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Vicksburg National Military Park
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| Artillery Display Vicksburg National Military Park Vicksburg, Mississippi |
The Battle of VIcksburg
During the spring and summer of 1863, Union
and Confederate armies battled for control of the
Mississippi city of Vicksburg. Located along high
bluffs overlooking a sharp bend of the Mississippi
River, Vicksburg was the military key that held the
Confederacy together.
The Union campaign to take control of the city and
split the Confederacy began in earnest on April 30,
1863, when forces under General Ulysses S.
Grant crossed the river unopposed at Bruinsburg
south of Vicksburg. Turning inland, Grant battled
Confederate forces at Port Gibson on May 1st,
Raymond on May 12th and Jackson on May 14th
before seizing the Mississippi capital and turning
on Vicksburg.
By now cut-off from support by Grant's sweeping
maneuver through the heart of Mississippi,
Confederate General John C. Pemberton came
out of his heavy fortifications and fought the
advancing Federals at Champion Hill on May 16th
and the Big Black River Bridge on May 17th.
Realizing that he could not hope to defeat Grant's
larger army out in the open, he fell back into the
massive defenses of Vicksburg. Grant closed in
on May 18, 1863, and the horrible siege began.
Hoping to smash his way into the works before
the Confederates had time to settle in, Grant sent
thousands of Union troops across open ground in
an attack on the Stockade Redan, a Southern
fortification guarding the appropriately named
Graveyard Road, on May 19th. The Confederates,
well-protected by their massive earthworks,
slaughtered the Union troops of General William
Tecumseh Sherman as they tried to take the fort.
Undeterred, Grant launched a second assault on
May 22nd. Carried out on a massive scale along a
three-mile front, the charging Federals were again
turned back by fierce Confederate resistance.
Realizing that he would not be able to take the city
by storm, Grant now began siege operations.
Union troops dug trenches and tunnels, erected
batteries, and began slowly digging their way
forward.
The city itself, still filled with civilians, was shelled
from both land and water. Citizens dug caves and
tunnels to escape the shells as homes and
businesses were destroyed. No one knows how
many civilians lost their lives during the siege.
On June 25th and July 1st, Union troops set off
explosives in tunnels they had dug under the Third
Louisiana Redan, a Confederate fortification
guarding the Jackson Road. The Southern troops
had heard the digging and were prepared for the
blasts, which failed to breach the lines.
By the time of the second explosion, Pemberton's
army was on the verge of collapse. The siege had
been underway for more than 40 days and
soldiers and civilians alike had been reduced to
eating mules, rats and anything else they could
find.
Knowing that he could not hope to hold out much
longer, General Pemberton sent forward a white
flag on July 3rd and officially surrendered the next
day, July 4, 1863. The Confederate bastion of Port
Hudson, Louisiana, surrendered five days later
giving Union forces complete control of the
Mississippi River. The Confederacy had been split
in half and, as President Abraham Lincoln
observed, the "Father of Waters again goes
unvexed to the sea."
and Confederate armies battled for control of the
Mississippi city of Vicksburg. Located along high
bluffs overlooking a sharp bend of the Mississippi
River, Vicksburg was the military key that held the
Confederacy together.
The Union campaign to take control of the city and
split the Confederacy began in earnest on April 30,
1863, when forces under General Ulysses S.
Grant crossed the river unopposed at Bruinsburg
south of Vicksburg. Turning inland, Grant battled
Confederate forces at Port Gibson on May 1st,
Raymond on May 12th and Jackson on May 14th
before seizing the Mississippi capital and turning
on Vicksburg.
By now cut-off from support by Grant's sweeping
maneuver through the heart of Mississippi,
Confederate General John C. Pemberton came
out of his heavy fortifications and fought the
advancing Federals at Champion Hill on May 16th
and the Big Black River Bridge on May 17th.
Realizing that he could not hope to defeat Grant's
larger army out in the open, he fell back into the
massive defenses of Vicksburg. Grant closed in
on May 18, 1863, and the horrible siege began.
Hoping to smash his way into the works before
the Confederates had time to settle in, Grant sent
thousands of Union troops across open ground in
an attack on the Stockade Redan, a Southern
fortification guarding the appropriately named
Graveyard Road, on May 19th. The Confederates,
well-protected by their massive earthworks,
slaughtered the Union troops of General William
Tecumseh Sherman as they tried to take the fort.
Undeterred, Grant launched a second assault on
May 22nd. Carried out on a massive scale along a
three-mile front, the charging Federals were again
turned back by fierce Confederate resistance.
Realizing that he would not be able to take the city
by storm, Grant now began siege operations.
Union troops dug trenches and tunnels, erected
batteries, and began slowly digging their way
forward.
The city itself, still filled with civilians, was shelled
from both land and water. Citizens dug caves and
tunnels to escape the shells as homes and
businesses were destroyed. No one knows how
many civilians lost their lives during the siege.
On June 25th and July 1st, Union troops set off
explosives in tunnels they had dug under the Third
Louisiana Redan, a Confederate fortification
guarding the Jackson Road. The Southern troops
had heard the digging and were prepared for the
blasts, which failed to breach the lines.
By the time of the second explosion, Pemberton's
army was on the verge of collapse. The siege had
been underway for more than 40 days and
soldiers and civilians alike had been reduced to
eating mules, rats and anything else they could
find.
Knowing that he could not hope to hold out much
longer, General Pemberton sent forward a white
flag on July 3rd and officially surrendered the next
day, July 4, 1863. The Confederate bastion of Port
Hudson, Louisiana, surrendered five days later
giving Union forces complete control of the
Mississippi River. The Confederacy had been split
in half and, as President Abraham Lincoln
observed, the "Father of Waters again goes
unvexed to the sea."
| Site of Pemberton's Surrender Vicksburg National Military Park Vicksburg, Mississippi |
| Massive Cannon at South Fort Vicksburg National Military Park Vicksburg, Mississippi |
| View of the Mississippi River Taken from Battery Benton Vicksburg, Mississippi |
| The "Widow Blakely" Confederate Battery Vicksburg, Mississippi |