Online Encyclopedia

settlement in the vicinity was made about 1811 by Rev. Newell (or Newit) Vick (d. 1819), a Methodist preacher. In accordance with his will a See also:

TOWN

town was laid out in 1824; and Vicksburg was incorporated as a town in 1825, and was chartered as a city in 1836. The See also:

CAMPAIGNS

campaigns of which it was the centre in 1862 and 1863 are described below. Vicksburg was the See also:

home of Seargent See also:

Smith Prentiss from 1832 to 1845. See H. F.

Simrall, " Vicksburg: the City on the Walnut Hills," in L. P. See also:

Powell's Historic Towns of the See also:

SOUTHERN

Southern States (New See also:

York, 1900). See also:

CAMPAIGN

Campaign of 1862-63.-Vicksburg is historically famous as being the centre of See also:

INTEREST

interest of one of the most important campaigns of the Civil War. The command of the Mississippi, which would imply the severance of the Confederacy into two halves, and also the reopening of See also:

FREE

free commercial See also:

NAVIGATION (from Lat. navis, ship, and agere, to move)

navigation from St See also:

Louis to the See also:

sea, was one of the principal See also:

OBJECTS

objects of the Western See also:

Union armies from the See also:

time that they began their southward advance from See also:

ILLINOIS

Illinois, See also:

MISSOURI

Missouri and See also:

KENTUCKY

Kentucky in See also:

FEBRUARY

February 1862. A See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of victories in the See also:

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring and summer carried them as far as the See also:

LINE

line See also:

MEMPHIS

Memphis-See also:

Corinth, but in the autumn they came to a standstill and were called upon to repulse the See also:

COUNTER

counter-advance of the Southern armies. These armies were accompanied by a flotilla of thinly armoured but powerful gunboats which had been built on the upper Mississippi in the autumn of 1861, and had co-operated with the See also:

army at Fort See also:

DONELSON, FORT

Donelson, See also:

Shiloh and Island No. 10, besides winning a victory on the See also:

WATER

water at Memphis. At the same time a See also:

SQUADRON

squadron of sea-going vessels under See also:

FLAG (or " FLAGGE," a common Teutonic word in this sense, but apparently first recorded in English)

Flag-officer See also:

FARRAGUT, DAVID GLASGOW (1801-1870)

Farragut had forced the defences of New Orleans (q.v.) and, accompanied by a very small military force, had steamed up the See also:

GREAT

great river. On reaching Vicksburg the heavy vessels again forced their way past the batteries, but both at Vicksburg and at Port See also:

Hudson they had to See also:

DEAL

deal, no longer with See also:

low-sited fortifications, but with inconspicuous See also:

earth-See also:

WORKS

works on bluffs far above the river-level, and they failed to make any impression. Farragut then returned to New Orleans. From See also:

Helena to Port Hudson the Confederates maintained See also:

COMPLETE

complete See also:

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

control of the Mississippi, the improvised fortresses of Vicksburg, Port Hudson and See also:

ARKANSAS

Arkansas See also:

POST

Post (near the mouth of Arkansas river) being the framework of the See also:

defence.

It was to be the task of See also:

Grant's army around Corinth and the flotilla at Memphis to break up this See also:

SYSTEM

system of defences, and, by joining hands with Farragut and clearing the whole course of the Mississippi, to cut the Confederacy in See also:

HALF

half. The long and painful operations by which this was achieved See also:

GROUP

group themselves into four episodes: (a) the See also:

GRENADA

Grenada expedition of Grant's force, (b) the river See also:

COLUMN (Lat. columna)

column under McClemand and See also:

Sherman, (c) the operations in the bayoux, and (d) the final " overland " campaign from See also:

GRAND

Grand Gulf. The country in which these operations took See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place divides itself sharply into two zones, the upland See also:

east of the river, upon which it looks down from high bluffs, and the levels See also:

west of it, which are a See also:

MAZE

maze of bayoux, backwaters and See also:

side channels, the intervening land being kept dry near the river itself by artificial See also:

banks (levees) but elsewhere swampy. At Vicksburg, it is important to observe, the bluffs trend away from the Mississippi to follow the course of the Yazoo, rejoining the great river at Memphis. Thus there are two obvious lines of advance for the Northern army, on the upland (Memphis and Grand Junction on Grenada-Jackson), and downstream through the See also:

BAYOU (pronounced bai-yoo, probably a corruption of Fr. boyau, gut)

bayou country (Memphis-Helena-Vicksburg). The See also:

main army of the defenders, who were commanded by Lieut.-General J. C. Pemberton, between Vicksburg and Jackson and Grenada, could front either See also:

north against an advance by Grenada or west along the bluffs above and below Vicksburg. The first advance was made at the end of See also:

NOVEMBER (Lat. novem, nine)

