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Civil War Battle at Vicksburg

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Sadly the Civil War divided our young nation, this time we weren 't fighting another country for our freedom. We were fighting now fighting amongst ourselves--all Americans!!!! The potential to ruin our own nation from within was a distinct possibility. This was brother against brother-families divided. The Civil War lasted four years, 1861 to 1865.

"Vicksburg is the key. The war can never be brought to a close until the key is in our pocket," President Abraham Lincoln said. Southerners agreed. "Vicksburg is the nail head that holds the South 's two halves together," said Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

As you can tell from these quotes, the battle and control of Vicksburg was very important to the winning of the civil war. The …show more content…

However the Confederate forces did not fall for the diversion and launched an attack on Grant. During the winter of 1862-1863, Grant conducted the Bayou Expeditions, or amphibious operations, all to try to reduce Vicksburg. Needless to say-they all failed. After months of frustration and failure, Grant had reached a crossroads in his military career. There was a lot of taking in the northern press to remove him from command. Even members of the U.S. cabinet urged President Lincoln to replace Grant as commander of the western army. The President could not spare this man because he fought. He decided to try him a little longer.

At this point, Grant was where he had started 2 months ago. He traveled down the west side of the river stopping northwest of Vicksburg. Unsuccessfully, Grant tried to reach Vicksburg: two attempts to bypass the city to the south and another two attempts to cross the Yazoo Delta to the north. The date was March 1863 and Grant was still at square one.

On March 29, 1863, Grant opted to march south. Grant ordered Major General John A. McClernand of the thirteenth corps to open a road from Milliken 's Bend to New Carthange on the Mississippi River below Vicksburg. The movement didn 't actually begin until March 31.

Grant 's infantrymen made their way south through Louisiana, building roads and bridges each step of the way. On diversion, brought on by Major General Frederick Steele, was to move a division

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