The siege of Vicksburg was the final major military action in the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Major General Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mississippi River and drove the Confederate Army of Mississippi, led by Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton, into the defensive lines surrounding the fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, leading to the successful siege and Confederate surrender.
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 of the Tennessee under Major General Ulysses S. Grant gained control of the river by capturing this stronghold and defeating Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton's forces stationed there.
The Battle of Jackson was fought on May 14, 1863, in Jackson, Mississippi, as part of the Vicksburg campaign during the American Civil War. After entering the state of Mississippi in late April 1863, Major General Ulysses S. Grant of the Union Army moved his force inland to strike at the strategic Mississippi River town of Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Battle of Raymond, which was fought on May 12, convinced Grant that General Joseph E. Johnston's Confederate army was too strong to be safely bypassed, so he sent two corps, under Major Generals James B. McPherson and William T. Sherman, to capture Johnston's position at Jackson. Johnston did not believe the city was defensible and began withdrawing. Brigadier General John Gregg was tasked with commanding the Confederate rear guard, which fought Sherman's and McPherson's men at Jackson on May 14 before withdrawing. After taking the city, Union troops destroyed economic and military infrastructure and also plundered civilians' homes. Grant then moved against Vicksburg, which he placed under siege on May 18 and captured on July 4. Despite being reinforced, Johnston made only a weak effort to save the Vicksburg garrison, and was driven out of Jackson a second time in mid-July.
The Battle of Champion Hill of May 16, 1863, was the pivotal battle in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War (1861–1865). Union Army commander Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and the Army of the Tennessee pursued the retreating Confederate States Army under Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton and defeated it twenty miles to the east of Vicksburg, Mississippi, leading inevitably to the siege of Vicksburg and surrender. The battle is also known as Baker's Creek.
The Battle of Milliken's Bend was fought on June 7, 1863, as part of the Vicksburg Campaign during the American Civil War. Major General Ulysses S. Grant of the Union Army had placed the strategic Mississippi River city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, under siege in mid-1863. Confederate leadership erroneously believed that Grant's supply line still ran through Milliken's Bend in Louisiana, and Major General Richard Taylor was tasked with disrupting it to aid the defense of Vicksburg. Taylor sent Brigadier General Henry E. McCulloch with a brigade of Texans to attack Milliken's Bend, which was held by a brigade of newly-recruited African American soldiers. McCulloch's attack struck early on the morning of June 7, and was initially successful in close-quarters fighting. Fire from the Union gunboat USS Choctaw halted the Confederate attack, and McCulloch later withdrew after the arrival of a second gunboat. The attempt to relieve Vicksburg was unsuccessful. One of the first actions in which African American soldiers fought, Milliken's Bend demonstrated the value of African American soldiers as part of the Union Army.
Vicksburg National Military Park preserves the site of the American Civil War Battle of Vicksburg, waged from March 29 to July 4, 1863. The park, located in Vicksburg, Mississippi, also commemorates the greater Vicksburg Campaign which led up to the battle. Reconstructed forts and trenches evoke memories of the 47-day siege that ended in the surrender of the city. Victory here and at Port Hudson, farther south in Louisiana, gave the Union control of the Mississippi River.
Edwin Cole Bearss was a historian of the American Civil War, tour guide, and United States Marine Corps veteran of World War II.
The Battle of Raymond was fought on May 12, 1863, near Raymond, Mississippi, during the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. Initial Union attempts to capture the strategically important Mississippi River city of Vicksburg failed. Beginning in late April 1863, Union Major General Ulysses S. Grant led another try. After crossing the river into Mississippi and winning the Battle of Port Gibson, Grant began moving east, intending to turn back west and attack Vicksburg. A portion of Grant's army consisting of Major General James B. McPherson's 10,000 to 12,000-man XVII Corps moved northeast towards Raymond. The Confederate commander of Vicksburg, Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton, ordered Brigadier General John Gregg and his 3,000 to 4,000-strong brigade from Jackson to Raymond.
The following Union Army units and commanders fought in the Siege of Vicksburg of the American Civil War. The Confederate order of battle is listed separately. Order of battle compiled from the army organization during the campaign.
The Port Hudson State Historic Site is located on the Mississippi River north of Baton Rouge in East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, just outside the limits of Port Hudson and in the vicinity of Jackson. The site preserves a portion of the fortifications and battle area of the longest siege in American history, during the American Civil War from May 23 through July 9, 1863. The state of Louisiana maintains the site, which includes a museum about the siege, artillery displays, redoubts, and interpretive plaques. Historical reenactments are held each year. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1974, significant as the first place where African-American military units fought for the Union Army under African-American field leadership.
The 116th Illinois Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Charles J. Mulligan was an American sculptor. Born in Riverdale, County Tyrone, Ireland, Mulligan immigrated to America at the age of 17 and found work as a stone cutter in Pullman, Illinois, near Chicago.
Frederick Cleveland Hibbard was an American sculptor based in Chicago. Hibbard is best remembered for his Civil War memorials, produced to commemorate both the Union and Confederate causes.
Frederick Ernest "Fritz" Triebel American sculptor, best remembered for his two works, marble statues of George Laird Shoup and Henry Mower Rice, located in the National Statuary Hall Collection in Washington D.C. He was born in Peoria, Illinois, where his father was a monument maker. His father had been apprenticed as a stone carver in Germany before immigrating to the United States and it was likely from him that Triebel learned the rudiments of sculpting.
The Civil War Trust's Civil War Discovery Trail is a heritage tourism program that links more than 600 U.S. Civil War sites in more than 30 states. The program is one of the White House Millennium Council's sixteen flagship National Millennium Trails. Sites on the trail include battlefields, museums, historic sites, forts and cemeteries.
The Michigan State Memorial is located on Union Avenue within the Vicksburg, Mississippi, National Military Park. The memorial is an obelisk made of white Bethel Granite that stands 37 feet (11 m) in height. It cost $10,000 and was dedicated on November 10, 1916. The sculptor was Herbert Adams. The design features a female allegory of the Spirit of Michigan. The inscription "MICHIGAN'S/TRIBUTE OF HONOR/TO HER SOLDIERS/WHO SERVED/IN THE CAMPAIGN/AND SIEGE/OF VICKSBURG" is carved on the front of the monument.
The Illinois Monument is a public monument located in the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. The monument honors the soldiers from Illinois who fought in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain during the Atlanta campaign of the American Civil War. It is located on Cheatham Hill, the site of intense fighting during the battle, and was dedicated in 1914, on the 50th anniversary of the battle. It was designed by Mario Korbel and James Dibelka.
The Ulysses S. Grant Monument is a presidential memorial in Chicago, honoring American Civil War general and 18th president of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant. Located in Lincoln Park, the statue was commissioned shortly after the president's death in 1885 and was completed in 1891. Several artists submitted sketches, and Louis Rebisso was selected to design the statue, with a granite pedestal suggested by William Le Baron Jenney. At the time of its completion, the monument was the largest bronze statue cast in the United States, and over 250,000 people were present at the dedication.
