Vicksburg: the well-defended citadel
Behind these fortifications
Pemberton, driven from the
Big Black River, gathered his twenty-one thousand troops to make the last stand for the saving of the
Mississippi to the
Confederacy.
In the upper picture we see Fort Castle, one of the strongest defenses of the
Confederacy.
It had full sweep of the river; here “Whistling Dick” (one of the most powerful guns in possession of the
South) did deadly work.
In the lower picture we see the fortifications to the east of the town, before which
Grant's army was now entrenching.
When
Vicksburg had first been threatened in 1862, the
Confederate fortifications had been laid out and work begun on them in haste with but five hundred spades, many of the soldiers delving with their bayonets.
The sites were so well chosen and the work so well done that they had withstood attacks for a year.
They were to hold out still longer.
By May 18th the
Federals had completely invested
Vicksburg, and
Grant and
Sherman rode out to
Haynes' Bluff to view the open river to the north, down which abundant supplies were now coming for the army.
Sherman, who had not believed that the plan could succeed, frankly acknowledged his mistake.
But the
Mississippi was not yet theirs.
Sherman, assaulting the fortifications of
Vicksburg, the next day, was repulsed.
A second attack, on the 22d, failed and on the 25th
Grant settled down to starve
Pemberton out.
