Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederates abandon Jackson and central Mississippi as William T. Sherman’s superior Federal numbers close in on them.

Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederates abandon Jackson and central Mississippi as William T. Sherman’s superior Federal numbers close in on them.
William T. Sherman’s Federals approach the Mississippi capital of Jackson to confront General Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederate “Army of Relief.”
Ulysses S. Grant pauses to unite his Federal Army of the Tennessee before moving northeast toward the Mississippi capital of Jackson. John C. Pemberton gathers all available Confederate forces to block Grant’s path.
The first phase of Ulysses S. Grant’s plan to capture Vicksburg ends successfully with his Federals poised to cross the Mississippi River below Vicksburg. But Grant needs a diversion to ensure further success.
Federal Admiral David D. Porter concedes that yet another effort to reach Vicksburg using the vast network of waterways to the north has failed.
Ulysses S. Grant initiates several projects designed for the Federals to cut their way toward Vicksburg, Mississippi. The project involving Yazoo Pass becomes the one most likely to succeed.