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Battle of Snyder's Bluff 1863

Battle of Snyder's Bluff: Snyder's Bluff Battlefield Mississippi
Image: American Battlefield Protection Program, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.

Key facts

Date29 April 1863 – 1 May 1863Wikidata
Year1863Wikidata P580 (start time)
Era19th century (1800–1913)derived from year
LocationUnited StatesNatural Earth (modern borders)
ContinentNorth AmericaNatural Earth
War / conflictAmerican Civil WarWikidata P361
Coordinates32.4964, -90.8000Wikidata P625

About the battle

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.

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Snyder's Bluff (revision 1370589611), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.

Location

32.4964, -90.8000 · United States

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Nearby battles

Other battles of the American Civil War

All 498 battles of the American Civil War →

Browse more: battles in United States · North America · 19th century battles

Further reading