20th Michigan FlagAnson Croman and the 20th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment20th Michigan Flag

1863 Vicksburg Campaign and the Liberation of Enslaved African-Americans

June 10 to July 16, 1863


Sites in 2016


The state and county sites in Tennessee and Mississippi omit the historical fact that the Vicksburg Campaign included the liberation of enslaved African-Americans.

Our site now emphasizes that as direct result of their service in the Vicksburg campaign, the 20th Michigan are among the liberators of
thousands of enslaved African-Americans fled to Vicksburg for their freedom.

By the summer of 1863, the Civil War had become not just a war to reunite the nation but a war to liberate enslaved people.

From those freed slaves the Union recruited and organized 5,000 African-American men into army units to occupy and police Vicksburg. Thousands of African women served as in civilian support roles as nurses, cooks, and laundresses.

Those historical facts are prominently included at National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis and the Vicksburg National Military Park.


Cheryl
Anson Croman's great-great-granddaughter Cheryl A. Robinson at the Michigan Memorial at the Vicksburg

Photo by Leonard H. Cizewski, 2016
Confederate Park in
                Memphis
June 10, 1863, Memphis, Tennessee:

On June 10, 1863, Anson Croman and the 20th Michigan arrived at Memphis, Tennessee from Cairo, Illinois.

On June 11, they disembarked on the Arkansas shore to rest and bath.

On June 12, the 20th resumed its journey south to Vicksburg.

This photo of the Arkansas shore of the Mississippi where the 20th Michigan landed was taken from the former Confederate Park now called Memphis Park from behind the statue of Jefferson Davis.

I chose this location to highlight how Confederate memorials remain prominent and the liberation of Memphis by the Union Navy and Army followed by the liberation of the enslaved African-American in and around Memphis is not recognized in an equal way.

Photo by Leonard H. Cizewski, 2016
Arkansas Bank across from
                Memphis
The Arkansas shore of the Mississippi River across from Memphis.

Photo by Leonard H. Cizewski, 2016
Warrenton
June 14, 1863: Warrenton, Mississippi.

On June 14, 1863, the 20th landed at Young's Point, Louisiana and marched south to a point opposite Warrenton, Mississippi south of Vicksburg.

On June 15, the 20th was ordered to march back to Young's Point.

On June 16 they embarked on steamboats.

Photo by Leonard H. Cizewski, 2016.
Warrenton
South of Vicksburg at the site of a Confederate battery north of Warrenton looking towards the Louisiana side of the Mississippi.

Photo by Leonard H. Cizewski, March 30, 2016
Snyder's Bluff
June 16, 1863:Snyder's Bluff.

On June 16, the 20th Michigan sailed up the Mississippi River to the Yazoo River to Snyder's Bluff where they disembarked.

March 30, 2016 Photo by Cheryl A. Robinson.
Line
Blue line within orange circle (click on image for larger image):

Army of Maneuver's defensive line where Anson Croman and the 20th Michigan constructed earthworks and served on garrison duty from
June 29 until the July 4, 1863 protecting the Siege Army surrounding VIcksburg.

Fair use of map from Vicksburg Campaign Driving Tour Guide
IXth Corps Marker
Marker inside the Vicksburg National Military Park reporting 9th Corps Headquarters near Milldale outside of the Park near the site in the photo on the left.

The 20th Michigan was in the 9th Corps.

Photo by Cheryl A Robinson, March 30, 2016
Fox
Parson Fox's Plantation:

The 20th Michigan was assigned to General Sherman's Army of Maneuver.

The Army of Maneuver was operating to the northeast of the Vicksburg to protect the Siege Army from Confederate forces attempting to break the siege of Vicksburg.

After disembarking at Snyder's Bluff, the 20th Michigan deployed to the southeast.where they constructed and manned fortified lines from June 17 until June 28, 1863.

Photo by Leonard H. Cizewski, 2016
Line
Between June 29 until the July 4, 1863, the 20th Michigan continued to operate with the Army of Maneuver northeast of Vicksburg protecting the Siege Army.

