The Vicksburg Campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the western theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi River. The Union Army of Tennessee, under Major General Ulysses S. Grant, gained control of the river by capturing this stronghold and defeating forces stationed there.
View of Vicksburg, Mississippi, 1863, during the American Civil War
View of Vicksburg and plan of the canal, fortifications & vicinity Surveyed by Lieut. L. A. Wrotnowski, Top: Engr. Drawn & lithogd. by A. F. Wrotnowski C.E.
The campaign consisted of many important naval operations, troop maneuvers, and failed initiatives, aa well as 11 distinct battles from December 26, 1862, to July 4, 1863. Military historians divide the campaign into two formal phases: operations against Vicksburg from December 1862 to January 1863, and Grant's operations against Vicksburg from March to July 1863.
Vicksburg was strategically important to the Confederates. Jefferson Davis said, "Vicksburg is the nail head that holds the South's two halves together." While in their hands, it blocked Union navigation down the Mississippi. Together, with control of the mouth of the Red River and of Port Hudson to the south, it allowed communication with the states west of the river, upon which the Confederates depended extensively for horses, cattle, and reinforcements. The natural defenses of the city were ideal, earning it the nickname, "The Gibraltar of the Confederacy." President Abraham Lincoln had long recognized the importance of Vicksburg, writing, "Vicksburg is the key."
Grant initially planned a two-pronged approach, in which half of his army, under Major General William T. Sherman, would advance to the Yazoo River and attempt to reach Vicksburg from the northeast, while Grant took the remainder of the army down the Mississippi Central Railroad. Both of these initiatives failed. Grant conducted a number of "experiments" or expeditions, called "Grant's Bayou Operations," that attempted to enable waterborne access to the Mississippi south of Vicksburg's artillery batteries. During this period, the overland half of Grant's offensive was failing. His lines of communication were disrupted by raids. Unable to maintain his army without replenished supplies, Grant abandoned his overland advance.
Finally, Union gunboats and troop transport boats ran the batteries at Vicksburg and met up with Grant's men who had marched overland in Louisiana. On April 29 and April 30, 1863, Grant's army crossed the Mississippi and landed at Bruinsburg, Mississippi. An elaborate series of demonstrations and diversions fooled the Confederates, and the landings occurred without opposition. Over the next 17 days, Grant maneuvered his army inland and won five battles, captured the state capital of Jackson, Mississippi, and assaulted and laid siege to Vicksburg.
After Pemberton's army surrendered on July 4, one day after the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg, and when Port Hudson surrendered on July 9, the entire Mississippi River belonged to the Union. This defeat was the second major blow to the Confederacy in the summer of 1863. On July 3, General Robert E. Lee's invasion of the North collapsed at Gettysburg. On July 4, the Stars and Stripes rose over Vicksburg. To the Confederates, surrendering on Independence Day was a bitter defeat. Union troops behaved well, mixing with Confederates and giving rations to starving soldiers. The most significant result of the campaign was control of the Mississippi River, which the Union obtained completely after Port Hudson. The Confederacy was now cut in two. These events are widely considered the turning point of the war. Grant's Vicksburg Campaign is considered one of the masterpieces of American military history.
"Admiral Porter's Fleet Running the Rebel Blockade of the Mississippi at Vicksburg, April 16th 1863."
Lithograph of the Mississippi River Squadron running the Confederate blockade at Vicksburg on April 16, 1863.