Siege of Vicksburg
The Vicksburg Campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a city on a well-fortified west-facing cliff that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi River. It was initiated by the Union Army under General Ulysses S. Grant with the aim of gaining control of the Mississippi River by capturing this riverfront stronghold and defeating John C. Pemberton's forces stationed there.
The campaign is sometimes referred to using the name of its culminating event, The Battle of Vicksburg, the siege of the city that lasted from May 18 to July 4, 1863. However, the campaign consisted of many important naval operations, troop maneuvers, failed initiatives, and eleven distinct battles over the period December 26, 1862, to July 4, 1863. Military historians divide the campaign into two formal phases: Operations Against Vicksburg (December 1862 – January 1863) and Grant's Operations Against Vicksburg (March – July 1863).
Shortly after the city fell and Pemberton's army surrendered (one day after the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg), the entire Mississippi River belonged to the Union. These two events are widely considered the turning point in the war.
This article is broken into sub-articles so that each is of reasonable size. Each sub-article assumes the previous has been read.
Sub-articles
- Seven Failures Before The Taking of Vicksburg
- Political Questions before the Siege of Vicksburg
- Politics Before the Battle of Vicksburg
- Actions Prior to Grant's Landing Before the Siege of Vicksburg
- After Grant's Landing and Before the Siege of Vicksburg
- The Siege of Vicksburg
- Consequences of the Battle of Vicksburg
External links and references
- Catton, Bruce, Never Call Retreat, Doubleday, 1965, ISBN 0-671-46990-8.
- Foote, Shelby, The Civil War, A Narrative: Fredericksburg to Meridian, Random House, 1958, ISBN 0-394-49517-9.
- Foote, Shelby, The Civil War, A Narrative: Red River to Appomattox, Random House, 1974, ISBN 0-394-74913-8.
- Grant, U.S., Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant online
- McPherson, James M., Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States), Oxford University Press, 1988, ISBN 0-195-03863-0.