Jonas Simpson, the Grandfather of Callie Walker who married Harley Gray, lived in Union County, Georgia near Blairsville, when he learned of a great campaign for enlisting soldiers in a new regiment for the Army of Tennessee, CSA. There, he signed with the Georgia Infantry Division, 52nd Regiment, called "Allegheny Rangers", Company G, as a Private on May 4, 1862. By the end of the war, the Army of Tennessee saw heavy action at Shiloh, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Champion Hill and Vicksburg. He must have done well, for on December 22, 1862 he was promoted to 3rd Corporal.
Early in 1863, Company G was under Captain A.B. Hill and the Georgia Regiment, with the Army of Tennessee, was under the famous Confederate General Pemberton, and was located in the upper-central Mississippi. It's mission was to re-enforce Vicksburg which was being threatened by movements of Union forces under General Grant. The following military activities were taken from General Grant's writings in "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War'', and "Operations On the Atlantic Coast, 1861-1865". The events and activities of Jonas Simpson are taken from records of military personnel, and from family stories.
CSA General Pemberton met USA forces under General McPherson (McPherson was assigned under General Sherman) along a railroad running from Jackson to Vicksburg. To understand the strategies and purpose of the interaction of the military units, it is necessary to understand the area involved and the goals and beliefs of the commanders. The two units mentioned met at an area known as Fourteen Mile Creek, near Edward's Station located about half-way between Jackson and Vicksburg. This area was very hilly with several creeks running between. Most of these creeks were connected and called "Baker's Creek". At the time, Vicksburg was well fortified by the South because it commanded a section of the Mississippi river. It prevented the northern forces from supplying their armies in the south (especially near New Orleans) on this major waterway which ran from Ohio and Illinois. The need of the North to take Vicksburg was great and crucial to the plan of Sherman's march to the coast and indeed, the entire war plan of the North. The South knew this, and this is why the Army of Tennessee was sent to Vicksburg to break the siege on that fortification. Until this time, Grant's main armies were able to freely congregate between the CSA forces limited to protecting Jackson and Vicksburg. At this point, each side was wanting to avoid battle until they could maximize their size with re-enforcements.
When the two forces met near Edward's Station, the Southern forces drove the battle line down away from the railroad giving the South control of the railroad from Vicksburg to Jackson, and the areas north of the railroad. Grant thought Pemberton's forces numbered 18,000 when they actually numbered 50,000. He therefore thought that if he put his entire force into the middle of the CSA front line, he would quickly divide the Southern forces and sever the connection between Vicksburg and Jackson. To do this he sent Sherman towards the line at Clinton, Miss., a few miles east of Edward's Station. Grant probably would not have done this had he known the size of his enemy, but the force of his attack was so strong that it did take the railroad and roads running west to east, and divided the Southern forces with more than half being to the west side. Union forces holding the siege on Vicksburg became alarmed when they learned of so many Southern soldiers between them and Grant's army that they sent an urgent request to Grant to send them more re-enforcements before they faced General Pemberton. At the same time, Grant learned that CSA General Johnston had arrived in Jackson and that Johnston planned to take command of all southern forces. His units with Pemberton's and perhaps later combined with units in Jackson and Vicksburg would be so awesome as to be certain to not only break the Vicksburg siege, but to purge Mississippi of Union forces. Grant believed that Johnston planned to do just this, so instead of going to the aid of his Vicksburg troops, he turned on Jackson, Mississippi and drove General Johnston and all CSA forces out of Jackson in a northeasterly direction. He knew when he did this that General Pemberton's nature for quick action and good eye for opportunity would result in his attacking Grant's rear as Grant marched on General Johnston. And that is exactly what happened. Grant moved very swiftly, and entrenched in Jackson rather than pursue Johnston and leave his rear flank open. He knew that Johnston would soon receive a strong unit from Tullahoma, Tennessee and would counter attack if he just waited. Also, he feared that General Pemberton may make a strong push to go above Jackson and join Johnston which would make Grant's forces too small for toe-to-toe combat. All the above from the end of the encounter at Edward's Station to this point was done on May 13th and 14th.
On the 15th of May, 1863, CSA General Pemberton started south from Edward's Station to attack Grant in Jackson, but the rains had badly swollen all parts of Baker's Creek and the bridges on most roads were washed out, so his units traveled on the Jackson Road, one of only two with open bridges. Two civilian railroad workers were heavily interrogated by the Northerners and they revealed the movements of the Southerners and of the road conditions. Grant, seeing this as the start of the joining of Pemberton and Johnston pulled his entire forces from Jackson on May 16, and with Generals Sherman and McPhearson moving up close behind him, went to meet General Pemberton's army.
At Baker's Creek and Champion Hill, 29,600 Northern men met 22,300 Southern men which included the Army of Tennessee, the Ga. 52nd Regiment, Company G, and Corporal Jonas Simpson. The clash was heaviest at Champion Hill, which was divided by two roads. The Southerners flanked out from the roads and across the hilly fields and into the tree lines. Their intent, as was normal for war fare in the Civil War, was to command vantage points of height, considering that the hills in the fields had good vision into the long tree lines. Grant's forces were heavier than expected, having abandoned Jackson to nearby Johnston forces by taking all of his units with him. The fighting was of the most fierce and determined as seen in the war. Lines were constantly breaking, falling back, reforming, pushing out, and so forth. For a time, the Union forces actually closed the only road the Confederates could use for retreat causing "hard-line" effort at great cost, which normally would have been a slow retreat. The CSA then recaptured this road, and then began to fall back to the west. During this time, Jonas Simpson received a bullet wound. Seeing him in need of help and unable to continue his position, his fellow soldier pulled him back and away from the line of action and to a rearward point along the roadside. The ambulance wagons ran the roads to the rear, as was normal in this type of battle. The fervor of the baffle was so intense that Jonas's comrades, seeing his condition serious but not critical, left him to wait for the ambulance and they returned to the battle line. At this point I should state that I believe that this was the very road that was taken by the North after Jonas was left, and that later was recaptured by the South. Grant later stated that his tactical objective was not the usual advantageous high places, but rather the roads since there were so few of them and since General Johnston may soon be coming up behind him. His units kept charging on the road lines, only to be pulled back as their field units began to fail. Soon, the Confederates had to retreat to the west, and as they did, they found Jonas Simpson along the roadside; dead from a second and fatal gunshot.
General Grant later commented that when he saw the results of the battle, he was more moved emotionally than he was at any other time of the war. Upon traveling the road after the battle, the injured and the dead of both armies along the road made him become physically ill of the carnage. He later wrote of this time; "While a battle is raging, one can see his enemy mowed down by the thousand, and the ten thousand, with great composure. But after the battle these scenes are distressing, and one is naturally disposed to do as much to alleviate the suffering of an enemy as of a friend."
On this one-day, May 16, 1863, at Champion Hill, there were 5,000 casualties. The Union had 410 killed, 1844 wounded, 187 missing. The South had over 3,000 casualties. Jonas was one of them. He was about 27 years old. He was survived by his wife Susan, his only child, a three year old daughter Mary Adaline, and her descendents which includes his great, great, grandson, me.
I wish to thank my brother, Bob Gray, and his wife Norma, for their extensive research of our family and for the documented accounts of our great, great grandfather Jonas Simpson's final battle as stated here.
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