It Is Absolutely Necessary That They Be Dislodged

The partial penetration of Railroad Redoubt by Sgt. Joseph E. Griffith and twelve men of the 22nd Iowa had never really threatened to capture that work for the Federals. Nor could the Confederates easily evict those Unionists. The work constituted part of no-man’s-land for most of May 22 until orders arrived from Pemberton to reclaim the entire redoubt. Brigade leader Stephen D. Lee assigned the task to Col. Thomas N. Waul, who organized a small band of volunteers from his Texas Legion. Helped by Col. Edmund W. Pettus of the 20th Alabama, who volunteered to lend his services to the group, they counterattacked along the parapet that extended toward the southeast corner of the work where Griffith’s party had been ensconced. By this time, late in the afternoon, Griffith and his men had quietly evacuated the work but there were still Federal troops taking shelter in the ditch in front of it. Pettus’ counterattack not only reclaimed all of Railroad Redoubt but soon drove the Federals out of the ditch as well. Far from a campaign-winning opportunity, as McClernand portrayed Griffith’s penetration to Grant earlier that day, the struggle for Railroad Redoubt ended with a relatively easy Confederate defensive success.