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Tag Archives: Vicksburg Campaign
“Do We Know the Name…?”: The Battle of Jackson illuminates a research challenge
“History is lunch.” That’s the premise of a lunchtime speaker series hosted by the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson. On Wednesday, the battle of Jackson, Mississippi, was on the menu and I was serving it up, and for the Q&A, … Continue reading
Halleck: The Art of Pretending to Say Something or Nothing
I came across a dispatch from Henry Halleck to U.S. Grant the other day that serves as a nearly perfect Halleckism. By early April 1863, Grant was undertaking yet another of his attempts at Vicksburg, this time up the Yazoo … Continue reading
Posted in Campaigns, Leadership--Federal
Tagged Gideon Welles, Henry Halleck, Vicksburg Campaign, Yazoo River
8 Comments
What If. . .Vicksburg Had Fallen in July ’62?
In his memoirs, Admiral David D. Porter recollected a November 1861 meeting with President Lincoln and navy secretary Gideon Welles in which—he says—he suggested the plan to seize New Orleans from the sea. Lincoln liked the idea and added: “while … Continue reading
Posted in Campaigns, Leadership--Federal, Navies, Western Theater
Tagged Andrew H. Foote, Battle of Memphis, Battle of Plum Point, Charles H. Davis, David D. Porter, Gen. Henry Halleck, General William T. Sherman, Gideon Welles, Gustavus Fox, Mississippi River Squadron, Siege of Corinth, USS Hartford, Vicksburg Campaign, West Gulf Blockading Squadron, Western Gunboat Flotilla, What if?, What-If-2022
15 Comments
Vicksburg Campaign on Video
Yesterday, May 17, marked the anniversary of the fight at the Big Black River bridge during Grant’s Mississippi overland campaign. The fight quickly flushed out the Confederates and gave Grant and his army access to the west back, with the … Continue reading
“The prison over the Pearl River at Jackson, Mississippi, where Union prisoners have been confined.”
In researching my forthcoming book on the battle of Jackson, Mississippi—which took place on this date in 1863 as part of Grant’s campaign through Mississippi to take Vicksburg—I stumbled on a little bit of a mystery, although I didn’t know … Continue reading
Posted in Common Soldier, Newspapers, Primary Sources, Western Theater
Tagged 2nd Iowa Cavalry, 31st Missouri, 76th Ohio, Chicago Tribune, Chickasaw Bayou, Chickasaw Bluffs, Civil War prisons, Coffeeville, George Ady, Harper's Weekly, Jackson Mississippi, Jim Woodrick, POWs, prison bridge, prisoner exchange, Thomas Fletcher, Time-Life books, Vicksburg Campaign, Wide-Awake Zouaves
7 Comments
A Taste of Vicksburg – The Story of the Jam Jar
Tucked away in the collection’s storage at the University of West Florida’s Historic Trust is a simple artifact with a greater history than meets the eye. A brown stoneware jar, about eight inches tall and four inches in diameter, its … Continue reading
Posted in Common Soldier, Material Culture, Regiments, Sieges, Western Theater
Tagged 23rd Wisconsin, Arkansas Post, Blueberry Jam, Civil War Bread, Civil War Cooking, Civil War Jam, Frederick Beaver, University of West Florida Historic Trust, Vicksburg, Vicksburg Campaign, Wisconsin Volunteers
5 Comments
Attrition Rates of City-Class Ironclads
Perhaps nothing is more identifiable with the Mississippi River valley’s naval campaigns as the city-class ironclads. With February 2022 marking the 160th anniversary of the Fort Henry/Fort Donelson campaign, where these ironclads were first extensively used, it is worth collectively … Continue reading
Posted in 160th Anniversary, Navies, Western Theater
Tagged Battle of Fort Donelson, Battle of Fort Henry, Battle of Memphis, Battle of Plum Point Bend, Battle of Saint Charles, Cairo Illinois, Charles Davis, City-Class Ironclads, Commander Henry Walke, Commander Isaac N. Brown, CSS Arkansas, Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote, General Bragg, General Sumter, General Van Dorn, James B. Eads, Lloyd Tilghman, Mississippi River Squadron, Mound City, Pook Turtles, Saint Louis, Samuel Pook, Seth L. Phelps, USS Cairo, USS Carondelet, USS Cincinnati, USS General Price, USS Louisville, USS Mound City, USS Pittsburgh, USS St. Louis, Vicksburg Campaign, Western Gunboat Flotilla, White River, Yazoo River
4 Comments
ECW Weekender: Vicksburg National Military Park
An ECW colleague emailed me a note the other day: “I’m reading the Vicksburg/Tullahoma book, and really enjoyed your article about visiting Vicksburg. I’ve never been and I’m more motivated now than ever.” The article he mentioned was based on … Continue reading
A Bold Scheme and a Mysterious Coincidence in the Final Days of the Vicksburg Campaign
By July 15, 1863, Gen. Joe Johnston’s “Army of Relief” suddenly found itself in need of relief of its own. Johnston’s impotent posturing during most of the Vicksburg Campaign had done little to alleviate Confederate misfortunes inside the besieged city, … Continue reading
Taking It Day By Day
Hindsight often obscures our understanding of how events unfolded and their results became apparent. Because we know how it went, we lose something of the immediate perspective that both sides had, not to mention the fog of war. To illustrate … Continue reading
Posted in Armies, Leadership--Confederate, Leadership--Federal
Tagged John C. Pemberton, U.S. Grant, Vicksburg Campaign
2 Comments
