Fort Pemberton (Greenwood, Mississippi)
Greenwood · Mississippi · Civil War
History & Significance
The fort was located on the route of the Yazoo Pass, near the confluence of the Tallahatchie and Yalobusha Rivers (which merge there to form the Yazoo River). Loring's men hastily built fortifications at an approximate 45-degree angle from northeast to southwest, made of cotton bales and logs covered by layers of dirt, with parapets ten feet high.
There they mounted a pair of heavy guns and named the earthworks "Fort Pemberton". Named for Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton, the Confederate commander in the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana, the fort served a critical defensive role.
The Union force began moving through the Yazoo Pass on February 7, but lack of urgency by the Union Navy, coupled with low-hanging tree branches and trees felled by Confederates impeded their progress, allowing the Confederates time to prepare defenses. The Confederate troops at the fort repulsed the attempts by the Union force on March 11, March 14, March 16, and March 23, halting the Union advance. The failure of the Yazoo Pass Expedition at Fort Pemberton denied Union forces a critical flanking route to Vicksburg's rear, preventing access to Snyder's Bluff along the Yazoo River where troops could have disembarked to threaten Confederate defenses from the north.
Key Facts
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Pemberton_(Mississippi)
- https://www.battlefields.org/visit/heritage-sites/fort-pemberton
- https://www.americanhistorycentral.com/entries/battle-of-fort-pemberton/
- https://www.americanhistorycentral.com/entries/yazoo-pass-expedition/
- https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/battle-of-yazoo-pass/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazoo_Pass_expedition
- https://www.apps.mdah.ms.gov/nom/prop/19094.pdf
- https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=77329
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