Key Facts
- Duration
- December 26, 1862 – July 4, 1863
- Distinct battles
- 11
- Major campaign phases
- 2 (Dec 1862–Jan 1863; Mar–Jul 1863)
- Inland victories in 17 days
- 5 battles after Bruinsburg landing
- Surrender date
- July 4, 1863
Strategic Narrative Overview
Grant first attempted a two-pronged advance in late 1862, but both prongs failed. He then tried five bayou expeditions to bypass Vicksburg's artillery; all failed. In April 1863 Union gunboats ran the Vicksburg batteries and Grant crossed the Mississippi at Bruinsburg. Deceived by elaborate Union diversions, Confederate defenders offered no resistance at the landing. Over the following 17 days Grant's army won five battles, seized Jackson, Mississippi, and laid siege to Vicksburg.
01 / The Origins
Vicksburg, Mississippi, sat atop fortified bluffs commanding the last Confederate-held stretch of the Mississippi River. Union control of the river was essential to split Confederate territory, cut supply lines between the eastern and trans-Mississippi Confederate states, and reopen the waterway to northern commerce. Major General Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Tennessee was tasked with reducing this heavily defended stronghold held by Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton's Confederate forces.
03 / The Outcome
Pemberton surrendered his army on July 4, 1863, one day after the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg. Port Hudson fell on July 9, completing Union control of the Mississippi and effectively severing Texas and Arkansas from the rest of the Confederacy. Northern commerce could again flow to the Gulf of Mexico, and Grant gained a secure supply line, fatally weakening Confederate strategic cohesion in the Western Theater.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Ulysses S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, Nathaniel P. Banks.
Side B
1 belligerent
John C. Pemberton.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.