 2002. All Rights Reserved. |
Raymond
was incorporated in 1829 as the county seat of Hinds County. In its
early years, Raymond was recognized for its judicial setting - the
courthouse and the numerous colorful lawyers who practiced in the
thriving town. The first courthouse, which stood where the water is now
situated, was built around 1830 but later, in 1859, was replaced by one
much more elegant and fashionable.
By 1860, as
the north and the south began to voice their differences, citizens of
Raymond began to talk of secession. The political innuendo was that the
south would withdraw from the Union. In January of 1861, Mississippi
followed in the footsteps of South Carolina and became the second state
to secede. The picture was clear. A war, a terrible war, loomed on the
horizon.
Meanwhile, the
Confederate forces were marching as well. On May 1, while in Port
Hudson, Louisiana, Gregg's Brigade was ordered to Jackson. Gregg's
Brigade endured an excruciating 200-mile march before arriving in
Jackson on Saturday night, May 9. The men savored a short rest on the
banks of the Pearl River. However, the next day, General Gregg received
the order from Pemberton saying: "Move
your brigade promptly to Raymond, taking three days' rations, and
carrying only cooking utensils and ammunition; no baggage."
"Without breakfast,
tired, hungry and with blistered feet, sadness was pictured on the faces
of my companions as we were hastening on through the dust to the death
of some of us and to great suffering of others. But our sadness was
suddenly relieved when we saw on a porch of a palatial home some
beautiful girls waving the Bonnie Blue Flag. We gave the old and
familiar yell in return and no sad faces were seen for a while - but on
the other hand - duty to our Southland and our Southern homes, could be
pictured on the faces of every member of our company." Pvt. Frank Herron, 3rd Tennessee Infantry
Captain Hiram Bledsoe was in command of the
heavy artillery for Gregg's Brigade. Bledsoe set up his cannons
overlooking the fork of the Utica-Port Gibson road. Facing off against
Bledsoe's Missouri Battery was the commander of the Union artillery,
Captain Steven DeGolyer, 8th Michigan Battery.
"General Gregg ordered Col. Granbury to take two
companies and deploy them as skirmishers and that gallant officer was
soon ready to move forward. Col. Granbury, along with his skirmishers,
soon uncovered their front and fell back and formed on the right of the
brigade. The command was then given to charge, which was done in grand
style." Pvt. Sam
Mitchell, 3rd Tennessee Infantry
Despite the
four to one numerical advantage that neither side realized the Federals
had, the Texans and Tennesseeans continued to plunge through the blue
line. "When we rushed through the brook,
we found the enemy upon us, but we found also that the bank of the brook
sloped off a bit, with a kind of beach at its further edge, which made a
first rate shelter. So, we dropped on the ground right there and gave
those Texans all the bullets we could cram into our Enfields until our
guns were hot enough to sizzle. The gray line paused, staggering back
like a ship in collision which trembles in every timber from the shock.
Then they too gave us volley after volley always working up toward us
breathing our fire until they had come within 20 or even liken paces. In
one part of the line some of them came nearer than that and had to be
poked back with bayonets. They kept trying to pass through our fire,
jumping up, pushing forward a step, and then falling back into the same
place - just as you may see a lot of dead leaves in a gale, eddying to
and fro under a bank, often rising up as if to fly away but never able
to advance a peg. It was a question of life or death with us to hold
them for we knew very well that we would go to Libby, those that were
left of us, if we could not stand against the scorching fire which beat
into our faces in that first hour." Lt.. Henry Dwight, 20th Ohio
The
superior Union numbers caused the two Gallatin Road Confederate
regiments, those that were to be the swinging arm of the Confederate
trap, to hold back so the full fury of the massing Union brigade fell
upon the Texans and Tennesseans along the creek. "One
of our boys raising his gun, remarked, see me bring that red shirt down,
while another cried out, hold on, that's my man. Both fired and the red
shirt fell, it may be riddle by more than those two shots. A red shirt
is rather too inconspicuous on a battlefield." Sgt. Osborn H. Oldroyd, 20th Ohio Infantry