Hey everyone, thanks for tuning into the 280th episode of our Civil War Podcast.

I'm Rich.

And I'm Tracy.

Hello y'all.

Welcome to the podcast.

As y'all recall in the last episode, we talked about how Ulysses S. Grant had set his

sights on capturing Bigsburg.

Even as the Confederates, now with John C. Pemberton in command, were strengthening the

Landward defenses there at their Citadel on the bluffs above the Mississippi River.

Early in November 1862, Grant and the Army of the Tennessee began moving south toward

the rebel position along the Tallahatchee River.

Grant knew that Pemberton depended on the Mississippi Central Railroad for supplies just

as much as he did.

He also knew that the most vulnerable point on the line was the wooden railroad bridge

over the Yala Bushar River at Grenada 60 miles south of the Tallahatchee.

If that bridge could be destroyed, the Confederate line of communications would be severed and

Pemberton would be forced to retreat from his position along the Tallahatchee.

On November 27th, Brigadier General Alfred Hovey led 7,000 Union cavalry and infantry

across the Mississippi River from Helena, Arkansas.

Cold rains fell almost without ceasing and turned the countryside into a sea of mud, but

Hovey persevered.

On his infantry bogged down, he gambled and sent his cavalry splashing eastward toward

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