The Battle of Vicksburg took place on May 18th through July 4th, in 1983. This civil war battle was fought between the northern Union soldiers and the southern Confederate soldiers. The goal of the north was to gain complete control of shipping on the Mississippi River, so it would be operated by one form of government. Where as the goal of the south, was simply to maintain complete control of the southern portion of the river.
Major Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was the leader for the Union and Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton was the leader for the Confederates. Each of the two men were devoted to their army and were also keen strategist. During the Battle of Vicksburg each sides fighting force grew enormously, the union who began the battle with 43,000 men had grown to almost 75,000 and the Confederates who began with 40,000 grew to roughly 60,000.
During the battle many aspect played a large role in the outcome, though the largest was the geographic location of the battle. Vicksburg was known for its 200 foot towering bluffs, large trenches and rolling hills. Needless to say these aspects of nature played a large part in the Union’s defeat over the south. The Union soldiers would hide in the trenches and dig tunnels underground towards the confederates’ side without being noticed. These tunnels were then detonated and fired.
In only the second day of the battle almost 1000 men had been killed in open fire, a few days later on the 22nd of May, 3000 more men were wounded or killed. By the 25th the sight and smell of the dead troop members had become unbearable, the two troops decided to back down for 2 and a half hours to burry the dead, During these two hours the Union and the Confederates freely walked the area. After the two hours the battle picked up again and remained steady until July 3rd. On this day Grant (leader of the Union) noticed white flags appear on the confederate line, he rode to the “neutral” zone and talked with Pemberton who asked under what terms the Union would be willing to end the war. Grants answer was simple he stated “no terms other than immediate and unconditional surrender.” With this said the men parted ways and returned to their sides. The next day, July 4th grant again noticed white flags waving and with that the battle was over, the confederates surrender, and the Union troops won the battle and the rights to the Mississippi River. Though by the end of the 48 day battle, the Union had lost the lives of 10,142 men and the Confederates lost the lives of 9,091 men.
