In early 1863, during the American Civil War, Major General Ulysses S. Grant of the Union Army was planning operations against the strategic Confederate-held Mississippi River city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. After early efforts failed, Grant decided to move south of the city on the opposite side of the river, and then cross the Mississippi to move against the town and its garrison. In late April, 24,000 Union soldiers were landed at Bruinsburg, Mississippi as part of that plan. Grant's men fought their way inland and then moved east with the intention of later turning to the west and attacking Vicksburg from that direction. The movement was conducted in three columns. Meanwhile, Confederate troops from across the country were dispatched to reinforce the defenders of Vicksburg. The reinforcements gathered at Jackson, Mississippi, and on May 10, General Joseph E. Johnston was sent to command the growing force. Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton, the commander of the Vicksburg garrison, ordered one of the units at Jackson, Brigadier General John Gregg's brigade, to move to the town of Raymond.