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Grant went on to rescue Union forces besieged at [[Third Battle of Chattanooga|Chattanooga]] and then replaced Halleck as general in chief of all Union armies, with the recently re-activated rank of [[Lieutenant General (United States)|lieutenant general]]. Despite his ultimate success in winning the war, historians have often considered Vicksburg his finest campaign—imaginative, audacious, relentless, and a masterpiece of maneuver warfare. [[James M. McPherson]] called Vicksburg "the most brilliant and innovative campaign of the Civil War"; [[T. Harry Williams]] described it as "one of the classic campaigns of the Civil War and, indeed, of military history"; and the U.S. Army ''[[List of United States Army Field Manuals#FM 100-5|Field Manual 100–5]]'' (May 1986) called it "the most brilliant campaign ever fought on American soil".<ref>Bonekemper, ''A Victor, Not a Butcher'', p. 83.</ref>
Historian [[Steven E. Woodworth]] wrote that Pemberton "had a strong claim to the title of the most hated man in the South, certainly the most hated to wear a Confederate uniform". There were accusations that adequate supplies had been on hand and that it was only his treachery that caused the surrender. Even his friend, Confederate general [[Richard Taylor (Confederate general)|Richard Taylor]], wrote after the war that a large part of the population believed "He had joined the South for the express purpose of betraying it, and this was clearly proven by the fact that he surrendered on the 4th of July, a day sacred to the Yankees."<ref>Woodworth, ''Jefferson Davis and His Generals'', p. 218.</ref><ref>David Zimring, ''To live and Die in Dixie: Native Northerners Who Fought for the Confederacy'', Univ Tennessee Press, 2014, {{ISBN|978-1621901068}}; p. 262.</ref> Davis matained full confidence in Pemberton, pointing out that he would have beeen severely criticized and denounced if he had not attempted to defend Vicksburg, but had wound up with the same result by trying to do so. Still, Pemberton's unpopularity made it impossible for Davis to assign him another command after he returned to the Confederate army once he was exchanged. Eventually he resigned his rank of Lt. General to receive a commission as lieutenant colonel in command of the artillery defenses of Richmond.<ref>https://www.essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com/john-c-pemberton.html</ref>
The blame for losing Vicksburg fell not only on John Pemberton, but on the overcautious Joseph E. Johnston. Jefferson Davis said of the defeat, "Yes, from a want of provisions inside and a General outside who wouldn't fight."<ref>McPherson, p. 637.</ref> Anguished soldiers and civilians starving in the siege held hopes that he would come to their aid, but he never did. Accusations of cowardice that had dogged him since the 1862 [[Peninsula Campaign]] continued to follow him in the 1864 [[Atlanta Campaign]] against Sherman. However, Johnston was far outnumbered. While he was one of few Confederate generals whom Grant respected, he was outgeneraled.{{cn|date=April 2022}}
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