9th Connecticut Regiment Infantry - Duty in Mississippi

Duty in Mississippi

Before the end of the month, they left Boston Harbor as part of more than 3,000 troops on board the steamer Constitution. They arrived at Ship Island, Mississippi, on December 3, where they supplied with arms and some improved clothing. After early action at Biloxi and Pass Christian, the regiment was directed by General Butler to make a public parade through the city to discourage any outbreaks against Federal authorities.

On June 25, 1862, the unit was put to work upriver on a canal opposite Vicksburg along with regiments from Massachusetts, Vermont, Michigan and Wisconsin, all under the direction of General Thomas Williams. The canal was intended to connect a loop in the Mississippi River and allow Union ships to bypass the cannons on the bluffs at Vicksburg and have free access from the north to the Gulf of Mexico. However, lack of drinking water, supplies and medicine, as well as the summer heat and exposure quickly took its toll as heatstroke, malaria, and dysentery spread rapidly. With many dying or incapacitated, slaves from nearby plantations were added to the workforce, but, as the water level fell in the river, the canal attempt was abandoned on July 24 and the troops were moved downriver to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A boat, the Algerine, with 300 sick on board, was left behind with Surgeon Gallagher of the 9th in charge. In a four-month span from July to October 1862, 150 men from the Ninth Regiment alone died of disease.