Iowa 21st Volunteer Infantry (Union)

Port Gibson

On April 30, 1863, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's army crossed the Mississippi River at Bruinsburg, 30 miles south of his objective of Vicksburg. Grant hoped to move east toward the capital at Jackson to block the Confederate army there under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston from reinforcing Vicksburg. Port Gibson, ten miles east of Bruinsburg on the Bayou Pierre River, commanded the best approach routes and was the first Federal objective. A Confederate force there was commanded by Maj. Gen. John S. Bowen. Grant's A…READ MORE

Champion Hill

The Battle of Champion Hill was the largest and bloodiest action of Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Vicksburg Campaign.READ MORE

Big Black River Bridge

Reeling from their defeat at Champion Hill and heading west toward Vicksburg, the Confederates reached Big Black River Bridge, the night of May 16-17th. Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton ordered Brig. Gen. John S. Bowen, with three brigades, to man the fortifications on the east bank of the river and impede any Union pursuit. Three divisions of Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand's Thirteenth Corps moved out from Edwards Station on the morning of the 17th. They encountered the Confederates behind breastworks and took co…READ MORE

Vicksburg

In mid-May, 1863, after six months of unsuccessful attempts, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Tennessee finally converged on Vicksburg, defended by a Confederate army under Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton. Capture of the Mississippi River town was critical to Union control of the strategic river. Vicksburg was located on a high river bluff defended with artillery, and Pemberton's men had constructed a series of fortifications in an 8-mile arc surrounding the city on the landward side. After crossing the…READ MORE

Fort Blakeley

Although the harbor of Mobile Bay had been closed to blockade running traffic since mid-summer 1864 with Admiral David G. Farragut's victory there, the port city of Mobile still remained in Confederate control. In late March 1865, two Federal infantry columns converged on the defenses of the city at Fort Blakeley and Spanish Fort. One force of 13,000 Union soldiers commanded by Gen. Frederick Steele moved west from Pensacola with orders to take Blakely from the rear. Union Gen. Edward R.S. Canby's Sixteent…READ MORE