REPORTS OF GUNBOATS RUNNING PAST THE VICKSBURG BATTERIES

While camped at Smith's Plantation, in his diary, Pvt. Peter Perrine, Company C, records that on the night of the 17th, eight U.S. gunboats and several transports made a run past the batteries at Vicksburg without serious damange. One of the transports was sunk. He goes on to name the gun boats - ironclads Benton, Tuscumbia, Lafayette, Pittsburg, Mound City, Louisville and Carondolette and a wooden gunboat General Price. These boats shelled the rebels from the river at Carthage.

History records the actual date of Adm. Porter's running of the Vicksburg blockade as having occurred on the night of April 16, 1863. See image at bottom of page.

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Period map showing the route of Grant's army, including the 16th Ohio, from Milliken's Bend, south to Richmond and then to Smith's Plantation, Louisiana:

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Modern day map of the 16th Ohio's march from Milliken's Bend to Richmond to Smith's Plantation, Louisiana

Blue pin - approximate position of Milliken's Bend, Louisiana, where the 16th Ohio and much of Grant's force camped for the winter of 1863
Green pin - Richmond, Louisiana, where the 16th Ohio and elements of Grant's force marched and camped during the initial stages of the renewed attack and siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi
Yellow pin - Smith's Plantation (near New Carthage), Louisiana, where the 16th Ohio and elements of Grant's force marched and camped on April 13, 1863

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Artists' conceptions of the Union fleet, under Admiral Dixon Porter, running past the Rebel guns at Vicksburg on the night of April 16, 1863. This is the event mentioned by Pvt. Perrine in his diary.