RAYMOND — The dust kicked up by 12,000 footsore marching men was so thick that Tuesday morning that one soldier said it rose above his shin and filled his leather brogans.

The clouds of dust certainly didn’t do any favors for the two inexperienced generals in charge the morning of May 12, 1863, Vicksburg National Military Park ranger Dr. David Slay told a group gathered for the 152nd anniversary of the smallest yet most pivotal battle in the Vicksburg Campaign.

Confederate Brig. Gen. John Gregg of Texas was defending the town of Raymond with about 1,200 men when the Federal force under command of Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson marched in from Utica.

“I don’t think he would have been near that aggressive if he had known there were 12,000 men marching down the road,” Slay said.

McPherson was Grant’s most inexperienced commander and had let his troops stretch out for 11 miles along the road by the time Gregg’s men opened fire. Through the dust and without cavalry, Gregg thought he was facing a force equal to his own. The battle raged from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“There, those men were very determined and held up an entire wing of the Union Army for an entire day,” Slay said.

Eventually the Confederates noticed they were outgunned. They had three cannons placed on a ridge, and one exploded. McPherson’s men brought 22 guns.

Handily beaten, Gregg’s force retreated, yet McPherson didn’t follow. His men went into town and ate a picnic that had been prepared for the Confederates.

“I can just imagine the sounds and the smells and the dust,” said Isla Tullos, Mayor of Raymond and a member of Friends of Raymond. “All the women were inside cooking. That’s what Southern women do when they’re worried.”

The result of the battle let Grant’s forces head to Jackson and repel an army under command of Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, who was never able to relieve Vicksburg.

“The echoes of this tiny battle would resound through the campaign,” Slay said.

The event was the first held by Vicksburg National Military Park at the Raymond battlefield since a bill was signed allowing the park to acquire land there and at other battle sites.

Countless hours of work over the years have gone into development of Raymond Military Park, said Dr. Ben Fatherree, president of Friends of Raymond and the retired head of Hinds Community College’s history department. The park has markers like those in Vicksburg National Military Park and has a replica cannon for each cannon present at the battle.

“This is sort of an unknown treasure. It’s a beautiful little park,” Fatherree said.

Yet within Fatherree’s lifetime, the exact site of the Battle of Raymond was a mysterious hidden treasure that took years of historical archeology and examination of official records to discover.

“Twenty-five years ago, you couldn’t find anyone in Raymond who know where the battle took place,” he said.

Fatherree said the work of retired Brig. Gen. Parker Hills made the park what it is today.

“I have to give him credit. This was his vision,” Fatherree said.