of the few units still in functioning order. The Confederates lost a number of cannons in the retreat due to an error; the horses for Wade's Battery, Guibor's Battery, and a portion of Landis's Battery had been positioned on the far side of the Big Black River, and were not available to haul off the cannons. In total, the Confederates lost 18 cannons at the Big Black River. The retreating Confederates burned both the bridge and the steamboat serving as a bridge, and those who escaped the Union army joined the fortifications at Vicksburg. Sergeant William Wesley Kendall of the 49th Indiana Infantry Regiment was awarded the Medal of Honor for leading a company in the main Union charge; he was among the first Union soldiers to enter the Confederate fortifications. Aftermath and preservation The Confederates lost 1,751 men; almost 1,700 of the losses were in prisoners. Union casualties totaled either 273 or 276. After Big Black River Bridge, the siege of Vicksburg began on May 18. Grant attempted a major charge against the Vicksburg entrenchments on May 22, but this was repulsed. Attempts at exploding mines under the Confederate lines on June 25 and July 1 also failed to break the Confederate defenses. However, with no prospects of reinforcements and lack of food, Pemberton surrendered the Confederate defenders on July 4. The site of the battle was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 as the Big Black River Battlefield. , portions of the piers of the railroad bridge existing during the battle still remain at the crossing of the Big Black River. A trail runs along the river bank, and a historical marker is placed in the vicinity of the battlefield, although the battlefield itself is privately owned. The Civil War Trust has acquired and preserved of the battlefield. Notes References Sources Further reading Bearss, Edwin C. The Campaign for Vicksburg. Vol. 2, Grant Strikes a Fatal Blow. Dayton, OH: Morningside House, 1986. . Fullenkamp, Leonard, Stephen Bowman, and Jay Luvaas. Guide to the Vicksburg Campaign. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998. . Winschel, Terrence J. Triumph & Defeat: The Vicksburg Campaign. Campbell, CA: Savas Publishing Company, 1999. . Woodworth, Steven E., ed. Grant's Lieutenants: From Cairo to Vicksburg. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2001. . External links National Park Service, Battle of Big Black River Bridge West Point Atlas map of Grant's advance from