SIEGE OF JACKSON - DAY 2

On this day, the 16th Ohio improved their position on the siege line around Jackson, Mississippi. The Confederates in Jackson defended their Capitol fiercely and continued firing on the Union troops throughout the day. Union General Lauman sent a brigade toward the Rebels and ran into an ambush, losing over six hundred men, including two hundred killed. Lauman was relieved of his command. Cpl. Theodore Wolbach, Company E, tells us:

As the different regiments reached good positions, they were halted and began to fortify. The 16th extended across a recently cleared space. Brush-heaps, stumps and logs furnished cover for our skirmishers. The right of the skirmish line rested in the rear of a house whose occupants had stampeded. A new cement cistern, of the common bottle shape, several steps to one side, was almost filled with wearing apparel and bed clothing. There was no water in the cistern and the thought of placing these goods there was in some respects a wise one. The house might catch fire from an exploding shell and go up. At best it would be ransacked by the soldiers and they wouldn't think of looking for plunder in a cistern. ...

When night came the skirmish line of the regiment was advanced about a hundred yards farther.

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Period military map showing the approximate position (see red star) of the 16th Ohio, part of Gen. Osterhaus' Ninth Division, at Jackson, Mississippi, July 11, 1863, when Union troops began the siege of that city. Note: The map, below, shows General Lauman's ill fated move toward the Rebel lines, mentioned above, as occurring on July 12th:

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Modern day map showing the approximate position of the 16th Ohio in position outside Rebel works at Jackson, Mississippi, on July 11, 1863

Blue pin - approximate position of 16th Ohio with Gen. Osterhaus' Ninth Division from June 24 to July 6, 1863, while guarding Grant's siege at Vicksburg from attack by Confederate General Joe Johnston.
Red pin - approximate campsite of 16th Ohio the night of July 6, 1863, after marching east from Bovina Station.
Green pin - Near Bolton Station, Mississippi, approximate campsite of 16th Ohio the night of July 7, 1863, after marching east from Edwards Depot.
Yellow pin - a point about four miles past Bolton, Mississippi, where the 16th Ohio camped the night of July 8, 1863.
Purple pin - a point about four miles east of Jackson, Mississippi, where the 16th Ohio camped the night of July 9, 1863.
Aqua pin - the approximate position of the 16th Ohio after taking up positions outside the Confederate fortifications at Jackson, Mississippi, on July 10, 1863.
Red pushpin - site of Mississippi State Capitol during the Civil War; Gen. Osterhaus' division and the 16th Ohio were positioned 1 1/2 miles due west of here.