their corps were appalled to discover that the Confederates had disemboweled numerous mules and hogs, then thrown their carcasses into every pond and well to contaminate the water. The air, said he, was filled with the stench of dead animals and members of Battery E and others were detailed over the next two days to bury all the carcasses in the area. Starting on May 10, Battery E commenced bombardment of the Confederate works at Jackson, beginning at 7am on that Sunday morning. Private Rice reported a bright sunny day, and said that fire and counter-battery fire continued for three hours "as if the heavens were at war with one another, and about to part." Rice himself was nicked by an enemy shell, and others in the battery had what he referred to as "close calls," though no one was seriously hurt. On May 14, Battery E supported Sherman's final attack on Jackson. Advancing during a driving rainstorm across Lynch Creek, a rain-swollen stream that ran only two miles from the Mississippi State Capitol, the XV Corps quickly ran into the Third Kentucky Mounted Infantry, the First Georgia Sharpshooter Battalion and Captain Martin's Georgia Battery. The Federal advance was temporarily halted before Battery E and a companion battery from the 2nd Iowa responded in kind. One Iowa soldier briefly described Battery E's role in this battle in these terms: The "accurate fire" from Battery E and the Iowa artillery, coupled with the overwhelming Federal advantage in manpower, quickly forced the Confederates to retreat into their defensive works; within a matter of a few hours, Sherman's XV Corps had entered Jackson. The battery remained in Jackson until May 16, taking no part in the Battle of Champion Hill. . Action at Vicksburg On May 16, Battery E moved toward Vicksburg, the South's "Gibraltar of the West". It arrived on the 18th, where it took an active part in the siege as part of the Third Division of Sherman's XV Corps. Fielding four James Rifles and three captured 6-pound guns, it was assigned together with the 2nd Battery of Iowa Light Artillery as the division's artillery force near the northeast corner of the Confederate defensive line (currently located along Old Graveyard Road, between Union Ave. and Confederate Ave.). They supported the abortive Federal assault upon the "Stockade Redan" on May 22, which resulted in more than a thousand Federal casualties, and led