November 1862 by two columns from Grand Junction and Memphis on Grenada. The Confederates in the See also:

field, greatly outnumbered, See also:

fell back without fighting. But Grant's line of See also:

SUPPLY (through Fr. from Lat. supplere, to fill up)

supply was one long single-line, See also:

ill-equipped railway through Grand Junction to See also:

Columbus, and the opposing See also:

CAVALRY (Fr. cavalerie, Ger. Kavallerie or Reiterei, derived ultimately from late Lat. caballus, horse)

cavalry under See also:

Van Dorn swept See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round his flank and, by destroying one of his principal magazines (at See also:

HOLLY (Ilex Aquifolium)

Holly Springs), without further effort compelled the See also:

ABANDONMENT (Fr. abandonnement, from abandonner, to abandon, relinquish; abandonner was originally equivalent to mettred banddn, to leave to the jurisdiction, i.e. of another, bandon being from Low Latin bandum, bannum, order, decree, " ban ")

abandonment of the advance. Meantime one of Grant's subordinates, See also:

MCCLERNAND, JOHN ALEXANDER (1812-1900)

McClernand, was intriguing to be appointed to command an expedition by the river-line, and Grant See also:

MEETING (from " to meet," to come together, assemble, 0. Eng. metals ; cf. Du. moeten, Swed. mota, Goth. gamotjan, &c., derivatives of the Teut. word for a meeting, seen in O. Eng. Wit, moot, an assembly of the people; cf. witanagemot)

meeting half-way an evil which he See also:

FELT (cognate with Ger. Filz, Du. vilt, Swed. and Dan. fill; the root is unknown; the word has given Med. Lat. filtrum, " filter ")

felt himself unable to prevent, had sent Sherman with the flotilla and some 30,000 men to attack Vicksburg from the water-side, while he himself should deal with the Confederate field army on the high ground.

But the See also:

SCHEME (Lat. schema, Gr. oxfjya, figure, form, from the root axe, seen in exeiv, to have, hold, to be of such shape, form, &c.)

scheme See also:

broke down completely when Van Dorn cut Grant's line of supply, and the Confederate army was free to turn on Sherman. The latter, ignorant of Grant's See also:

RETREAT (O. Fr. retrete, mod. retraite, from Lat. retrahere, to draw back)

retreat, attacked the Yazoo bluffs above Vicksburg (battle of See also:

CHICKASAW

Chickasaw Bayou) on See also:

DECEMBER (Lat. decent, ten)

December 29th; but a large portion of Pemberton's field army had arrived to help the Vicksburg garrison, and the Federals wereeasily repulsed with a loss of 2000 men. McClernand now appeared and took the command out of Sherman's hands, informing him at the same time of Grant's retreat. Sherman thereupon proposed, before attempting fresh operations against Vicksburg, to clear the country behind them by destroying the Confederate garrison at Arkansas Post. This expedition was completely successful: at a cost of about r.000 men the fort and its 5000 defenders were captured on the rithof January 1863. McClernand, elated at his victory, would have continued to ascend the Arkansas, but such an See also:

ECCENTRIC (from Gr. F,c, out of, and Kivrpov, centre)

eccentric operation would have been profitless if not dangerous, and Grant, authorized by the general-in-See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief, See also:

Halleck, peremptorily ordered McClernand back to the Mississippi. Q to,lt.h kn. T Ropd4 -;. tm..1 Walks Retreating from the upland, Grant sailed down the river and joined McClernand and Sherman at Milliken's Bend at the beginning of February, and, superseding the resentful McClernand, assumed command of the three See also:

CORPS (pronounced as in French, from which it is taken, being a late spelling of tors, from Lat. corpus, a body; cf. " corpse ")

corps (XIII., McClernand; XV., Sherman; XVII., McPherson) available. He had already imagined the daring See also:

SOLUTION (from Lat. solvere, to loosen, dissolve)

solution of his most difficult problem which he afterwards put into. See also:

EXECUTION (from Lat. ex-sequor, exsecutus, follow or carry out)

execution, but for the See also:

PRESENT

present he tried a series of less risky expedients to reach the high ground beyond Pemberton's flanks, without indeed much confidence in their success, yet desirous in these unhealthy flats of keeping up the See also:

SPIRITS

spirits of his army by active See also:

WORK

work, and of avoiding, at a crisis in the fortunes of the war, any See also:

APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance. of discouragement. Three such attempts were made in all, with the co-operation of the flotilla under See also:

CAPTAIN (derived from Lat. ca put, head, through the Low Lat. capitanus)

Captain See also:

David D. See also:

Porter.

