Grant's Canal – 1863

Grant's Canal – 1863. . The remains of the canal you see here today are the result of the second Union effort to bypass Vicksburg. , , In January 1863, laborers and troops under the command of Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant resumed work on the canal begun in June 1862. They worked to create a ditch 60 feet wide and six feet deep – large enough to accommodate most Union boats. Their efforts failed when high water flooded Union camps and illness afflicted both soldiers and laborers. When Confederate guns at Vicksburg eventually drove away the Union dredges, work on the canal ended. , , More than 500 blacks labored on the Union excavation -- far fewer than had been pressed into service here the previous year. At Grant’s approach, area planters fled with their families and the strongest of their slaves. “Only the old and sickly (blacks) with the house servant are left here,” recorded a local diarist. Still, the work of blacks on the canal signaled their increasing importance to the Union war effort. , , (Left Drawing Caption) , The Federals hoped the canal would force the river to change channels and bypass Vicksburg. Though the canal filled with water, it did not catch the scouring effect of the current and began to fill with sediment. Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman admitted the canal “don’t amount to much.” , , (Right Drawing Caption) , The Federals used two steam dipper dredges to speed work on the canal. But the big machines were ready targets for Vicksburg’s long-range batteries. After only a few weeks work, the dredges were forced to withdraw.