Confederate Fort
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
These earthworks were part of series of fortifications around Grenada constructed by the Confederates in the fall of 1862 to protect the vital Mississippi city of Vicksburg. Earlier that year, the Union, led by General Ulysses S. Grant, defeated the Confederates at the key Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee. The Confederates retreated southward and made a strong defensive line along the Mississippi Central Railroad, which ran from Greenwood to Columbus, Mississippi, called the Yalabosha line; the fortifications around Grenada were part of this larger system. No major battle took place at Grenada but the fortifications around the city did protect the important Graysport-Grenada Road, which was used by Confederate Major-General Earl Van Dorn and his cavalry to attack Grant's supply depot at Holly Springs on December 20, 1862. This was a resounding victory for the Confederates and halted the Union's advance towards Vicksburg that year. However, the city would eventually fall in early July 1863.
Images
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
Sources
"Earl Van Dorn." National Park Service. Accessed August 31, 2017. https://www.nps.gov/people/earl-van-dorn.htm.
"Raid on Holly Springs." History.com. Accessed August 31, 2017. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/raid-on-holly-springs-mississippi.
Photo: Mark Hilton, via the Historical Marker Database