The state which I call my home, Mississippi, known for its magnolia trees and mass cotton production, plays a big part in the history of America. Mississippi has influenced everything from pop culture to home cooking. Not all of Mississippi’s history would necessarily be considered great, but it is still part of our heritage without a doubt. Mississippi also played a major role in a war that will never go undiscussed in history: the Civil War. There are countless things I could say about Mississippian activity in the war, but in this essay, I will focus mainly on the Battle of Vicksburg. First, however, I will provide some information on the war as a whole. The Civil War, also known as the War of Rebellion, began in 1861 and is the only war in history to be fought on American soil by Americans for Americans. The nation was divided into two different sides: the Confederacy and the Union. The Union was the United States, and the Confederacy was the nation that had chosen to secede from the States (Mississippi being the second one). The Union had their President, Abraham, and Ulysses S. Grant held the title of commander of the army. The Confederacy also had its own President. This position had been given to a man by the name of Jefferson Davis.
Now that I have covered some basics, I will begin to tell you about our main topic: the Battle of Vicksburg. The Battle of Vicksburg (alternatively, the Siege of Vicksburg) was a battle of utmost importance. Vicksburg was a heavily fortified and protected city in the Confederacy, and it was the South’s last stronghold on the river. The North had driven the Confederacy all the way down to Vicksburg, but they knew Vicksburg would never go down without a fight. However, Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses Grant both knew they would never win a war as long as Vicksburg still stood strong. Lincoln even referred to Vicksburg as the ‘key’ to the Civil War (Davis also made a similar analogy stating Virginia’s importance, calling it the nailhead that tied the South together). Ulysses made his first advance in the middle of the year 1862 (some consider this advance to be the first Battle of Vicksburg). He headed down the river and then made a journey on land to a town near Vicksburg. He had planned to make his attack at that point. To his misfortune, however, this plan was fruitless. Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest and his soldiers had stopped his advance and captured his base. The unsuccessful attempts did not stop there. In December of 1862, Ulysses Grant was met with many dead ends in his plans in capturing Vicksburg. From losing about 1,800 troops in a conflict on the Chickasaw Bluffs to trying and failing to dig their way through the Mississippi Bayous, Grant just couldn’t seem to find his way to his city of pursuit. He now knew if he wanted to capture Vicksburg he couldn’t simply go in, but he had to go around first. Yes, he planned to have his men pull the attention of the Vicksburg forces to the North so he could travel down the Louisiana segment of the river. True to himself, He did just that. This was quite an ambitious move, he had a great fraction and a hardy load of supplies with him. Nevertheless, it was what he needed to do. After landing south of Vicksburg in Port Gibson, Grant went north and captured Port Gibson and Grand Gulf, continuing his pursuit.
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As the Union kept creeding northward toward Vicksburg, the South got frightened. The enemy was here, and battles were imminent. With the Union pursuing them from both the north and south, the soldier counts defending Vicksburg was becoming lesser and lesser by the day. How to stop the Union? Tackle their supply line. Leaving 9,000 soldiers in charge of defending Vicksburg, Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton led 17,500 troops toward the Mississippi River. This was not a bad plan by any means, but when they met Grant’s troops and Pemberton’s troops crossed paths, that did not matter anymore. This meeting resulted in the Battle at Champion’s Hill. Pemberton came out with fewer soldiers and nothing to show for it. He and his soldiers fled toward Jackson, away from Vicksburg. The number of soldiers protecting Vicksburg had fallen to 30,000; the South was weakening.
In May of 1863, the time for battle had come. There was no more avoiding it. Grant went down South with the sight of winning, and he was not leaving without it. The South, however, was not one to give up easily. Pemberton had positioned his soldiers in such a way around Vicksburg that the Northerners were pushed back once more. Grant was tired of losing and ready to have relief from these Southerners; he planned a siege. His men dug tunnels under the Confederate forces. Weeks upon weeks were spent doing this, but they did not tire. They were going to get the win they had worked for. On June 25th, one group that had tunneled under the Third Louisiana Redan and set off barrels of black powder. However, the Confederates matched them with force. A man-to-man battle lasted most of the day until the enemies retreated. While the Union still had its supply line coming from the Mississippi River, the South’s food was running low. Animals had become fair game for the hungry, and women and children were struggling to find shelter. The South could no longer fight for their land. On July 3rd, Pemberton was almost forced to surrender. The Confederates marched out the following day, July 4th. The crestfallen people of Vicksburg would not celebrate the holiday for years to come.
After the war, Grant received much honor for defeating Vicksburg and was even promoted to commanding all the Northern armies. Pemberton, however, was not to be trusted with anything of high honor again. Lincoln found that he had been correct. The Battle of Vicksburg was only the beginning of the South’s fall and their inevitable loss of the war.
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