Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in to episode 292 of our Civil War Podcast.

I'm Rich.

And I'm Tracy.

Hello y'all.

Welcome to the podcast.

As y'all recall, when we left off last time, the Federal's had won what would turn out

to be the decisive battle of the campaign at Champion Hill on May 16, 1863.

The Confederates had then retreated west toward Bigsburg, but were routed at the Big Black

River on May 17th.

We just wanted to say that if you've picked up the Echoes of Glory Civil War Atlas by

time life that we are endlessly recommending, then you can see that there's a map which

shows the march of Grands Army into the interior of the state of Mississippi, another one that

shows what happened at Champion Hill, and then a good map showing the two armies positions

in the siege lines at Bigsburg.

So those maps of course will help you picture what's going on as we talk about it.

Okay, so now back to the story.

One can only wonder what was going through the mind of Confederate commander John Pemberton

as he made his way toward Bigsburg.

He had lost two battles in two days, and nearly half of the force he had taken out to meet

the Federal's.

Pemberton summed up his situation when he told a member of his staff, quote,

just 30 years ago, I began my military career by receiving my appointment to a cadetship

...