Grant wanted to keep his troops busy until he could begin active campaigning later in the spring, so he ordered them to undertake several moves that would give the appearance of activity but would not bring on a major battle. Grant had put into motion several operations aiming at flanking Confederate Lieutenant General John C. The campaign to capture the Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg, Mississippi, the last major obstacle to Union control of the Mississippi River, had bogged down in the winter of 1862–1863.

Following its failure, he turned his attention to the enemy left flank, and soon began the movement that led to the capture of Vicksburg. The Steele's Bayou expedition was Grant's last attempt to attack Pemberton's right flank. By March 27, the entire expedition was back on the Mississippi, having accomplished nothing. They easily drove off the Confederate patrols that were blocking the retreat, so Porter and his vessels were able to move back into Steele's Bayou. Sherman, made a forced march that got to the flotilla on March 22. The soldiers, with the personal prodding of Major General William T. With his vessels effectively trapped, Porter sent an urgent appeal for help to the Army, and then issued orders to his captains to prepare to destroy their ships rather than let them fall into enemy hands. The flotilla would have retreated, but Confederate troops got in their rear on Deer Creek and began felling trees there also. Exploiting this, the Rebels further impeded progress by felling trees across the stream, and brought the Union force to a halt within 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of the Rolling Fork.

The waterway, narrow and with frequent turns, forced the vessels to move at snail's pace. Traversing Steele's Bayou was not particularly difficult, but the second leg, along Deer Creek, proved impossible. Two army transports followed them on the opening leg others were to come later if the route were to prove satisfactory. The naval flotilla moved into Steele's Bayou on March 14, 1863. The army and navy contingents of the expedition moved separately, although their movements were coordinated. To avoid enemy artillery in place on the bluffs to the east of the city, the expedition would leave the Yazoo and proceed indirectly on a route through a series of waterways in the flood plain to the east of the Mississippi. Its aim was to move Union forces from the Mississippi River to a point on the Yazoo River upstream of Confederate Lieutenant General John C. Porter's Mississippi River Squadron, conducted as a part of the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. Grant's Army of the Tennessee and Rear Admiral David D.

The Steele's Bayou expedition was a joint operation of Major General Ulysses S.

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