Battle Of Vicksburg Research Paper

The Battle of Vicksburg is a very important battle of the civil war because it not only gave us control over the Mississippi River, but also split the Confederacy in two. Also, it is a little known fact that both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis thought that Vicksburg was the key to the Confederacy. And we were successful with taking it over. I would say that that is very important. On May 18, our army prepared for war. The next day Ulysses S. Grant sent Sherman’s corps, which included me, to attack along the Graveyard Road northeast of town because he wanted to defeat his enemy. However, it turned on us because Pemberton, the engineer, had created strong works all around Vicksburg. We were torn apart, causing 1,000 casualties. …show more content…
Our once decimated army rose up to 70,000 men. Grant decided that we would siege Vicksburg, cutting it off from all supply. For weeks we were forced to dig trenches that brought us closer to John Pemberton’s defense positions. It was incredibly difficult and physically demanding. All of us worked our blood, sweat, and tears into it. The days were warm, some even dreadfully hot. It was a dangerous job to say the very least. On June 23, the group that I was in had dug a trench that led us below the Third Louisiana Redan. The next day, we moved 2,200 pounds of gunpowder into position directly underneath the Third Louisiana Redan. There, we blew up black powder barrels that blasted a hole in the works. Although, what may have been seen as a good outcome, suddenly turned into a bad one. After the barrels exploded, we surged into the breach, where a group of confederate soldiers attacked us. It broke out into a full-blown face-to-face fist fight, with us clawing and punching and hitting at each other for several hours before it seemed as though we had been defeated and were forced to leave. But they shouldn’t have gotten excited. Yes, that was not a victory for us. However, that did not stop us from continuing to dig trenches. Grant was not one for waiting. He once said, “The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him …show more content…
From then on, Grant’s artillery had fired cannon shells and guns on the fleet in the river in Vicksburg daily. We had cut off their supplies, which included food, for a month and a half. They were forced to eat animals such as rats, cats, and dogs. However, I do know that we really damaged them. They became weaker and weaker and with every day they knew that they could not live like this forever and that eventually they would need to surrender. And that is exactly what they did. On July 3rd, white flags began to appear above the Confederate fortifications. Then Pemberton went to meet with Grant to discuss the Confederate army’s surrender. Earlier on in the war, Grant had been granted the name “Unconditional Surrender”, referring to the time when he straightforwardly offered unconditional surrender to Garrison, a Confederate, at Fort Donelson, Tennessee. This time, however, when Grant offered unconditional surrender, Pemberton refused. It was a struggle for the two of them to decide on something. The only thing that they could decide on was a very brief cease-fire. However, later that night, Grant had a change of mind. He was not going to settle for a brief cease fire. He offered parole to Pemberton and his Confederate army, and Pemberton accepted. The next day, July 4th, 1963, Pemberton, along with all his men,