Grant's Canal

The summer of 1862 killed the first attempt. Union Brigadier-General Thomas Williams sent 3,200 soldiers and 1,200 impressed slaves to dig across De Soto Point in Louisiana — a canal that could allow Union ships to bypass Vicksburg's artillery batteries. Disease took hold in the mosquito-ridden swamps. Temperatures reached 110 °F. Malaria, dysentery, and scurvy spread. The Mississippi fell almost a foot a day. Soil kept collapsing into the cut. Williams abandoned the work on July 24, leaving behind 600 graves and 500 sick African Americans. Grant ordered men back to the site in January 1863. He moved the upstream entrance 200 yards north to catch a stronger current. Soldiers worked in two-hour shifts, each regiment assigned a 150-yard section. About 2,000 civilian laborers worked on the canal during the project. Two dredging boats arrived in March. On March 7, the dam holding the upstream end failed. The breach opened to 150 feet wide, flooding Union campsites. Engineers lost control of a coal barge meant to plug the hole and damaged one of the dredges. Confederate artillery fire intensified. By March 19, the dredges could only operate at night. Their civilian operators withdrew on March 24, stating that being shot at was not part of their contract. Work ended March 27. The canal had reached about 60 feet wide and 9 to 12 feet deep. Grant landed troops below Vicksburg in April. He defeated Confederate forces at Champion Hill on May 16 and placed the city under siege by May 18. The Confederate garrison surrendered on July 4. In April 1876, the Mississippi cut through De Soto Point on its own, only about 1.5 miles from where Grant's canal had been attempted. Most of the canal path has since been destroyed by agriculture. A small section survives, donated to the National Park Service and added to Vicksburg National Military Park in 1990.