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{{Short description|Battle of the American Civil War's Anaconda Plan}}
{{Use American English|date=April
{{Use mdy dates|date=April
{{Infobox military conflict
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| caption = The ''Siege of Vicksburg - Assault on Fort Hill'' by [[Thure de Thulstrup]]
| partof = the [[Vicksburg campaign]] of the [[Western Theater of the American Civil War]]
| date = May
| place = [[Warren County, Mississippi]]
| coordinates = {{coord|32|20|37|N|90|51|04|W|region:US-MS_type:event|display=inline,title}}
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| map_label = Vicksburg
| map_caption = Location within the Confederate State of [[Mississippi]]
| result =
| combatant1 = {{flag|United States|1863|name=Union}}
| combatant2 = {{flag|Confederate States|1861|name=Confederacy}}
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| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Vicksburg Campaign}}
}}
The '''
Vicksburg was the last major [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] stronghold on the Mississippi River; therefore, capturing it completed the second part of the Northern strategy, the [[Anaconda Plan]]. When two major assaults against the Confederate fortifications, on May 19 and 22, were repulsed with heavy casualties, Grant decided to besiege the city beginning on May 25. After holding out for more than 40 days, with their supplies nearly gone, the garrison surrendered on [[Fourth of July|July 4]]. The Vicksburg campaign's successful ending significantly degraded the Confederacy's ability to maintain its war effort. This action, combined with the surrender of the downriver [[Siege of Port Hudson|Port Hudson]] to Major General [[Nathaniel P. Banks]] on July 9, yielded command of the [[Mississippi River]] to the Union forces, which held it for the rest of the conflict.
The Confederate surrender on July 4, 1863, is sometimes considered, combined with General [[Robert E. Lee]]'s defeat at [[Battle of Gettysburg|Gettysburg]] by Major General [[George Meade]] the previous day, the [[Turning point of the American Civil War|war's turning point]]. It cut off the [[Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War|Trans-Mississippi Department]] (containing the states of [[Arkansas]], [[Texas]] and part of [[Louisiana]]) from the rest of the Confederate States, effectively splitting the Confederacy in two for the rest of the war. Lincoln called Vicksburg "the key to the war".<ref>{{Cite web|title=History & Culture – Vicksburg National Military Park (U.S. National Park Service)|url=https://www.nps.gov/vick/learn/historyculture/index.htm|access-date=2021-01-14|website=www.nps.gov|language=en}}</ref>
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[[File:Vicksburg Assaults May 22.pdf|thumb|upright=1.5|May 22 assaults on Vicksburg]]
Grant wanted to overwhelm the Confederates before they could fully organize their defenses and ordered an assault against the Stockade Redan for May 19. Troops from Sherman's corps had a difficult time approaching the position under rifle and artillery fire from the [[36th Mississippi Infantry Regiment|36th Mississippi Infantry]], Brig. Gen. [[Louis Hébert (Confederate Army officer)|Louis Hébert]]'s brigade. They had to negotiate a steep ravine protected by [[abatis]] and cross a {{convert|6|ft|m|adj=mid|-deep}}, {{convert|8|ft|m|adj=mid|-wide}} ditch before attacking the {{convert|17|ft|m|adj=mid|-high}} walls of the redan. This first attempt was easily repulsed. Grant ordered an artillery bombardment to soften the defenses and at about 2 pm, Sherman's division under Maj. Gen. [[Francis Preston Blair, Jr.|Francis P. Blair]] tried again, but only a small number of men were able to advance even as far as the ditch below the redan. The assault collapsed in an exchange of rifle fire and hand grenades lobbing back and forth.<ref>Eicher, p. 468; Ballard, pp. 327–332.</ref>
The failed Union assaults of May 19 damaged troop morale, deflating the confidence the soldiers had felt after their string of victories across Mississippi. They were also costly, with 157 killed, 777 wounded, and eight missing, versus Confederate casualties of eight killed and 62 wounded. The Confederates, assumed to be demoralized, had regained their fighting edge.<ref>Bearss, vol. III, pp. 778–780; Ballard, p. 332.</ref>
