In May, 1863, General Ulyssus S. Grant brought 40,000 union troops to bear on the city of Vicksburg and its 30,000 rebels.

On May 22, Grant ordered a major attack along a 3.5-mile face of the city’s defenses. A number of soldiers of the 127th Illinois Infantry volunteered to place a make-shift bridge across the ravine in front of the Stockade Redan.

The attack was a disaster, with the Union troops trapped within the ravine and easy prey to the sharpshooters above. The defenders rolled cannon balls with lit fuses down upon the attackers and the toll of wounded and dead was great.

General Sherman was so taken by the bravery of these men that he wrote the following:

Headquarters Fifteenth Army Corps
Camp, Walnut Hills, Miss.
June 6, 1863

I recommend to the notice of the President the names enumerated by General Blair as worthy of promotion in their line of profession; and the storming party that volunteered to scale the works, and did do so, and remain on the exterior slope amid that fierce conflict, merit not only the medal of honor, but more substantial reward

William T. Sherman
Major-General Commanding