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Bruinsburg Road
| On April 30, 1863, the Confederate brigades of Brig
Gens. Martin Green and Edward Tracy marched south
along the Bruinsburg Road to contest the Union invasion of Mississippi. The next day, May
1, the brigades of Brig. Gen. William Baldwin and Col. Francis Cockrell hastened out the Bruinsburg road
to reinforce the Confederate troops then heavily engaged with Grant's forces. Late in the
afternoon of May 1, Baldwin's men would retire from the field along the road into Port
Gibson followed by the victorious Union soldiers. |
Bruinsburg Road
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| Confederate troops were deployed to block both the Rodney and Bruinsburg Roads west of
Port Gibson. At the point of deployment, an interval of 2,000 yards separated the
roads. The brigades of Tracy, on the right, and Green, on the left, were separated by a
deep cane-choked ravine which prevented one flank from reinforcing the other flank. To do
so, the Confederates had to march back to the road junction. The "Y"
intersection of the roads was thus the lateral avenue of movement for the Confederates. |
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| Between 1802 and 1807 Bayou Pierre Presbyterian Church
was built near this prominent point overlooking Bayou Pierre. A reconstruction of this
crude log church stands on the site today. On the morning of May 1, 1863, the right flank
of Brig. Gen. Edward Tracy's Alabama Brigade rested on this point. The thin gray line ran
southeastward for 1,000 yards paralleling the Bruinsburg Road. Shortly after 8 a.m. the
Confederate skirmishers began to fall back and the main line opened fire. |
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reconstruction of Bayou Pierre Presbyterian Church |
It was at this time, recalled Sgt.
Francis Obenchain of the Botetourt (Virginia) Artillery, that while speaking with
General Tracy, "a ball struck him on back of the neck passing through. He fell with
great force on his face and in falling cried `O Lord!' He was dead when I stooped to
him." Edward Tracy was the first of several Confederate generals to die in defense of
Vicksburg. Even so, the Confederates held their tenuous line all morning against heavy
Federal pressure. |
| The Alabamans were reinforced in the afternoon by Martin E. Green's Brigade which
extended the line eastward. The Confederates handled their weapons with grim determination
and skill, but it was evident their line was slowly giving way. Late in the afternoon the
Federals managed to turn the Confederate flank here at the overlook. Unable to stem the
blue tide here along the Bruinsburg Road and along the Rodney Road, the Confederates
retired from the field. |
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Last update: Friday, November 05, 1999
http://www.nps.gov/vick/vcmpgn/bruinbrd.htm
Editor: G. Zeman |
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