File:The army in the civil war.. (1885) (14782604823).jpg

Identifier: cu31924092907017 (find matches)
Title: The army in the civil war..
Year: 1885 (1880s)
Authors:
Subjects:
Publisher: New York, C. Scribner's Sons
Contributing Library: Cornell University Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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rly tenacious, semi-indurated clay,which whqji cut vertically for roads or other purposes resiststhe action of the weather and retains its vertical sides forgenerations. In such a soil the action of running water insmall streams has, in the course of centuries, resulted in cut-ting the bluff or plateau into deep Wnnes with remarkablysteep sides, separated by very narroya^dges. The topog-raphy is thus extremely broken and complicated, and is ofsuch a character that no manoeuvres of troops are possibleover it. On the other hand it lends itself admirably to thepurposes of fortification, the narrow ridges having a com-plete command over the deep ravines in front of them, andtheir sinuous course enabling each point to bring a crossfire in front of adjacent points. A careful study of the map is necessary to form even anapproximate idea of the main features of this topography.It will be noticed that from the northeast corner of thetown a ridg^e runs out to the eastward, on which is the Jack-
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w;c^cis^ THE SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF VICKSBURG. 175 son road; about two miles from the outskirts of tlie town,this ridge meets another ridge, which trends off to the south-west for several miles, following an irregular course, bat hav-ing an unbroken crest nearly on the same level all the way.Between the Jackson ridge and this second ridge there is acollection of minor valleys, the drainage of which is finallyunited into Stouts bayou, which empties into the Missis-sippi a few miles lower down, but is here separated from itby another ridge, on which is the Warrenton road. TheConfederate Rne began on the Warrenton ridge about threemiles south of town, crossed Stouts Bayou, and then fol-lowed the ridge without a break for five miles to the Jack-son road. Here the ridge turns to the east and subse-quently to the north and west, reaching the Mississippi atthe point of the bend; but this ridge was considered asgiving too long a development to the line of defence, andfrom the Jackson road the

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