BATTLE OF VICKSBURG

WHEN AND WHERE?

• It took place in Vicksburg, Mississippi
• The battle took place on May 18th to July 4th 1863

WHAT WAS IT

• This battle was between the Union and the Confederacy
• The fortress of Vicksburg was the South's sentinel protecting the life line to the western sources of supply
• The Union won the battle
• The city surrendered to the Union on July 4, 1863

ABOUT THE BATTLE

• Union General Ulysses S. Grant won several victories around Vicksburg, Mississippi. The fortified city was considered essential to the Union's plans to regain control of the Mississippi River. On May 22, Grant began a siege of the city. After six weeks, Confederate General John Pemberton surrendered, giving up the city and 30,000 men.

aBOUT THE BATTLE

• General Grant was given command of the Union forces to attack Vicksburg
• The Union had almost 5,000 casualties
• The Confederation had about 3,000 killed or wounded and about 30,000 surrendered
• The capture of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in half.

ABOUT THE BATTLE

• Grant and his army crossed the Mississippi river and drove the confederate army of Lt. General John C. Pemberton into the defensive lines surrounding the city

Untitled Slide

GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT

GENERAL GRANT

• He was an American General
• He achieved international fame after being the leading union General in the civil war
• Vicksburg was his greatest victory of the war
• He was an extremely effective military leader

GENERAL JOHN C. PEMBERTON

JOHN C. PEMBERTON

• His early service in the Confederacy was primarily strengthening costal defenses in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida
• He was born a Union man so he didn't have good relationships with confederate officials so he was transferred west
• In October of 1862, he was promoted to Lieutenant General and assigned command of the district of Mississippi and east Louisiana

IMPORTANCE AND HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

• After Vicksburg and Port Hudson fell, the spinal cord of the Confederacy was severed. This reopened the Mississippi River to the North, opening up that trade route.
• After Vicksburg and Gettysburg, the diplomatic scales tipped in favor of the North.
• Britain and France stopped all aid they were giving the South and by the end of 1863, all Confederacy hopes of foreign aid was lost.