corps, Grant struck at once into the interior. He took nothing
with him except ammunition, and his army was in the lightest
marching order. This enabled him to move with great rapidity, but
deprived him of his wagon trains, and of all munitions of war
except cartridges. Everything, however, in this campaign,
depended on quickness, and Grant's decision, as well as all his
movements, marked the genius of the great soldier, which consists
very largely in knowing just when to abandon the accepted
military axioms.

Pressing forward, Grant met the enemy, numbering between seven
and eight thousand, at Raymond, and readily defeated them. He
then marched on toward Jackson, fighting another action at
Clinton, and at Jackson he struck General Joseph Johnston, who
had arrived at that point to take command of all the rebel
forces. Johnston had with him, at the moment, about eleven
thousand men, and stood his ground. There was a sharp fight, but
Grant easily defeated the enemy, and took possession of the town.
This was an important point, for Jackson was the capital of the
State of Mississippi, and was a base of military supplies. Grant
destroyed the factories and the munitions of war which. were
gathered there, and also came into possession of the line of
railroad which ran from Jackson to Vicksburg. While he was thus
engaged, an intercepted message revealed to him the fact that
Pemberton, in accordance with Johnston's orders, had come out of
Vicksburg with twenty-five thousand men, and was moving eastward
against him. Pemberton, however, instead of holding a straight
line against Grant, turned at first to the south, with the view
of breaking the latter's line of communication. This was not a
success, for, as Grant says, with grim humor, "I had no line of