Vicksburg: Grant’s Campaign That Broke the Confederacy

Miller (John Henry MacCracken Professor of History, Lafayette Coll.; Masters of the Air) considers Ulysses S. Grant’s role in the Vicksburg campaign of 1862–63, the successful Union effort to capture a critical port on the Mississippi River. While Miller focuses considerable attention on the actual siege of Vicksburg, he also examines the development of Grant’s leadership in the Western Theater that led to his command of all Union armies in the months after that crucial victory. Early victories at Fort Donelson and Fort Henry manifested Grant’s skills and weaknesses to both Union and Confederate soldiers. At the costly battle at Shiloh, William Tecumseh Sherman became an ally of Grant and a foil to his less disciplined generalship. Miller provides important context for the final siege of Vicksburg by explaining why the city was vital to control of the Mississippi and how naval accomplishments made possible maneuvers employed by Grant’s soldiers during their halting advances toward the city. He superbly integrates events in Washington, keeping primary attention on those in the field of battle and emphasizing the role of freedmen in the victory.