Battle of Big Black River Bridge

The day after the near-run Battle of Champion's Hill, Confederate General John C. Pemberton was fighting to save his army for a last stand at Vicksburg. The last natural barrier between Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant and Vicksburg was the Big Black River. Pemberton ordered Brig. General John S. Bowen to defend the crossing with just three brigades while soldiers crossed over a bridge and a steamboat positioned as a bridge. The Confederates hastily constructed a breastworks made out of cotton bales lined up against a bayou.

John A. McClernand's XIII Corps closed in on the defenders. Brig. General Michael K. Lawler led his brigade in an assault that carried them through waist-deep water to the breastworks. The rebels broke and attempted to cross the river any way possible. Over 1700 Confederates were captured, killed in combat or drowned attempting to cross the river. The rebels who succeeded in crossing burned the bridge and steamboat, but merely delayed what was to come — Grant would place Vicksburg under siege.