One month after Grant’s last attempt to carry Vicksburg’s defenses by infantry assault, James C. Christie, 1st Minnesota Battery Light Artillery, writes home about life in the trenches as the siege drags on.

Christie’s battery is attached to Brig. Gen. John A. McArthur’s Sixth Division of Gen. James B. McPherson’s XVII Corps, in the vicinity of the Third Louisiana Redan.

“...Spades are trumps here, and are likely to Be for a long time yet. I Believe if the unsuccessful charge of the 22nd of last month had not Been made, at all we would have had Vicksburgh Before this time, for now there are good roads made up to within a few rods of the works...

...and in fact there are our rifle pits, in where the Rebs had theres about eight days ago, there is two of our Pieces going intoo a new fort or rather entrenchments that are actually within 50 or sixty feet of the Reb’s lines.”

He goes on to describe the ad hoc methods developed to protect artillery crews: “there are great shields of rope being made to put on the guns, to keep the gunner and nos. three and four from the secesh sharpshooters, (the whites of the eyes can be seen,)...

...there are three thicknesses of inch and half rope, agains which a Ball strikes flat and drop harmless to the ground.”

Christie’s tells his father, “We have Been amuseing ourselves for the Past two evenings, in throwing shell over intoo the enemmy’s lines,...

...mortar fashion, we prepare the shells By taking out the Baurman fuze (or Barman), and elevate the Piece by diging a hole for the trail, giving her elevation according to the length of the fuze, and charge of Powder.

We have fired forty of them in all taking about four hours to fire them, and that would keep us up pretty late at night.”

Christie expected his section to move to a new position this evening; one offering better defilade from the enemy’s harassing fire.

His present position is not to his liking: “the Captain of the 2nd Ill Co. F. made the one we now occupie, and if he had not been an Ass he would have put the Fort where we are now compelled to have it.”

#civilwar #vicksburg