photograph courtesy of Ruben Gusman

  • The Battle of Raymond by Parker Hills
    Brigadier General Parker Hills, USA (Ret), is the founder of Battle Focus, specializing in battlefield tours, and is a regular speaker at Civil War Roundtables, battlefield preservation groups, civic clubs and seminars.  General Hills is a recognized expert on the Vicksburg Campaign and other civil war engagements.

  • Script from the 2001 Video Production of the Battle of Raymond by Rebecca B. Drake
    Rebecca Drake, professional musician, has been a volunteer writer for the Hinds County Gazette since 1984. All of her articles pertaining to the Civil War have been printed in the Gazette under the heading Kaleidoscope of History. She has also written three books pertaining to the Battle of Raymond. These books are donated to Friends of Raymond to help with the preservation of the Raymond Battlefield.

  • The Battle of Raymond by Francis Vinton Greene
    From Campaigns of the Civil War: The Mississippi, Scribner & Sons, 1882.

    Francis Vinton Greene was born at Providence, Rhode Island June 27, 1850. He was the son of the "grandfatherly" Major General George Sears Greene, popularly known as the defender of Culp's Hill during the Battle of Gettysburg. Francis V. Greene graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1870. During his career he served in a variety of posts: assistant astronomer and surveyor on the International Commission for survey of the northern boundary of the United States, 1872-76; military attaché to U.S. Legation in St. Petersburg, 1877-79; in the field with the Russian Army in Turkey, 1877-78; assistant engineer in charge of public works in Washington, D. C., 1879-85; and professor of practical military engineer, United States Military Academy, 1885-86. In 1886 he resigned his commission and returned to private life.

    In 1898 he was appointed colonel of the 7th New York Infantry regiment to fight in the Spanish-American War. In August of the same year, he was rapidly promoted to brigadier general and major general, U. S. Volunteers, where he commanded 2nd Division, 7th Army Corps. He resigned his commission in February of 1899. He later served as: Chairman of the Commission on Canals, New York, 1899; Delegate to the Republican National Convention, Philadelphia, 1900; President of the Republican Committee, NY, 1900; New York City Police Commissioner, 1903-04; and President, Niagara-Lockport and Ontario Power Company.

    Greene is the author of numerous books of historical value: The Russian Army and its Campaigns in Turkey (2 volumes), 1879; Army Life in Russia, 1881; Campaigns of the Civil War : The Mississippi, 1881; The Life of Nathaniel Greene, Major General in the Army of the Revolution, 1893; The Revolutionary War and the Military Policy of the U.S., 1911, The Present Military Situation in the U. S., 1915; and Our First Year in the Great War, 1918.

    Greene and his wife, Belle Eugenie Chevaelie Greene made their home in New York City where he died on May 13, 1921. Francis Vinton and Belle Eugenie are buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

  • A brief history from "A Guide to the Campaign & Siege of Vicksburg"
    Following the Union victory at Grand Gulf and Port Gibson, Grant moved his army in a northeasterly direction toward Raymond, using the Big Black River to protect Major General John A. McClernand's corps on the Union left. Major General William T. Sherman was in the center and Major General James B. McPherson on the right. Grant planned to strike the Southern Railroad of Mississippi between Vicksburg and Jackson and isolate Vicksburg by cutting Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton's supply and communications line.

    General McPherson's XVII Corps was marching along the Utica Road southeast of Raymond in the valley of Fourteen-mile Creek when about 10:00 a.m. its skirmish line was suddenly hit by the deadly fire of Brigadier General John Gregg's battle-hardened Confederate brigade. The three guns of Captain Hiram Bledsoe's Missouri battery, positioned to cover the bridge across the creek, also opened fire on the Federals at a range of 1,000 yards.

    Gregg had thought his 4,000 men could turn the Federal right flank. Faulty intelligence informed him he was facing a small force. When the 50th Tennessee Infantry crossed Fourteen-mile Creek, they realized instead that McPherson had 12,000 men before them. While thick clouds of smoke and dust obscured the field, Gregg met initial success as his regiments attacked across the creek en echelon to the left. The Federals checked the attack by early afternoon and counterattacked.

    Union brigades continued to arrive on the field and deployed on both sides of the Utica Road, massing 22 pieces of artillery along the ridge to support the infantry. They pushed forward at 1:30 p.m. and drove the Confederates back across Fourteen-mile Creek. The fighting was confused because neither commander knew the location of his units. Union strength finally broke the Confederate right flank along the Utica Road and the battle ended with Gregg's retreat through Raymond and out the Jackson Road, where they bivouacked for the night near Snake Creek. McPherson's troops remained at the tiny village of Raymond. Major General Grant made his headquarters at Waverly, the home of Major John Peyton. Federal combat strength: 12,000. Casualties: 442 Confederate combat strength: 4,000. Casualties: 514

    Reference used with permission, "A Guide to the Campaign & Siege of Vicksburg", State of Mississippi, Department of Archives and History, 1994.



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