PURSUING THE REBELS

On this day, the 16th Ohio and Grant's forces continued to pursue the defeated Rebel army from the battlefield of Thompson's Hill to the town of Port Gibson, Mississippi. Peter Perrine, Company C, in his diary, tells us:

Followed the retreating rebel army to Port Gibson distance 3 miles. here a bridge over a bayou was burnt.

The retreating Rebels had burned an important bridge over Bayou Pierre but this slowed the advancing Union army little. Additional description of this day is available on the Battle of Thompson's Hill page.

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Period map showing the route of the 16th Ohio, with Gen. Osterhaus' 9th Division, through the Battle of Thompson's Hill and occupying the town of Port Gibson, Mississippi on May 2, 1863:

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Modern day map of the 16th Ohio's march from Perkins' Plantation to Port Gibson, Mississippi:

Purple pin - Perkins' Plantation, from where the 16th Ohio and elements of Grant's force embarked on steamboats on April 28, 1863
Blue pin - Hard Times Landing, Louisiana, where the 16th Ohio, Osterhaus' 9th Division and other elements of Grants force disembarked from their boats on April 29, 1863.
Yellow pin - An abandoned plantation to where the troops marched and camped the night of April 29, 1863.
Aqua pin - Bruinsburg, Mississippi, where the 16th Ohio and all of Grant's force landed on April 30, 1863.
Red pin - Approximate location of Thompson's Hill, about two or three miles west of Port Gibson, Mississippi, where the Battle of Thompson's Hill occurred on May 1, 1863.
Green pin - Village of Port Gibson, occupied by the 16th Ohio and Grant's troops on May 2, 1863.