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Sherman attacked once again down the Graveyard Road, with 150 volunteers (nicknamed the [[forlorn hope]] detachment) leading the way with ladders and planks, followed by the divisions of Blair and Brig. Gen. [[James M. Tuttle]], arranged in a long column of regiments. They hoped to achieve a breakthrough by concentrating their mass on a narrow front. They were driven back in the face of heavy rifle fire. Blair's brigades under Cols. [[Giles Alexander Smith|Giles A. Smith]] and [[Thomas Kilby Smith|T. Kilby Smith]] made it as far as a ridge 100 yards from Green's Redan, the southern edge of the Stockade Redan, from where they poured heavy fire into the Confederate position, but to no avail. Tuttle's division, waiting its turn to advance, did not have an opportunity to move forward. On Sherman's far right, the division of Brig. Gen. [[Frederick Steele]] spent the morning attempting to get into position through a ravine of the Mint Spring Bayou.<ref>Ballard, pp. 338–339; Bearss, vol. III, pp. 815–819.</ref>
McPherson's corps was assigned to attack the center along
On the Union left, McClernand's corps moved along the Baldwin Ferry Road and astride the Southern Railroad of Mississippi. The division of Brig. Gen. [[Eugene Asa Carr|Eugene A. Carr]] was assigned to capture the [[Railroad Redoubt]] and the 2nd Texas Lunette; the division of Brig. Gen. [[Peter J. Osterhaus]] was assigned the Square Fort. Carr's men achieved a small breakthrough at the 2nd Texas Lunette and requested reinforcements.<ref>Ballard, pp. 340–343.</ref>
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[[File:Vicksburg Siege.pdf|thumb|upright=1.5|Siege of Vicksburg. Corps and division commanders are shown for the period June 23 – July 4.]]
When the Federal troops started to dig in, they built complicated defenses that soldiers at the time called "ditches." These went all the way around the city and got closer and closer to the Confederate defenses. With their backs against the Mississippi and Union gunboats firing from the river, Confederate soldiers and citizens alike were trapped. Pemberton was determined to hold his few miles of the Mississippi as long as possible, hoping for relief from Johnston or elsewhere.<ref>Smith, p. 253; Foote, p. 412; Catton, p. 205.</ref>
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After this truce, Grant's army began to fill the {{Convert | 12 | mi | 0 | adj = on}} ring around Vicksburg. It soon became clear that even 50,000 Union soldiers would not be able to effect a complete encirclement of the Confederate defenses. Pemberton's outlook on escape was pessimistic, but there were still roads leading south out of Vicksburg unguarded by Union troops. Grant sought help from Maj. Gen. [[Henry W. Halleck]], the Union general-in-chief. Halleck quickly began to shift Union troops in the West to meet Grant's needs. The first of these reinforcements was a 5,000-man division from the Department of the Missouri under Maj. Gen. [[Francis J. Herron]] on June 11. Herron's troops, remnants of the [[Army of the Frontier]], were attached to McPherson's corps and took up position on the far south. Next came a three division detachment from [[XVI Corps (Union Army)|XVI Corps]] led by Brig. Gen. [[Cadwallader C. Washburn]] on June 12, assembled from troops at the nearby posts of Corinth, Memphis, and LaGrange. The final significant group of reinforcements to join was the 8,000-man strong [[IX Corps (Union Army)|IX Corps]] from the Department of the Ohio, led by Maj. Gen. [[John G. Parke]], arriving on June 14. With the arrival of Parke, Grant had 77,000 men around Vicksburg.<ref>Bearss, vol. III, pp. 963, 1071–1079.</ref>
In an effort to cut Grant's supply line, Confederates in Louisiana under Major General [[John George Walker|John G. Walker]] attacked [[Battle of Milliken's Bend|Milliken's Bend]] up the Mississippi on June 7. This was largely defended by recently enlisted [[United States colored troops]].