After the surrender of Vicksburg, General Sherman and the Army of Maneuver were order to retake Jackson, Mississippi.

The area in the above photo is near the end of the fortified line constructed and defended by Army of Maneuver including the 20th Michigan and near where the 20th Michigan started its march to Jackson after the July 4 surrender of Vicksburg.

Photo by Leonard H. Cizewski, 2016
Trench
Almost none of the earthworks that the Army of Maneuver constructed have survived. This is
trench in the Vicksburg National Military Park would be similar to the types of fortifications Anson
Croman and the 20th Michigan would have constructed northeast of Vicksburg to defend the Siege
Army surrounding Vicksburg.

Photo by Cheryl A. Robinson 2016
Ferry
Birdsong Ferry on the Big Black River.

On July 4, 1863, the 20th began to march towards Jackson, Mississippi.

On July 5, reconnaissance reported that the Confederates were holding Birdsong Ferry.

On July 6, other units constructed a bridge across the Big Black River while the 20th provided the protection of pickets.

The 20th crossed the Big Black River on July 7.

Photo by Leonard H. Cizewski, 2016
Bolton
July 7, 1863, Bolton, Mississippi.

On the evening of July 7, 1863, the 20th bivouacked at Bolton, Mississippi.

On July 8, the 20th resumed marching. The 20th reports the nearby plantation of Joe Davis, brother of Confederate President Jefferson Davis was burned but do not report who set the fire.

Site 128 Vicksburg Campaign Driving Tour Guide, page 121.
 
Photo by Leonard H. Cizewski, 2016
Clinton
July 9, 1863, Seven Miles West of Jackson, Mississippi.

On July 9, 1863, the 20th reached the vicinity of Clinton, Mississippi.

Site 125, Vicksburg Campaign Driving Tour Guide, page 118.

Photo by Leonard H. Cizewski, March 31, 2016

Battery
Marker
This is on the south side of University Drive east of Peachtree Road on the
same side of the street as the Dental School and across the street from
the Pharmacy School.

Fair use of image from Mississippi Historical Markers
July 10, 1863: Jackson, Mississippi

On July 10, the 20th arrived in Jackson, Mississippi and deployed north of state capitol on the grounds of what is now the University of Mississippi Medical Center. This is the site of a 9th Corps battery.

Some of the Union earthworks are visible in the background.

After an unsuccessful assault on Confederate defenses on the south side of the city, the Union began to surround Jackson for another siege.

The Confederates decided not to let another army be trapped. By July 16, the Confederates evacuated Jackson, Mississippi and the Union reoccupied the city.

Fair use of image from Google Street View.
Battery
This battery in the Vicksburg National Military Park is what the 9th Corps
battery in Jackson would have looked like in 863.

The guns would have been pointed south towards the Confederate defense line.

The approximate route of that line is now Fortification Street.

Photo by Cheryl A.Robinson 2016.

SOURCES:


DEDICATION:
This page is dedicated to Maisie Brown.mb.

While we were in Jackson, Mississippi, we read her March 23, 2016 , op-ed, The 'Cloth on the Stick' Represents Hatred Toward Me in the Jackson Free Press.

Maisie Brown.wrote that the Confederate battle flag on the Mississippi state flag illustrates "white supremacy and represent a group of people who wanted my people to stay enslaved."

As we discovered as we traveled in Mississippi, that  "Cloth on the Stick" perspective also denies and the complete and accurate history that my mother-in-law's, wife's and son's ancestor and his Union unit were not just restorers of our nation but also liberators of tens of thousands of African-Americans and provided the basis for their civil rights.

In support of Maisie Brown, I have made that omitted and denied history a prominent part of this family history web page.

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INDEX: Cizewski, Lovetere, Musbach, & Robinson Families History

All material not in the public domain c 2016 - 2018 Leonard H. Cizewski

Last Major Revision: April 21, 2016
Last Minor Revision: June 7, 2018
Last Reviewed:
Posted: April 15, 2016

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