The enemy soon left when he found we were building a bridge elsewhere.

Before leaving Port Gibson we were reinforced by Crocker's division, McPherson's corps, which had crossed the Mississippi at Bruinsburg and come up without stopping except to get two days' rations.

McPherson still had one division west of the Mississippi River, guarding the road from Milliken's Bend to the river below until Sherman's command should relieve it.
On leaving Bruinsburg for the front I left my son Frederick, who had joined me a few weeks before, on board one of the gunboats asleep, and hoped to get away without him until after Grand Gulf should fall into our hands; but on waking up he learned that I had gone, and being guided by the sound of the battle raging at Thompson's Hill--called the Battle of Port Gibson--found his way to where I was.

He had no horse to ride at the time, and I had no facilities for even preparing a meal.

He, therefore, foraged around the best he could until we reached Grand Gulf.
Mr.C.A.Dana, then an officer of the War Department, accompanied me on the Vicksburg campaign and through a portion of the siege.