The siege of Jackson began, properly on the 13th of July, our lines having been established the two preceding days. The Seventy-Seventh occupied a position supporting Gen. Lawler's Brigade. We were within easy range of the rebel guns, and the shells would crash through the trees and burst over our heads, and we would then hear the old familiar sounds, "lay down," "grab a root," etc.
Monday, July 13, 1863
Private William Bentldy, from the 77th Illinois Infantry, described the siege this way:
