Key Facts
- Duration
- February 1862 – July 1863
- Campaign start point
- Cairo, Illinois
- Final Confederate surrender
- Vicksburg, MS (July 4) & Port Hudson, LA (July 9, 1863)
- Rivers seized
- Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi Rivers
- Union naval commanders
- Foote, Farragut, Porter (in succession)
Strategic Narrative Overview
Union forces, aided by gunboats and river ironclads, advanced steadily down the river system from February 1862 onward, capturing key forts and river towns. Flag Officer Foote led the early naval operations, followed by Farragut and Porter. General Grant commanded the principal ground forces. Successive engagements reduced Confederate resistance along the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi Rivers, culminating in the siege of Vicksburg — one of the most consequential operations of the war.
01 / The Origins
Control of the Mississippi River and its tributaries was strategically essential to both sides in the American Civil War. For the Union, seizing these waterways would split the Confederacy along a north–south axis, cutting off supply lines and isolating Confederate states west of the river. Beginning in early 1862, Union forces mobilized from Cairo, Illinois, pushing into contested Missouri, Kentucky, and Confederate Tennessee with coordinated army and navy assets.
03 / The Outcome
The campaign concluded when Vicksburg surrendered to Grant on July 4, 1863, followed by Port Hudson, Louisiana on July 9, 1863 — the last Confederate strongholds on the Mississippi. Union control of the entire river was thereby established, severing Confederate Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas from the eastern Confederacy and opening the river to Union commerce and military movement.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Ulysses S. Grant, Andrew H. Foote, David G. Farragut, David D. Porter.
Side B
1 belligerent
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.