Vicksburg seemed to be the final frontier for the Union Army against the Confederate Army. The Vicksburg siege was mainly a series of strategic moves by Major Ulysses Grant and his army, where they drove the Confederate Army led by John Pemberton in the defending boundaries around Vicksburg, in Mississippi, which was a fortress in the Civil War. The siege went on from May 19 to July 4, 1863. It all started with the Union Army taking charge of New Orleans, consequently moving its ships up the river, in 1862. Near Vicksburg, Mississippi, that battalion was joined by Captain Davis and the combined forces eventually bombarded the city. However, it did not have a huge effect on the Confederate Army. In winter that year, U.S Grant, along with gunboats and ironclads under the command of the Rear Admiral D.D Porter, tried to conquer the city from the east. The initial attempts from the east proved futile. Eventually in the course of the siege of Vicksburg, he tried to go south. Grant failed there too. In late March of 1863, Grant got a breakthrough and he took his army down the west bank of the river in an overland march. He got the army to a position where it could cross south of Vicksburg. The Confederate army got its troops across the river in Bruinsburg. Grant on the other hand cut loose from his base of supplies and moves between John Pemberton’s forces. Grant defended Vicksburg and the reinforcements for the Confederate forces under Gen Johnston. This was after the victory at Port Gibson on May 1. In the later stages of the siege, Union forces tunneled under the 3rd Louisiana Redan and packed the mine using 2,200 pounds of gunpowder. The explosion thrashed the Confederate lines on June 25. You can also check out interesting information on slavery during the Civil War.

Things were almost coming to an end for the Confederate Army. The siege, which involved skirmishes at Raymond and Jackson on May 12 and May 14 respectively, played a tune of defeat for Johnston. It was followed by Grant taking on Pemberton at Champion’s Hill and Big Black River on May 16 and May 17, ultimately driving Confederate Army in Vicksburg. On May 19 and 22, there were a couple of assaults which were rendered useless. At the end, after grueling and devastating 47 days, a day after Union’s victory in the battle of Gettysburg, the surrender of Confederate Army was finalized on 4 July and Pemberton too surrendered.

This was basically the siege of Vicksburg in the American history. This is just a quick sort of a recap of what happened with a number of high points of the battle. It is pretty clear from the description as to who won the siege of Vicksburg. READ MORE