It was a necessary victory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
General Ulysses S. Grant, commander of the Department of Tennessee had already made several attempts to reach the Breadbasket of the Confederacy, and with each defeat, refused to give up.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vicksburg \u2014 seizing it would be the key to winning the American Civil War. Vicksburg, where surpluses of goods and food were transported across the Mississippi and dispersed throughout the South, was necessary. Vicksburg, the town which Jefferson Davis called, \u201cthe nail-head that held the South\u2019s two halves together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It wasn\u2019t until Grant\u2019s decision to confiscate the Confederate bastion from the town\u2019s weakest point, that the Union would gain its upper hand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\u201dGeneral John Clifford Pemberton was too dispirited to think clearly, he chose to back his bedraggled army into Vicksburg rather than evacuate the city and head north where he might have escaped to campaign again. When he chose to take his army into Vicksburg, Pemberton sealed the fate of his troops and the city he ha<\/em>d been determined to defend.\u201d <\/p>Wikipedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Civilians had been warned of their imminent danger.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
On March 20, 1863, Dora Miller recorded the words \u201cleave or prepare accordingly,” in her personal diary.\u00a0And though death loomed amid the smoldering haze, there were those who refused to leave.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Linda Lord, daughter of an Episcopal minister, wrote: \u201cBefore sunset a bombshell burst into the very center of the dining room\u2026 crushing the well spread table like an eggshell, and making a great yawning hole in the floor, into which disappeared supper, china, furniture\u2026and our stock of butter and eggs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As shells rained down on the city, women, men, and children fled the security of home to shelter in caves. \u201cWe were almost eaten up by mosquitoes, and were in hourly dread of snakes. The vines and thickets were full of them, and a large rattlesnake was found one morning under a mattress on which some of us had slept all night,\u201d wrote a survivor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0Vicksburg was taken under siege. The town became a prison with no escape. Food, fresh water, and medicine began to diminish. Conditions worsened. Such is war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the battlefield, the Confederate\u2019s rations were steadily shrinking.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are indebted to Major Gillespie for a steak of confederate beef alias meat. We have tried it and can assure our friends, if it is rendered necessary they need have no scruples at eating the meat. It is sweet, savory and tender, and so long as we have a mule left we are satisfied our soldiers will<\/em> be content to subsist on it.\u201d <\/p>Vicksburg Daily Citizen – July 2, 1863.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0Those who remained were left to eat mules, dogs, cats, and rats. In her diary, Dora Miller reported, \u201c<\/em>I think all the dogs and cats must be killed, or starved, we don\u2019t see any more pitiful animals prowling around.\u201d Another time she wrote, \u201cI send five dollars to market each morning, and it buys a small piece of mule meat. Rice and milk is my main food; I can\u2019t eat the mule-meat. We boil the rice and eat it cold with milk for supper.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The town was starving. Ammunition was fast running out. It was too late for Vicksburg. Pemberton knew it was inevitable. \u201cIt is my duty to sacrifice myself to save the army, and I therefore shall offer to surrender this army on the 4th<\/sup> of July.\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shamed and disgraced on the 4th of July<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Defeat would be Vicksburg’s disgrace. To make matters worse, defeat would come on Independence Day. The people were humiliated, the town broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having been raised in Pennsylvania,\u00a0General John Clifford Pemberton, felt that surrender on Independence Day would yield better terms for he and his men given the day’s festivities. His officers opposed the surrender, accusing Pemberton of treason. William Pitt Chambers charged \u201cOur commanding General had been false to the flag under which he fought.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the Union\u2019s victory at Gettysburg and the surrender of Vicksburg, the tide of America\u2019s Civil War was turning. Where there had \u2013\u2013 a weeks earlier \u2013\u2013 appeared to be certainty of two nations severed, there now appeared a blood-stained path toward reunion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Longstanding Reluctance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Citizens of Vicksburg sought to rebuild their town, but for generations, hostile feelings toward the Union would remain. Eighty years would pass with no official recognition of the Fourth of July. It was not until 1945, with the festivities of the nation\u2019s victory in World War II, that Vicksburg officially observed Independence Day again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2013 the <\/strong>Sesquicentennial Program Series Commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Union assault against\u00a0Vicksburg. <\/strong>The following is a clip from the Vicksburg Post:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTourists and locals alike crowded downtown Vicksburg\u2026not only to celebrate the Fourth of July, but to commemorate the sesquicentennial anniversary of the end of the Siege of Vicksburg.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
A note of interest:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
This morning I called the Welcome Center for Vicksburg, Mississippi. The lady I spoke with was very kind and most informative. I asked her what Vicksburg would be doing to celebrate the 4th<\/sup> this year. She said the evening would begin with a band concert and end with a display of fireworks. I asked her how the feelings were concerning the past with all that had happened so long ago. She was confident to tell me Vicksburg had moved on. I like that. Vicksburg has moved on and is a fine example of \u201cfrom ashes to beauty\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May your holiday be beautiful and rewarding! Happy Fourth, everyone!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All quotes were taken from Battlefields.org<\/a>, and Owlcation.com<\/a>, except for the excerpt from Wikipedia<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It was a necessary victory. General Ulysses S. Grant, commander of the Department of Tennessee had already made several attempts to reach the Breadbasket of the Confederacy, and with each defeat, refused to give up.\u00a0 Vicksburg \u2014 seizing it would be the key to winning the American Civil War. Vicksburg, where surpluses of goods and … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[21,11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":672,"href":"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670\/revisions\/672"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}