Guide to the Vicksburg Campaign
December 1998
496 pages
Series: U.S. Army War College Guides to Civil War Battles
ISBN 978-0-7006-0922-2
Hardback Edition Unjacketed
ISBN 978-0-7006-0923-9
Guide to the Vicksburg Campaign
Edited by Leonard Fullenkamp, Stephen Bowman, and Jay Luvaas
In the same week that Union forces triumphed at Gettysburg, they also captured the river fortress at Vicksburg, Mississippi. Although much less memorialized than Gettysburg, the fall of Vicksburg was every bit as crucial to the Union cause.
Pitting Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman against John Pemberton and Joseph Johnston, the victorious Vicksburg Campaign helped revive a war-weary North, gave it absolute control of the Mississippi River, severed the western Confederacy from the East, and further constricted the South's ability to wage war as the Union drove ever deeper into its heartland. It also gave Grant-the campaign's chief architect-a dramatic venue for demonstrating his maturing skills and intelligence as a strategist and field commander.
“Good historians can write for both the specialist and the general reader, as this excellent addition to the US Army War College’s ‘Guides to Civil War Battles’ shows. It provides itineraries for driving tours of the campaign and of the siege lines and, best of all, it offers a narrative and analyses of the campaign.”
—Choice
“There is even coverage of the Union and Confederate sides, and a refreshing emphasis on engineering aspects as well. The volume also has good maps and the explanatory sections are clearly and thoughtfully written.”
—North & South
See all reviews...“These guides are the most thorough, detailed, and accurate books of their kind. Indeed, they are unique. I have used them to lead guided tours of several battlefields, with great success.”
—James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom: The Era of the Civil War
“I most highly recommend this important and valuable series of guidebooks.”
—Herman Hattaway, coauthor of How the North Won the Civil War and Why the South Lost the Civil War
“These guides bridge the gap between sound military history and battlefield touring literature. They can be enjoyed without ever leaving the easy chair or they can become indispensable companions on tramps over the scenes of the greatest engagements of the Civil War.”
—William C. Davis, author of Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour and former editor of Civil War Times Illustrated
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Unlike other volumes in the U.S. Army War College Guides to Civil War Battles series, this one examines an entire campaign, looking at many interlinked battles and joint Army-Navy operations as they played out over seven months and thousands of square miles of rivers, streams, swamps, lakes, forests, hills, and plains surrounding Vicksburg. In addition to detailed coverage of the actual Siege of Vicksburg, the book also chronicles the battles at Jackson, Port Gibson, Raymond, Champions Hill, and Big Black Ridge.
Like the other volumes in the series, this one combines eyewitness accounts with maps, illustrations, and tour directions to illuminate the events for both tourists and arm-chair travellers. For anyone interested in learning more about this relatively neglected but pivotal Civil War campaign, the Guide to the Vicksburg Campaign is must reading.
Additional Titles in the U.S. Army War College Guides to Civil War Battles Series