First, Grant endeavoured to cut a canal across the bend of the Mississippi at Vicksburg, hoping thus to isolate the fortress, to gain a water connection with the See also:

LOWER

lower river, and to land an army on the bluffs beyond Pemberton's See also:

LEFT

left flank. This was unsuccessful. Next he tried to make a practicable channel from the Mississippi to the upper Yazoo, and so to turn Pemberton's right, but the Confederates, warned in time, constructed a fort at the point where Grant's advance emerged from the bayoux. Lastly, an advance through a maze of creeks (See also:

Steele's Bayou expedition), towards the See also:

MIDDLE

middle Yazoo and Haines's See also:

BLUFF (a word of uncertain origin; possibly connected with an obsolete Dutch word, blaf, broad)

Bluff, encountered the enemy, not on the bluffs, but in the low-lying See also:

woods and islands, and these so harassed and delayed the progress of the expedition that, Grant recalled it. Shortly afterwards Grant determined on the manoeuvre in See also:

REAR

rear of Vicksburg which established his reputation. The troops marched overland from Milliken's Bend to New See also:

Carthage, and on the 16th of See also:

APRIL

April Porter's gunboat flotilla and the transports ran past the Vicksburg batteries. All this, which involved careful arrangement and hard 'work, was done by the 24th of April. General Banks, with a Union army from New Orleans, was now advancing up the river to invest Port Hudson, and by way of diverting See also:

ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention from the Mississippi, a cavalry See also:

BRIGADE (Fr. and Ger. brigade, Ital. brigata, Span. brigada; the English use of the word dates from the early 17th century)

brigade under See also:

Benjamin Grierson rode from La See also:

GRANGE (through the A.-Fr. graunge, from the Med. Lat. granea, a place for storing grain, granum)

Grange to See also:

BATON (Fr. baton, baston, from Late Lat. basto, a stick or staff)

Baton See also:

ROUGE (" red," from Lat. rubeus)

Rouge (boo m. in 16 days), destroying railways and magazines; and cutting the See also:

TELEGRAPH (Gr. Tike, far, and rypaq5eiv, to write)

telegraph wires en route. Sherman's XV. corps, too, made vigorous demonstrations at Haines's Bluff, and in the confusion and uncertainty Pemberton was at a loss. On the 3oth of April McClernand and the XIII. corps crossed the. Mississippi 6 m. below Grand Gulf, followed by McPherson. The nearest Confederate brigades, attempting to oppose the advance at Port See also:

Gibson, were driven back.

Grant had now deliberately placed himself in the middle of the enemy, and although his See also:

ENGINEERS, MILITARY

engineers had opened up a water-line for the See also:

BARGES

barges carrying his supplies from Milliken's Bend to New Carthage, his long line of supply curving round the enemy's flank was very exposed. But his resolute purpose outweighed all See also:

TEXT (Lat. textum, woven fabric, from texere, to weave)

text-See also:

BOOK

book See also:

STRATEGY

strategy. Having crossed the Mississippi, he collected wheeled transport for five days' rations, and on Sherman's arrival cut loose from his See also:

BASE

base altogether (May 7th). Free to move, he aimed north from the Big See also:

Black river, so as to interpose between the Confederate forces at Vicksburg and those at Jackson. A fight took place at See also:

RAYMOND, HENRY JARVIS (1820-1869)

Raymond on the 12th of May, and Jackson was captured just in time to forestall the arrival of reinforcements for Pemberton under General See also:

Joseph E See also:

Johnston. The latter, being in supreme command of the Confederates, ordered Pemberton to come out of Vicksburg and attack Grant. But Pemberton did not do so until it was too See also:

LATE

late. On May 16th Grant, with all his forces well in See also:

hand, defeated him in the battle of See also:

CHAMPION (Fr. champion, Late Lat. campio from campus; a field or open space, i.e. one " who takes the field " or fights; cf. Ger. Kampf, battle, and Kampfer, fighter)

Champion See also:

Hill with a loss of nearly 4000 men, and sharply pursuing him drove him into Vicksburg. By the 19th of May Vicksburg and Pemberton's army in it was invested by land and water. Grant promptly assaulted his works, but was repulsed with loss (May 19th); the See also:

ASSAULT (from Lat. ad, to or on, and saltare, to leap)

assault was repeated on the 22nd of May with the same result, and Grant found himself compelled to resort to a See also:

blockade. Reinforcements were hurried up from all quarters, Johnston's force (east of Jackson), was held off by a covering corps under See also:

Blair (afterwards under Sherman), and though another unsuccessful assault was made. on the 25th of See also:

JUNE

June, resistance was almost at an end, On the 4th of See also:

JULY

July, the See also:

day after, far away in See also:

Pennsylvania, the great battle of See also:

GETTYSBURG

Gettysburg had closed with Lee's defeat, the garrison of Vicksburg, 37,000 strong, surrendered.

End of Article: VICKSBURG

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.

» Add information or comments to this article.

Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.

Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
VICHY

[next]
VICO, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (1668-1744)