When the hour of peril came to the South, he sought the post of danger, and the halo of heroism illumined the chaplet of the statesman. At the head of his noble Mississippians, he led the van on the ensanguined field, and wherever blows fell fastest and blood flowed freest, his manly form was seen and his clarion voice was heard. In the frightful carnival of death at Gettysburg, he yielded to that conqueror whose command is law, and his gallant spirit went home.
- Colonel H.W. Walter of General Barksdale, departed July 3, 1863, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
- Colonel H.W. Walter of General Barksdale, departed July 3, 1863, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Happy Vicksburg 4th of July!🔥
Where it's long not been celebrated at all... The Fourth of July is significant in Vicksburg because it marks the day in 1863 when Confederate General John C. Pemberton surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, leading to a Union victory in the Civil War. This event is often considered a turning point in the war, as it gave the Union control of the Mississippi River and split the Confederacy in two.
https://www.wlbt.com/2019/07/05/story-behind-decades-long-break-july-th-celebrations-vicksburg/
Where it's long not been celebrated at all... The Fourth of July is significant in Vicksburg because it marks the day in 1863 when Confederate General John C. Pemberton surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, leading to a Union victory in the Civil War. This event is often considered a turning point in the war, as it gave the Union control of the Mississippi River and split the Confederacy in two.
https://www.wlbt.com/2019/07/05/story-behind-decades-long-break-july-th-celebrations-vicksburg/
WLBT 3
The story behind the decades-long break for July 4th celebrations in Vicksburg
Vicksburg didn't celebration the 4th of July for 81 years. A local historian explains why.
July 4, 1863, after 46 days, CSA Lieutenant General Pemberton surrendered 2,166 officers and 27,230 men, 172 cannon, and almost 60,000 muskets and rifles to the Federals. Two failed attempts to take the city by direct assault prior had demonstrated the strength of the Vicksburg defenses and compelled Grant to lay siege to the city. Despite constant pleas to Johnston for aid, Pemberton was completely isolated. Eventually, lack of supplies and starvation took their toll. On July 4, 1863, after 46 days, Pemberton surrendered.
Branded a traitor by Southerners for surrendering Vicksburg, Pemberton spent the remainder of 1863 the spring of 1864 in Virginia, an officer without a command.
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/john-c-pemberton
Branded a traitor by Southerners for surrendering Vicksburg, Pemberton spent the remainder of 1863 the spring of 1864 in Virginia, an officer without a command.
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/john-c-pemberton
American Battlefield Trust
John C. Pemberton
Biography of Civil War Confederate General John Clifford Pemberton
The Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi 🌸🍃 May 18 – July 4, 1863
With their backs against the Mississippi and Union gunboats firing from the river, Confederate soldiers and citizens alike were trapped. Pemberton was determined to hold his few miles of the Mississippi as long as possible, hoping for relief from Johnston or elsewhere.
A new problem confronted the Confederates. The dead and wounded of Grant's army lay in the heat of Mississippi summer, the odor of the deceased men and horses fouling the air, the wounded crying for medical help and water. Grant first refused a request of truce, thinking it a show of weakness. Finally he relented, and the Confederates held their fire while the Union recovered the wounded and dead on May 25, soldiers from both sides mingling and trading as if no hostilities existed for the moment.
After this truce, Grant's army began to fill the 12-mile (19 km) ring around Vicksburg. It soon became clear that even 50,000 Union soldiers would not be able to effect a complete encirclement of the Confederate defenses. Pemberton's outlook on escape was pessimistic, but there were still roads leading south out of Vicksburg unguarded by Union troops. Grant sought help from Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck, the Union general-in-chief. Halleck quickly began to shift Union troops in the West to meet Grant's needs.
In an effort to cut Grant's supply line, Confederates in Louisiana under Major General John G. Walker attacked Milliken's Bend up the Mississippi on June 7. This was largely defended by recently enlisted* United States colored troops. They repulsed the Confederates with help from gunboats, although at heavy cost; the defenders lost 652 to the Confederate 185. The loss at Milliken's Bend left the Confederates with no hope for relief other than from the cautious Johnston.
"We have our trenches pulled up so close to the enemy that we can throw hand grenades over into their forts. The enemy do not dare show their heads above the parapet at any time, so close and so watchful are our sharpshooters. The town is completely invested. My position is so strong that I feel myself abundantly able to leave it so and go out twenty or thirty miles with force enough to whip two such garrisons."
