The Inland Campaign for Vicksburg: Five Battles in Seventeen Days, May 1-17, 1863

Vicksburg Campaign #3

by Timothy B. Smith

In this fifth and final volume of his renowned series detailing the campaign for Vicksburg, Tim Smith sheds much-needed light to this often-misunderstood episode of the Union’s efforts to take Vicksburg. In the entire nine-month-long campaign, there was no more tension and drama than in these seventeen days when Grant’s Army of the Tennessee marched through the wilds of Mississippi, claiming victory after victory, tearing the heart out of the State of Mississippi and the Confederacy. By the end of the swift assault, Grant arrived victorious at the exact place he had worked to gain for months: the high ground east of Vicksburg where he had access to both the city and an open and unchallenged supply route via the Yazoo River to the north. He could finally begin the process of capturing Vicksburg.

Civil War historians have long disagreed about how to understand this moment of the Vicksburg Campaign as they analyze Union supply lines, the swiftness of the campaign, and other salient details of Grant’s success. Amid this debate, Tim Smith has written the first standalone investigation of the Inland Campaign, which boasts new insights, keen attention to primary sources, and a broad, clear-eyed look at Grant’s brilliance as he led the Army of the Tennessee toward Vicksburg.

Completing the Vicksburg series, this book lies between Smith’s Bayou Battles for Vicksburg (January 1–April 30, 1863) and The Union Assaults at Vicksburg (May 17–22, 1863).

Genres: Civil War

560 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2024

About the author

A former NPS ranger at Shiloh, Timothy B. Smith teaches history at the University of Tennessee at Martin.

Reviews

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Professor Timothy Smith produced five volumes of the Vicksburg Campaign with this volume being the final in the series. I have read this one, Grant's Assaults, and the one about the siege. I did not read the two books about the North's efforts that led to debacles taking Vicksburg in late 1862-early 1863. This volume is about the five major battles that led to the Assaults on Vicksburg and the siege. The first battle Port Gibson is covered and it goes from there. Champion Hill was the largest and most important battle in these series of conflicts. Professor Smith wrote a book on Champion Hill, which I highly recommend.

I did not like this book as much as the others, although I did not hate it. In fact, it is still better than most history books out there. For the Civil War, he is the best writer in my opinion. My issue with this book is it got bogged down in troop movements. I wish authors would condense this instead of going into great detail. I know it is the set up to the battle, but I just find myself just skimming.

There are more pros than cons, however. Professor Smith excels at demonstrating that the Western Theater of the Civil War was just as important if not more important than the Eastern Theater. I live near Gettysburg, so I go there frequently. I have met so many people who think that is the only battle that mattered. Some people think the North did not win any battles until Gettysburg. The public does not seem to understand that the Union was dominating in the Western Theater. The Army of the Tennessee, for example, fought every battle in enemy territory and won. Let's not forget that Lee's Army of Northern Virginia lost both campaigns in the north. I commend Professor Smith for bringing the importance of this theater to the public's attention. I recommend his books. Yes, I know I should just discuss this book, but he is an excellent writer.

[Mark Merritt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is volume three of the soon to be classic and standard work on the Vicksburg Campaign that occurred from 1862-1863 during the American Civil War.

This volume was fast paced and full of great stories about the armies of both sides as they had to react to u expected events and overcome incredible challenges. The battle portions are well written and easily understood. It may help to have a good large scale map of Central Mississippi handy as the locations mentioned may not be familiar to all if you don’t live in Mississippi. This campaign sealed Vicksburg’s fate, and with that the Confederacy.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third book in this chronological history of the Civil War's Vicksburg Campaign but the last in publication order is another good effort from Timothy B. Smith, though I do get hints of a rushed-to-the-finish-line approach.

For starters, the title, The Inland Campaign for Vicksburg: Five Battles in Seventeen Days, May 1-17, 1863, certainly should tell you there's a lot going on. While these weren't all major clashes, that's still, well, five battles. Why, then, is the main text only 385 pages, especially considering that Smith in 2006 wrote a standalone book on Champion Hill (battle 4) that's longer than this volume? I've speculated on the very condensed publication schedule of this series' five books being a bit suspicious (it took only four years), especially so in light of some of the editing issues I've seen. The Inland Campaign for Vicksburg seems like a missed opportunity for a more expansive look at this stage of the campaign, considering that no one before had approached writing about this 17-day period in a single volume like this.

Like the other books in this series, Inland Campaign has issues out of the starting block because Smith chooses an extensive "what has gone before" approach. I don't think these long rehashes were needed.

Meanwhile, regarding the editing woes, the fact that this line on page 18 got through to publication is shocking: "Consequently, there was a lot going on north and east of Vicksburg, and Pemberton's head was literally spinning as he watched federals circling about him and his department." I see what Smith is doing there, but ... literally spinning! It's no wonder the Confederate general was so ineffective with the distraction of having a rotating head!

OK. Enough bashing. Is this volume worthwhile? Of course it is. Smith knows his history, and the occasional need for narrative refinement doesn't trump the fact that this is fascinating, well-presented history, for the most part. Sources and quotes from participants are many, and the book is consistently interesting.

But, yes, I for one wanted a deeper dive. If someone is doing this project at last — the first comprehensive, multi-volume history of the Vicksburg Campaign since Edwin Bearss' — I wish the author had gone for broke instead of gone for publication speed. It's especially jarring here when Smith spends a surprisingly large amount of pages on the post-Port Gibson lull, then zips through the Big Black River battle (brief though it was) in no time at all.

Of the first three (chronological history-wise) books in the series, this one feels a bit by-the-numbers and is the weakest, with a faint tang of "let's get this over with." Weak comparative to expectations but still fairly strong, I guess, if that makes any sense. It's just that readers who hoped for a masterpiece of Civil War history in this five-volume series should know that they didn't get one.

[W Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smith’s third volume on the Vicksburg Campaign covers Gran’s inland campaign at the strategic and operational levels. The battles fought in the campaign are covered, but not as deeply as a tactical study might have done. Smith provides enough tactical detail to understand what happened but that is it. I feel that decision by the author was correct. Well written and well researched, this is an excellent book and worth reading.