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Pemberton was boxed in with plentiful munitions but little food. The poor diet was telling on the Confederate soldiers. By the end of June, half were sick or hospitalized. [[Scurvy]], [[malaria]], [[dysentery]], [[diarrhea]], and other diseases cut their ranks
[[File:The photographic history of the Civil War - thousands of scenes photographed 1861-65, with text by many special authorities (1911) (14576375107).jpg|thumb|left|Heavy artillery pieces that were used by the Union in order to force the besieged city and its defenders into surrender]]
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=== Command changes ===
One of Grant's actions during the siege was to settle a lingering rivalry. On May 30, General McClernand wrote a self-adulatory note to his troops, claiming much of the credit for the soon-to-be victory. Grant had been waiting six months for him to slip, ever since they clashed early in the campaign, around the [[Battle of Arkansas Post (1863)|Battle of Arkansas Post]]. He had received permission to relieve McClernand in January 1863 but waited for an unequivocal provocation; McClernand was relieved on June 18. Grant so carefully prepared his action that McClernand was left without recourse. McClernand's XIII Corps was turned over to Maj. Gen. [[Edward Ord]], who had recovered from an October 1862 wound sustained at [[Battle of Hatchie's Bridge|Hatchie's Bridge]]. In May 1864, McClernand would be given a command in a remote area of [[Texas]].<ref>Bearss, vol. III, pp. 875–879; Ballard, pp. 358–359; Korn, pp. 147–148.</ref>
Another command change occurred on June 22. In addition to Pemberton in Vicksburg, Grant had to be aware of Confederate forces in his rear under the command of [[Joseph E. Johnston]]. He stationed one division in the vicinity of the Big Black River Bridge and another reconnoitered as far north as Mechanicsburg; both acted as covering forces. By June 10, the [[IX Corps (Union Army)|IX Corps]], under Maj. Gen. [[John G. Parke]], was transferred to Grant's command. This corps became the nucleus of a special task force whose mission was to prevent Johnston, who was gathering his forces at [[Canton, Mississippi|Canton]], from interfering with the siege. Sherman was given command of this task force and Brig. Gen. [[Frederick Steele]] replaced him at XV Corps. Johnston eventually began moving to relieve Pemberton and reached the Big Black River on July 1, but he delayed a potentially difficult encounter with Sherman until it was too late for the Vicksburg garrison, and then fell back to Jackson.<ref>Esposito, text for map 107.</ref> Sherman would pursue Johnston and [[Jackson Expedition|recapture Jackson]] on July 17.
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[[File:ShirleysWhiteHouseVicksburg1863.jpg|thumb|Shirley's House, also known as the White House, during the siege of Vicksburg, 1863. Union troops of Logan's division set about as engineers and [[sapper]]s to undermine Confederate fortifications but they had to stay under cover for fear of Confederate sharpshooters.]]
On July 3, Pemberton sent a note to Grant regarding the possibility of negotiations for peace. Grant, as he had done at [[Battle of Fort Donelson|Fort Donelson]], first demanded [[unconditional surrender]]. He then reconsidered, not wanting to feed 30,000 Confederates in Union prison camps, and offered to [[Prisoners of war parole|parole]] all prisoners. Considering their destitute and starving state, he never expected them to fight again; he hoped they would carry home the stigma of defeat to the rest of the Confederacy. In any event, shipping that many prisoners north would have occupied his army and taken months.<ref>Smith, pp. 254–255.</ref> Pemberton officially surrendered his army on July 4.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/vicksburg.html?tab=facts |title=Vicksburg |publisher=Civil War Trust |access-date=August 21, 2016}}</ref> Most of the men who were paroled on July 6 were exchanged and received back into the Confederate Army on August 4, 1863, at [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile Harbor, Alabama]]. They were back in [[Chattanooga, Tennessee]], by September and some fought in the [[Chattanooga campaign|Battles for Chattanooga]] in November and against Sherman's [[Atlanta Campaign|invasion of Georgia]] in May 1864. The Confederate government protested the validity of the paroles on technical grounds and the issue was referred to Grant who, in April 1864, was general in chief of the army. The dispute effectively ended all further [[prisoner exchange]]s
Surrender was formalized by an old oak tree, "made historical by the event". In his ''Personal Memoirs'', Grant described the fate of this luckless tree:
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