Two days later, Porter and his flotilla brought Grant and his men ashore at Bruinsburg, Mississippi. There was some brief fighting as they waded ashore, but within an hour or two the beachhead was secure with hundreds of men coming ashore every hour. Grant had achieved one of the most successful amphibious operations of the war. Just how Grant managed this has been debated many times, but the answer is actually rather simple. As he did so many times, Grant dared, and his foe reacted too slowly.

Grant did not inform Washington, D.C., or even his generals, right away, but he had made up his mind to strike hard and fast. On May 2, he began to move east, with his men carrying only six days’ rations in their knapsacks.