Ulysses S. Grant, writing to George G. Pride, June 15, 1863
Pemberton was boxed in with plentiful munitions but little food. The poor diet was telling on the Confederate soldiers. By the end of June, half were sick or hospitalized. Scurvy, malaria, dysentery, diarrhea, and other diseases cut their ranks. Shoe leather became a last resort of sustenance for many adults.
Heavy artillery pieces that were used by the Union in order to force the besieged city and its defenders into surrender
During the siege, Union gunboats lobbed over 22,000 shells into the town and army artillery fire was even heavier. As the barrages continued, suitable housing in Vicksburg was reduced to a minimum. A ridge, located between the main town and the rebel defense line, provided lodging for the duration.
Over 500 caves, known locally as "bombproofs", were dug into the yellow clay hills of Vicksburg. Whether houses were structurally sound or not, it was deemed safer to occupy these dugouts. People did their best to make them comfortable, with rugs, furniture, and pictures. They tried to time their movements and foraging with the rhythm of the cannonade,
[the caves]
[text]
With their backs against the Mississippi and Union gunboats firing from the river, Confederate soldiers and citizens alike were trapped. Pemberton was determined to hold his few miles of the Mississippi as long as possible, hoping for relief from Johnston or elsewhere.
A new problem confronted the Confederates. The dead and wounded of Grant's army lay in the heat of Mississippi summer, the odor of the deceased men and horses fouling the air, the wounded crying for medical help and water. Grant first refused a request of truce, thinking it a show of weakness. Finally he relented, and the Confederates held their fire while the Union recovered the wounded and dead on May 25, soldiers from both sides mingling and trading as if no hostilities existed for the moment.
After this truce, Grant's army began to fill the 12-mile (19 km) ring around Vicksburg. It soon became clear that even 50,000 Union soldiers would not be able to effect a complete encirclement of the Confederate defenses. Pemberton's outlook on escape was pessimistic, but there were still roads leading south out of Vicksburg unguarded by Union troops. Grant sought help from Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck, the Union general-in-chief. Halleck quickly began to shift Union troops in the West to meet Grant's needs.
In an effort to cut Grant's supply line, Confederates in Louisiana under Major General John G. Walker attacked Milliken's Bend up the Mississippi on June 7. This was largely defended by recently enlisted* United States colored troops. They repulsed the Confederates with help from gunboats, although at heavy cost; the defenders lost 652 to the Confederate 185. The loss at Milliken's Bend left the Confederates with no hope for relief other than from the cautious Johnston.
"We have our trenches pulled up so close to the enemy that we can throw hand grenades over into their forts. The enemy do not dare show their heads above the parapet at any time, so close and so watchful are our sharpshooters. The town is completely invested. My position is so strong that I feel myself abundantly able to leave it so and go out twenty or thirty miles with force enough to whip two such garrisons."
Ulysses S. Grant, writing to George G. Pride, June 15, 1863
Pemberton was boxed in with plentiful munitions but little food. The poor diet was telling on the Confederate soldiers. By the end of June, half were sick or hospitalized. Scurvy, malaria, dysentery, diarrhea, and other diseases cut their ranks. Shoe leather became a last resort of sustenance for many adults.
Heavy artillery pieces that were used by the Union in order to force the besieged city and its defenders into surrender
During the siege, Union gunboats lobbed over 22,000 shells into the town and army artillery fire was even heavier. As the barrages continued, suitable housing in Vicksburg was reduced to a minimum. A ridge, located between the main town and the rebel defense line, provided lodging for the duration.
Over 500 caves, known locally as "bombproofs", were dug into the yellow clay hills of Vicksburg. Whether houses were structurally sound or not, it was deemed safer to occupy these dugouts. People did their best to make them comfortable, with rugs, furniture, and pictures. They tried to time their movements and foraging with the rhythm of the cannonade,
[the caves]
[text]
The Vicksburg Post
SIEGE 160: Caves provided residents shelter from barrage during Siege of Vicksburg
When the Union’s cannons opened fire on Vicksburg from Maj. Gen. Ulysses Grant’s fortifications east of town and the shells from the Union Navy’s mortar barges across the Mississippi on the Louisiana side fell on the city, residents dug in. Historians say…
Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi 🌺🍃 the famous caves in which residents took refuge from bombardment by Union troops
Battle for Vicksburg 🌸🍃 With a beginning force of 33-40,000, the Confederates would resist bombardment, starvation and disease brought on by the siege to nearly the last man...
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