The Sieges Of Vicksburg And Port Hudson

General Ulysses S. Grant's brilliant siege of Vicksburg had a significant impact on the surrender of the Confederacy. This Vicksburg campaign was significant due to the fact that it basically gave the Union total control of the Mississippi River. This meant the isolation of the West and basically a clear waterway for supplies to reach the Deep South. Once this waterway was open arms, food, and soldiers could be provided for the Union soldiers in the South and open a devastating wound in the heart of the Confederacy. Once Vicksburg had been taken the West would basically be isolated and under the Unions control; in addition Grant could focus on the heart of the South. Once Vicksburg was captured, and Grant advanced

The Confederates had 782 soldiers killed and wounded and 6000 captured soldiers. In addition to the soldiers, it can be said that Confederacy economically lost the Civil War when New Orleans was captured by the Union. The Confederates had lost their most important port city, leaving them without control of the lower Mississippi. David Porter even explained that, “The most important event of the War of the Rebellion, with the exception of the fall of Richmond, was the capture of New Orleans and the forts Jackson and St. Philip, guarding the approach to that city.” While the Civil War was filled with uncertainty, it was battles like the one that led to the capture of New Orleans that heavily suggested that the Union would be preserved at the end of the

After fighting their way southward from Illinois and northward from Gulf of Mexico. Until by late summer of 1862, only Vicksburg and Port Hudson appeared to be major constraints to the Union of the two posts, Vicksburg was by far the strongest and most important. Setting high over looking a bend in the river, protected by artillery and dangerous swamps. So far the city had defined Union efforts to force into submission. (Williams 1)

The Union had two corps led by general Sherman and McPherson at first the battle was only light fighting because of heavy rain at the time but at 11 a.m. and pushed the Confederates back out of Jackson. The loss of the state’s capital was a cause for loss of morale for the defenders at Vicksburg. The union army marched on the Jackson road towards Vicksburg and attack Pemberton’s force on its left. Pemberton then moved his troops on top of Champion Hill. The attack started at about 11:30 a.m. and quickly took the hill and caused the Confederates to retreat to Vicksburg. The retreat got to the Big Black River on May 17 and Pemberton orders three brigades to defend it. The large Union Army quickly caused a retreat and the Confederates set fire to the only two bridges at the site letting the defenses at Vicksburg get more prepared.

The battle of Vicksburg’s War tactics was very different, yet intelligent. The concept of these gruesome plans was benefiting more towards the Union than the Confederate. The war between the Union, led by Major General Ulysses S. Grant, and the Confederate, led by Lieutenant General John Pemberton, started the creation of the blockade. The union, investing the city, entrapped the confederate army under Lt. Gen. John Pemberton. Continuing on to The Fourth of July, Vicksburg surrendered after an extended siege, leading to yet another Union

Topic Paragraph: Did you know that the siege at Vicksburg was a major turning point in the war for the Union? In 1863 General Ulysses S. Grant would attack Vicksburg from the west side where there were no barriers. For more than six weeks, Grant laid siege on Vicksburg. Grant would block out the enemy so they could not escape and they were forced to surrender. Finally on July 4th, 1863 the confederates surrendered Vicksburg. Ulysses S. Grant would lead the Union army to victory at the Siege of Vicksburg. However, Grant attacked Vicksburg before and failed. The next time he attacked Vicksburg, he won. General John C. Pemberton would lead the confederates in the siege of Vicksburg. Pemberton

The battle for Fort Sumter was the battle that started the American Civil War in 1861 when the first shot were fired that signal the beginning of the war. General Beauregard sent Major Anderson a message saying that he would fire in one hour if he didn’t surrender prior that day Adj. Gen. Of the Secretary of War Samuel Cooper, Anderson composed, (1) The progression I have taken was, as I would like to think, important to keep the emanation of blood."

Before the battle started Vicksburg was geographically protected by the Mississippi. The river created a wet, wide, swampy valley with clear edges. Gen. Grant’s objective was to capture Vicksburg, but was facing a major challenge getting his army to dry ground. He tried to bypass Vicksburg, but ended up failing several times. Grant’s reputation in the North was in serious danger by the spring of 1863. He had to act sooner rather than later. In 1863, Vicksburg was celebrating the lifting of the union threat when the roar of gunfire erupted, coming from the river. This was an advantage for Grant in his quest.

