A 1863 Union victory at Big Black River Bridge trapped a Confederate army
At the Big Black River Bridge in 1863, a daring Union charge broke the Confederate line, trapping an entire army inside the defenses of Vicksburg and sealing the fate of the Mississippi River.
In May 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant was closing the trap on the strategic stronghold of Vicksburg. At the Big Black River Bridge, Union troops under John A. McClernand launched a swift, decisive bayonet charge that overwhelmed the Confederate rearguard. The panicked retreat saw the Confederates burn the bridge behind them, effectively abandoning 1,700 of their own men to capture.
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