Supplies were so low that they printed the newspaper on wallpaper. God bless America.
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.