On April 1863, grant begin a campaign against Vicksburg and John Pemberton (confederate defender). Landing below Vicksburg grants forces posed a threat by joseph e. Johnston’s. When the union attacked pemberton’s forces, it left the confederates no option but two retreat. On May 19 and 22 the federal’s attacked the union, so they decided to surround the city , there was warfare for 47 days before finally they surrounded

By late 1864, Richmond records said that the South had just over 400,000 soldiers and of that total, only 196,000 were counted as present and ready for duty. The battle of Gettysburg and the battle of Vicksburg is what I consider the major turning point of the Civil War. Gen. Robert E. Lee's defeat by the Army of the Potomac forced his Confederate forces to retreat and they never recovered. The battle of Gettysburg was a decisive point; Lee lost thousands of soldiers and officers he could not replace. Union casualties in the battle numbered 23,000, while the Confederates had lost some 28,000 men–more than a third of Lee’s army. The North rejoiced while the South mourned, its’ hopes for foreign recognition of the Confederacy diminished. The loss of Vicksburg split the Confederacy. This resulted in the inability to control the Mississippi River and prevented passage of supplies. President Abraham Lincoln knew why the battle of Vicksburg was extremely important when he told his subordinate leaders: "See what a lot of land these fellows hold, of which Vicksburg is the key! The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket...We can take all the northern ports of the Confederacy, and they can defy us from Vicksburg." The Civil War continued for two more years. The South would win some battles but General Ulysses S. Grant was much more willing to take risks against Lee, which was not done before.

The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought towards the beginning of the American Civil War that spanned over the course of four years, April 1861- April 1865 and consisted of 50 major battles and thousands of minor battles. The Battle of Fredericksburg lasted exactly five days, December 11-15, 1862. Its location was centered on Fredericksburg, VA and surrounding areas along the Rappahannock River including Falmouth, Marye’s Heights, Stafford Heights, Prospect Hill, and Hamilton’s Crossing (Yandoh, 2001). The Federal Union and Confederates had the same goal. To preserve their way of life, but that’s where the similarities stopped. Both sides wanted a different way of life preserved. The Confederates goal was to gain independence from the politically oppressive North and to establish an independent nation that allowed slavery (Olson-Raymer, 2014). The Federal Union’s initial goal was to restore the Union. But, its goal changed when it became obvious they would lose the war. The Union decided to reunite states under a banner in which slavery was no longer acceptable or tolerated. “The war from beginning to end would be a noble crusade for democracy for all people, not just in America, but throughout the world” (Olson-Raymer, 2014).

As a result of its critical location, Vicksburg unified the southern states. As long as the South held control of the Mississippi the southern states were not divided. Jefferson Davis described Vicksburg as, “"Vicksburg is the nail head that holds the South's two halves together” (Boundless, 2016). One of the main reasons the North wanted to siege Vicksburg was because they could cut the southern states down the middle, leaving Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas separated from the rest of southern forces. Without unity of command, the South was left to a severe disadvantage. President Lincoln described Vicksburg as “See what a lot of land these fellows hold, of which Vicksburg is the key. The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket,” (Vicksburg Siege, n.d.). In order to hinder the unity of command the Vicksburg campaign was designed to shut off communication and supply with the rest of the Confederacy. Without communication with other Confederacy troops, no one was aware that there were troops trapped in Vicksburg. After gaining the control of Vicksburg, the North was able to further hinder the communication and unity of command between the southern states as they now were split down the middle. General Grant knew that when

The battle of Fredericksburg happened in December 11-15 1862.It was one of the largest and deadliest battles in the civil war. Union and confederate soldier fought in the streets of Fredericksburg. Nearly 200,000 combatants no other civil war battle featured a larger concentration of soldiers.The union army’s main assault against Stonewall Jackson produced initial success and held the promise to destroy the confederate right. In the meantime Burnside’s “diversion” against veteran Confederate soldiers behind a stone wall produced a similar number of casualties but most of these were suffered by the union troops. Wave after wave of Federal soldiers marched forth to take the heights, but each was met with devastating

Jefferson Davis said that Vicksburg, Mississippi was, "the nail head that held the South's two halves together." Vicksburg was located high above the Mississippi on a cliff, and it was surrounded by bayous. On May 17, 1863, U.S. Grant laid siege on the city after months of circumventing the bayous and defeating many Confederate forces. Having done this, he ordered the flotilla of ironclads to begin shelling the city on May 21. On July 3, the Confederate forces surrendered to Grant's forces. These were the major victories of Union ironclads in the Mississippi River system. The other group of ironclads in the American Civil War were ocean-based ironclads. There were three main ocean battles in the Civil War: Hampton Roads, New Orleans, and Mobile Bay.

In the year 1863, the Civil War was 2 years in. At the beginning of the year the war seemed to be in the hands of the Confederacy, but throughout the year the tables turned and it was apparent that the Union was gonna win the war. In January, “Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation [went] into effect” and there were 6-8 significant battles that transpired between then and May of 1863. At the end of May was the first assault on Port Hudson in Louisiana. This assault was a turning point for the Union and their goal of winning the war. Commodore Palmer expresses this by stating, “It is to be hoped that Port Hudson will fall some day.” But just a days walk away was Simmesport where an enemy(Confederate) crossing started a skirmish.