The men of the 130th Illinois Infantry rose early this morning at De Shroon's plantation, and ate their hard tack and bacon. The plantation was just below Grand Gulf, on the Louisiana side of the Mississippi River. After breakfast they broke camp and marched back to the north to board transports.
As they marched, they could see gunboats and transports, both filled with soldiers, moving down the river. The Confederate guns at Grand Gulf were silent this morning. The regiment eventually boarded transports, floated down the river past Grand Gulf and disembarked in Bruinsburg, Mississippi.
It took the entire day to get the 13th Army Corps across the Mississippi River on transports. In fact, some of the support units (hospital, supply, etc.) did not cross over until the next morning.
But the troops that landed first immediately began to move in the direction of Port Gibson. The lead regiments marched about six miles and met no opposition. They rested for three hours while they got organized.
At eight o clock at night the column began to move again, and by three o'clock the next morning they had marched another twelve miles.
