siegeonvicksburg

Vicksburg The siege on Vicksburg began on May 19. The city under the Confederacy surrenders on July 4th, 1863. Vicksburg was the last Confederate holdout on the Mississippi River. The Mississippi River was an important waterway for transporting goods for both the North and the South. Ulysses S. Grant was a general in the Union army. He found out a way to take over the city after twice and failed. He decided to send artillery in for several hours a day which made the people have to take cover. The people took cover in caves they dug out of the hillsides. The people’s food supplies were so low that many people were starving so they started eating the dogs and mules. The Confederate soldiers at Vicksburg sent messages to their commander saying, “If you can’t feed us, you’d better surrender”. Grant didn’t have the funds to feed all of the starving people so he decided to set them free in hopes that they would not fight again for the Confederacy. The Confederate surrender at Vicksburg is sometimes referred to as the turning point in the Civil War. Grant continued after Vicksburg to take the last Confederate stronghold so the Union was able to take control of the Mississippi River. This control of the Mississippi did not allow goods to be transported to any Confederate states. The south was deprived of necessary goods and supplies, which gave the Union ultimate control of the war.

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