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 under Grant gained control of the river by capturing and defeating Pemberton’s forces stationed there.  Grant initially planned a two pronged approach in which half of his army under General 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.  However, both of these initiatives failed.  Vicksburg was strategically vital to the Confederates.  As Jefferson Davis put it, “Vicksburg is the nail head that holds the South’s two halves together.”  By the            mid-nineteenth century, vessels of all descriptions moved agricultural produce along the Mississippi  en route to world markets.  It was the lifeblood of America.  Upon the secession of the Southern state, and in particular Louisiana and Mississippi, the river was closed to navigation which threatened to strangle Northern commercial interests.  President Abraham Lincoln termed the closure of the river as rebellion.  Examining a map of the nation, Lincoln made a wide sweeping gesture with his hand then placed his finger on the map and said, “See what a lot of land these fellows hold, of which Vicksburg is the key.  The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket.” 

Read the article in its entirety in the July  2015 Bevil newsletter, which accompanies the cover.