the Battle of Champion Hill 

"Tonight we will water our horses in the Tennessee River." --General A. S. Johnson

After crossing the Mississippi River, Grant marched his army directly to the state capital of Jackson, where he promptly burned much of the city. Johnston E. Johnston ordered Pemberton to leave Vicksburg's defenses and sally out, so that they might combine their forces to attack Grant in the open field. But poor communication and sloppy execution of this plan left Pemberton to face most of Grant's superior army alone, somewhere in the tangled forests between Vicksburg and Jackson.   

John Pemberton (left) and Ulysses S Grant (right)

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