28 June, 1862, Saturday (Passage of Vicksburg)

Union - Government
Late in the night, the War Department receives an angry telegram from McClellan, which is addressed to President Lincoln. They obliterate two sentences before showing the telegram to Lincoln.

What Lincoln did read was:
"I have lost this battle because my force was too small," blaming the President and the Administration bitterly and disclaiming responsibility for the defeat at Gaines' Mill despite the fact that he had not used a major part of his army.

The two sentences that Lincoln did not see were:
If I save this army now, I tell you plainly that I owe no thanks to you or any other persons in Washington. You have done your best to sacrifice this army."

Lincoln replied to what he did see of the message: "Save your Army at all events...If you have had a drawn battle, or a repulse, it is the price we pay for the enemy not being in Washington."

Union - Military
Mississippi
At 2 am, Farragutt's fleet was under way from south of Vicksburg, steaming up the Mississippi, in its attempt to force a passage past the batteries of the city. In two columns, the fleet proceeded and by 4 am the battle was joined.

By 6 am, all but three vessels had made it. Fifteen men were killed and thirty wounded in the Union fleet. Confederate casualties were negligible.

The action proved two points: first, a fleet could pass powerful land batteries without excessive damage or danger, and second, it was clear that a fleet alone could not take Vicksburg. A campain that was to last more than a year had begun.

There is a skirmish at Blackland.

South Carolina
In Charleston Harbor, Union troops were pulled off James Island and momentarily gave up the attempt to get at Charleston and its harbor forts from the low-lying islands.

Virginia
On the quietest of the Seven Days in Virginia, McClellan and his army began to withdraw douth from near Richmond toward the James River. Lee reorganized his command for another offensive blow, for by evening he knew the Army of the Potomac, was headed toward the river.

White House on the Pamunkey, was evacuated and burned. There was fighting at Garnett's and Golding's Farms, and at Dispatch Station on the Richmond and York River Railroad. Meanwhile, the navy moved up the James from Fort Monroe to open communications, with McClellan's army expected at Harrison's Landing.

Tennessee
There was a skrimish at Sparta.

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Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971