. The Mississippi valley in the Civil War . storm ; alternatives, i,^^ that meant almost inevitable de-feat. Secondly, he might take his whole armyback to Memphis and resume his first plan of ap-proach through the interior of Mississippi. Thatwas a perfectly sound course, and was earnestlyrecommended by General Sherman ; but it wouldiook so much like retreat that the moral effectupon the country would be disheartening. Thirdly,he might descend below Vicksburg, detach a forceto cooperate with Banks at Port Hudson, andafter the fall of that fortress move upon Vicks-burg, with a sure base of supp
. The Mississippi valley in the Civil War . storm ; alternatives, i,^^ that meant almost inevitable de-feat. Secondly, he might take his whole armyback to Memphis and resume his first plan of ap-proach through the interior of Mississippi. Thatwas a perfectly sound course, and was earnestlyrecommended by General Sherman ; but it wouldiook so much like retreat that the moral effectupon the country would be disheartening. Thirdly,he might descend below Vicksburg, detach a forceto cooperate with Banks at Port Hudson, andafter the fall of that fortress move upon Vicks-burg, with a sure base of supplies at New Orleans. This was not yet defying Fortune, but Grantwas rising to the occasion. Every one of his gen-erals thought it sheer madness to put the armysouth of the city. Grant, however, was not wontto hamper himself with councils of war. He usedto listen in silence to the opinions of his generals,and then do as he thought best. He had nowmade up his mind what to do, and accordingly onthe 29th of March, having concentrated his army. The Fall of Vichshurg 227 at Millikens Bend, McClernancls corps was or-dered to lead the way to New Carthage, twenty-seven miles below. To this point Grant stillthought it possible to bring supplies by cuttinglittle canals to connect a network of bayous, andwork of this sort was still kept up until theadvancing season, which dried the channels soas to make them useless, dried also the roads inthat wilderness of swamps, and began to affordground upon which corduroy roads could be builtfit for men and wagons. As the movement to thenorth of Vicksburg had been finally abandoned, itwas desirable to bring the greater part of Portersfleet below the city; and Grant seized the occasionto risk the passage of ten shiploads of rationsand forage under cover of the gunboats. Thisenterprise was completely successful, rj^j^^ move-Eight gunboats were left at the mouth ment south-of the Yazoo, and on the night of April16 all the rest of the fleet passed down.
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