Download battle of vicksburg - Flushing Community Schools

VICKSBURG
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May 18- July 4, 1863
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This overlaps Gettysburg (the
bloodiest battle)
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It’s also a BURG
BACKGROUND
 First Union attempt to capture Vicksburg happened in 1862
 The Union kept failing and eventually moved on
 They returned in 1863
 Largest amphibious operation ever conducted by Americans prior to
WWII
CONFEDERATE STRATEGY
 Protect river fortress at Vicksburg
 Use the geography to keep Vicksburg as a Confederate territory
UNION STRATEGY
 Surprise amphibious landing
 Push inland quickly
 Strategy was way ahead of its time and will be used in Normandy during
WWII
CONFEDERATE GENERAL
 John C. Pemberton
 Born in Philadelphia in 1814
 Was roommates at West Point with General Meade
 Married Martha Thompson, from Virginia
 Resigned from the Union army because of his wife
 Served in the Confederacy in South Carolina
 Was ordered to keep Vicksburg for the Confederacy
 After his loss, the Confederacy branded him a traitor
 Returned north after the war
 Died in Philadelphia in 1881
UNION GENERAL
 Ulysses S. Grant
 Known as Sam by his friends
 Served with distinction before the Civil War
 When he wasn’t at war, he drank heavily
 Was quickly promoted during the war
 Earned the nickname “Unconditional Surrender” Grant
 Was Secretary of War and then President after the Civil War
 Died at 63
 Buried in New York in the largest mausoleum in the country
BATTLE
 Union victories at Champion Hill and Big Black Bridge weakened the
Confederacy
 Grant sieged the city of Vicksburg
 Civilians and soldiers endured Union occupation for 47 days
 Pemberton surrendered on July 4, 1863
MAPS
RESULT
 Pemberton had no choice but to surrender
 Grant tried to force him to unconditionally surrender, but Pemberton
would not agree
 The two men met and agreed to a cease fire
 That night, Grant offered parole to Pemberton and his army
 The Confederacy surrendered the next day
 UNION VICTORY
BATTLE FACTS
 Total Soldiers Engaged:
110,000
 Union: 77,000
 Confederate: 33,000
 Total Casualties:
 Union: 4,910
 Killed: 806
 Wounded: 3,904
 Missing: 164
 Confederate: 32,492
 Killed: 805
 Wounded: 1,938
 Missing: 29,620
37,402
FUN FACTS
 Confederate guerilla soldiers hid in bushes and attacked a laundry boat,
which led to the start of this campaign
 The capture of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in half
 Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis both saw Vicksburg as the key to
the Confederacy
 Because the Confederacy surrendered on July 4, 1883, the town of
Vicksburg did not celebrate Independence Day for 81 years
 http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/vicksburg/maps/vicksburg-animated-
map.html