Vicksburg sits high on the bluffs of the Mississippi River. Jefferson Davis described it as “the nailhead that held the South’s two halves together.” President Lincoln recognized the importance of capturing Vicksburg, saying, “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. We can take all the northern ports of the Confederacy, and they can defy us from Vicksburg. It means hog and hominy without limit, fresh troops from all the states of the far South, and a cotton country where they can raise the staple without interference. I am acquainted with that region and know what I am talking about, and, as valuable as New Orleans will be to us, Vicksburg will be more so.” Anaconda Plan After two unsuccessful attacks against Vicksburg in May 1863, Grant concluded that Vicksburg could not be taken by storm. He later wrote, “I now determined upon a regular siege, to ‘outcamp the enemy,’ as it were, and to incur no more losses.” Vicksburg was cut off from supplies and communications. Grant’s plan included tunneling beneath Vicksburg’s garrison to place charges of black powder and destroy fortifications. Army and Navy Cooperation Besieged City On learning of Vicksburg’s surrender, President Lincoln wrote, “The Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea.” The Union victory at Vicksburg weakened the Confederacy by splitting it in half and isolating the Southern states of Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas. The North was also strengthened when the Mississippi was opened by reducing economic pressure on the Midwest and Plains states. For the Confederacy, the surrender of Vicksburg, Robert E. Lee’s loss at Gettysburg and the fall of Port Hudson, Louisiana, signaled the beginning of the end of the Confederacy and the Civil War.
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