American Civil WarStuff Happened · War
Campaign & Siege · Western Theatre
Siege of Vicksburg
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The fortress on the bluffs
The Key to the War
Vicksburg’s guns close the Mississippi; Grant tries the overland march and the frontal assault, and both fail.
2The winter of mud
Canals, Bayous, and a Drowning Army
Four schemes to slip past the batteries through swamp and bayou all bog down; the navy has to be rescued, on foot, from the woods.
3The spring run
Past the Guns and Loose in Mississippi
Porter (North) runs the batteries; Grant crosses at Bruinsburg, cuts his supply line, and wins five battles in eighteen days, capped at Champion Hill.
4Forty-seven days
The Caves, the Trenches, and the Mule Meat
Two failed storms turn into a 47-day siege; 3,000 civilians live in clay caves while the garrison starves on mule, horse, and rat.
5Freedom along the river
The Cause Made Flesh
Slavery dissolves in the army’s path; at Milliken’s Bend, formerly enslaved soldiers fight hand-to-hand and hold.
6The Fourth of July
The Father of Waters Goes Unvexed
Pemberton (South) surrenders nearly 30,000 men on July 4; Port Hudson falls; the river opens end to end the week after Gettysburg.