Posted on 07/04/2013 2:28:45 PM PDT by justiceseeker93
See comment below.
Vicksburg should never have fallen.Pemberton should never have allowed Grant to sneak up on him, and that idiot Jefferson Davis should have sent support to prevent it. Yes, I know, many troops were busy in the East, but Vicksburg was a vital position. In my opinion, Pemberton lacked the will to stop the assault. Had he had the troops sent to encounter Grant as he crossed the Mississippi below Vicksburg, Grant would have been a sitting duck. Of course, it is always easy to be a back seat commander. If Joe Johnson had been in command, I think the results would have been different, but Davis disliked Johnson. As soon as Pemberton saw the gunboats passing by his fortifications, he should have taken the troops in the city and sent them south to encounter Grant as he crossed the river.
During the Siege of Vicksburg, resident Emma Balfour kept a diary…"What is to become of all the living things in this place when the boats begin shelling – God only knows. Shut up as in a trap, no ingress or egress – and thousands of women and children who have fled here for safety…”
...As she wrote in her diary... “The general impression is that they fire at the city…thinking that they will wear out the women and children and sick, and Gen. Pemberton will be forced to surrender the place on that account...”
... [T]he civilians trapped in Vicksburg were learning firsthand the horrors of war. The men, women, and children, both black and white, were exposed to the same hail of bullets and shell fragments as the soldiers, only they did not have the consolation of fighting back against their tormentors. They literally had to face incoming fire from all directions – Union artillery shells from the siege lines outside the city often skimmed over the Confederate earthworks and slammed into the city. The Union navy also fired thousands of rounds of artillery into Vicksburg from the Mississippi River.
Source: http://mississippiconfederates.wordpress.com/2013/03/03/civilians-during-the-siege-of-vicksburg/
Ping
What excuse will Vicksburg come up with to not have fireworks this year? They took it personally when Grant laid siege.
Cool. We love history. We should come calling.... Do you have A/C? :)
Last time I was there and went to the military park , I bought this book by a woman who wrote a diary during the siege about living in caves that were dug in the hills around Vicksburg. Very interesting reading!
Separate A/C units upstairs and downstairs.
Come on down!
Several of those caves are still visible.
See you tomorry?
We’re heading down to the River in an hour.
Fireworks at 9:00PM.
We like to sit in front of the Water Park by the railroad tracks.
WOO-HOO!
Thank you so much.
Happy Independence Day!
Another for your list:
Sabine Crossroads and Mansfield (La.)
A few buddies and I drove over to Vicksburg last fall. During the trip we went down to Lorman and had fried chicken at Arthur Davis’s place. Good stuff!
I am having a pain episode tonight, so it may be Saturday. Would that be ok? I am hoping it doesn’t get worse, but if it does, I may be at the emergency room by end of night. Just laying down reading now hoping it settles down.
I would love to see the caves that are visible still. Might have to do a drive by...lol.
Shiloh and Pittsburg Landing is another.
Last evening hubby and I attended a service, REMEMBERING GETTYSBURG at a small country, church that is from the Civil War era..it is 152 years old church still with original pews, and wavy glass in the original windows..it served as a school, church and now is a church for special events only..located in Somerset, County Pennsylvania...small community of Markleton...
directly across the road is a small beautiful, peaceful cemetery, Mt. Union Cemetery, lovingly cared for by a small group of people...this is a cemetery of the Civil War era also...my husband and I both will be buried there one day...there is a wonderful website...Mt union.com
last evening’s program was very moving, as people portrayed individuals from that date and gave moving stories of how they died for their country...
website is Mt.UnionChurch.com.
(on Turkeyfoot Trail)
church was recently professionally painted, so it is more than beautiful..we even have a
CATS MEOW MINIATURE..Just recently available.
if you have time..its a nice site to visit..truly country, from an era gone by but not forgotten here in Somerset County, PA.
It was much more important as another event that allowed Lincoln to discover US Grant. IMO Grant was the most important man to ever put on a uniform for the United States. He was also the greatest general this country ever produced.
I'm not sure that Lincoln wouldn't have heard about Grant before Vicksburg. He had commanded Union troops in quite a number of victorious earlier battles through Kentucky and Tennessee, including Shiloh, and was the commander, IIRC, of just about all Union troops in what was then called the western theater.
And I believe that Grant didn't get command of the Grand Army of the Potomac (eastern sector) until about a year after Vicksburg. IIRC, after Vicksburg, Grant joined up with Sherman in the Union campaigns eastward through the Confederacy.
[Grant] was also the greatest general this country ever produced.
That's one opinion, but there are a number of others who could be considered. I'm not knowledgeable enough on the issue to be of much help there.
And I believe that Grant didn't get command of the Grand Army of the Potomac (eastern sector) until about a year after Vicksburg. IIRC, after Vicksburg, Grant joined up with Sherman in the Union campaigns eastward through the Confederacy.
Indeed, he won several earlier battles major and minor. He made a name for himself while his jealous boss tried to open a trap door under him.
He dodged a bullet...literally...at Shiloh. (So did Sherman and how different our world would look if Grant and Sherman were both killed at Shiloh.) Sherman let Grant know at least as early as Fort Henry that he wanted to be on Grant's team. At Shiloh they formed a partnership that moved forward to save the nation.
At Vicksburg Grant swallowed one of the three Confederate armies he devoured in that war.
He went on to win major victories in Tennessee before he was finally promoted to his rightful spot.
Take Grant away and the North would have been routed at Shiloh and would not have taken Vicksburg to this day. The Union had extremely capable generals as Sherman matured to become. None but Grant had the temperament to tie it all together. Sherman at his most competent could never have survived personality clashes in DC without Grant providing the needed cushion.
Lincoln "discovered" Grant, for real, probably at Shiloh. Even then a very jealous Halleck tried to cashier him. Then an extremely clear eyed Lincoln promoted Halleck to get him out of the way.
Grant was one of those right men God places on Earth in the right place at the right time with the right platform so the Good Guys (The United States) has an outside chance to survive for later important work. If God is listening, we need someone like him today.
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