A DAY OF REST

On this day, the 16th Ohio and Grant's forces remained camped in the vicinity of Rocky Springs, Mississippi. Cpl. Theodore Wolbach, Company E, describes this day:

On the 4th we remained in bivouac, getting occasional reports of affairs in front. The country around us was fine, the surface was rolling, and about two thirds of it was cleared and had long been under cultivation. The balance was covered with heavy timber of about the same kind as is common to Ohio, with the exception of magnolia and pecan which abounded here; and some of the ravines were filled with cane. Much of the clay of this country is red or rather a yellowish red color. During heavy rains it washes readily into deep furrows. This is noticeable all over this part of Mississippi.

It is interesting to note that one of the factors causing the village of Rocky Springs to decline and eventually be abandoned after the Civil War was soil erosion. Cpl. Wolbach points out this observation in his description, above, 50+ years before the town's demise.

* Information and italicized quotations from a series of articles entitled Camp and Field - The Old 16th Ohio, written in the 1880s by Theodore Wolbach, late Corporal in Company E, 16th Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

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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 beyond, camping at or near Rocky Springs, Mississippi on May 3 and 4, 1863:

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Modern day map of the 16th Ohio's march from Port Gibson to near Rocky Springs, Mississippi:

Note: The town of Rocky Springs, Mississippi, had a population of 2600 near the start of the Civil War. Due to several factors, including a Yellow Fever outbreak, boll weevil infestation and severe erosion caused by improper farming practices, the town declined and eventually became a ghost town. Remnants of the town can be visited during daylight hours at mile post 54.8 on the Natchez Trace Parkway.

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.
Lavender pin - Village of Rocky Springs, the approximate position of where the 16th Ohio camped on the night of May 3 and May 4, 1863.