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On May 22, 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant began the siege on Vicksburg. From the article:
"Siege of Vicksburg
From the spring of 1862 until July 1863, during the American Civil War (1861-65), Union forces waged a campaign to take the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi, which lay on the east bank of the Mississippi River, halfway between Memphis to the north and New Orleans to the south. The Siege of Vicksburg divided the Confederacy and proved the military genius of Union General Ulysses S. Grant (1822-85).
Vicksburg was one of the Union’s most successful campaigns of the war. Although General Ulysses S. Grant’s first attempt to take the city failed in the winter of 1862-63, he renewed his efforts in the spring. Admiral David Porter (1813-91) had run his flotilla past the Vicksburg defenses in early May as Grant marched his army down the west bank of the river opposite Vicksburg, crossed back to Mississippi and drove toward Jackson. After defeating a Confederate force near Jackson, Grant turned back to Vicksburg. On May 16, he defeated a force under General John C. Pemberton (1814-81) at Champion Hill. Pemberton retreated back to Vicksburg, and Grant sealed the city by the end of May. In three weeks, Grant’s men marched 180 miles, won five battles and captured some 6,000 prisoners.
Grant made some attacks after bottling Vicksburg but found the Confederates well entrenched. Preparing for a long siege, his army constructed 15 miles of trenches and enclosed Pemberton’s force of 29,000 men inside the perimeter. It was only a matter of time before Grant, with 70,000 troops, captured Vicksburg. Attempts to rescue Pemberton and his force failed from both the east and west, and conditions for both military personnel and civilians deteriorated rapidly. Many residents moved to tunnels dug from the hillsides to escape the constant bombardments. Pemberton surrendered on July 4, and President Abraham Lincoln (1809-65) wrote that the Mississippi River “again goes unvexed to the sea.”
The town of Vicksburg would not celebrate the Fourth of July for 81 years."
"Siege of Vicksburg
From the spring of 1862 until July 1863, during the American Civil War (1861-65), Union forces waged a campaign to take the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi, which lay on the east bank of the Mississippi River, halfway between Memphis to the north and New Orleans to the south. The Siege of Vicksburg divided the Confederacy and proved the military genius of Union General Ulysses S. Grant (1822-85).
Vicksburg was one of the Union’s most successful campaigns of the war. Although General Ulysses S. Grant’s first attempt to take the city failed in the winter of 1862-63, he renewed his efforts in the spring. Admiral David Porter (1813-91) had run his flotilla past the Vicksburg defenses in early May as Grant marched his army down the west bank of the river opposite Vicksburg, crossed back to Mississippi and drove toward Jackson. After defeating a Confederate force near Jackson, Grant turned back to Vicksburg. On May 16, he defeated a force under General John C. Pemberton (1814-81) at Champion Hill. Pemberton retreated back to Vicksburg, and Grant sealed the city by the end of May. In three weeks, Grant’s men marched 180 miles, won five battles and captured some 6,000 prisoners.
Grant made some attacks after bottling Vicksburg but found the Confederates well entrenched. Preparing for a long siege, his army constructed 15 miles of trenches and enclosed Pemberton’s force of 29,000 men inside the perimeter. It was only a matter of time before Grant, with 70,000 troops, captured Vicksburg. Attempts to rescue Pemberton and his force failed from both the east and west, and conditions for both military personnel and civilians deteriorated rapidly. Many residents moved to tunnels dug from the hillsides to escape the constant bombardments. Pemberton surrendered on July 4, and President Abraham Lincoln (1809-65) wrote that the Mississippi River “again goes unvexed to the sea.”
The town of Vicksburg would not celebrate the Fourth of July for 81 years."
Siege of Vicksburg
Posted from history.com
Civil War
American History
Military History
Tactics
Combat
Posted >1 y ago
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Ella_Carroll
Ostensibly, this woman might "possibly" have been a member of Lincoln's cabinet...there was an HBO flick on here, wherein was suggested that she actually suggested the Vicksburg campaign to Lincoln personally...whether it's true has been debated for.over 150 yrs now, however, there's a very famous painting of Lincoln with his cabinet, showing an empty chair that's also been long thought to have represented her, I didn't know if you'd all heard the story, if you've all never seen the film, it's quite good, actually, a frequently overlooked aspect.of.Civil War history....
Ostensibly, this woman might "possibly" have been a member of Lincoln's cabinet...there was an HBO flick on here, wherein was suggested that she actually suggested the Vicksburg campaign to Lincoln personally...whether it's true has been debated for.over 150 yrs now, however, there's a very famous painting of Lincoln with his cabinet, showing an empty chair that's also been long thought to have represented her, I didn't know if you'd all heard the story, if you've all never seen the film, it's quite good, actually, a frequently overlooked aspect.of.Civil War history....
Anna Ella Carroll (August 29, 1815 – February 19, 1894) was an American woman politician, pamphleteer and lobbyist. She was born in to a very wealthy and prominent family in her state and city: her great-grandfather was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the last surviving signers and a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and later in the new Congress of the United States, her father was the Governor of Maryland...
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Thanks for the history post, David. Another dagger in the heart of the Confederacy.
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