Battle of Vicksburg

Siege of Vicksburg
Part of the American Civil War
Battle of Vicksburg, by Kurz and Allison
Date May 18 – July 4, 1863 Location Warren County, Mississippi 32°20′37″N 90°51′04″W / 32.3436°N 90.8511°W / 32.3436; -90.8511Coordinates: 32°20′37″N 90°51′04″W / 32.3436°N 90.8511°W / 32.3436; -90.8511 Result Decisive Union victory
Belligerents
USA (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
Ulysses S. Grant	John C. Pemberton
Units involved
Army of the Tennessee	Army of Mississippi
Strength
∼ 77,000	∼ 33,000
Casualties and losses
4,835 total (766 killed  3,793 wounded  276 captured/missing)	32,697 total (3,202 killed/wounded/missing  29,495 surrendered)

Vicksburg National Military Park
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Military Park
Statue of General Grant at Vicksburg National Military Park
Location	Vicksburg, Mississippi & Delta, Louisiana, USA
Area	1,852.75 acres (749.78 ha)
Built	February 21, 1899 (February 21, 1899)
Architectural style	Greek Revival
Visitation	703,484 (2005)
NRHP Reference #	66000100
Added to NRHP	October 15, 1966

The Siege of Vicksburg (May 18 – July 4, 1863) was the final major military action in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mississippi River and drove the Confederate Army of Mississippi, led by Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton, into the defensive lines surrounding the fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Vicksburg was the last major Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River; therefore, capturing it completed the second part of the Northern strategy, the Anaconda Plan. When two major assaults (May 19 and 22, 1863) against the Confederate fortifications were repulsed with heavy casualties, Grant decided to besiege the city beginning on May 25. With no reinforcement, supplies nearly gone, and after holding out for more than forty days, the garrison finally surrendered on July 4.

The successful ending of the Vicksburg Campaign significantly degraded the ability of the Confederacy to maintain its war effort, as described in the Aftermath section of the campaign article. Some historians—e.g., Ballard, p. 308—suggest that the decisive battle in the campaign was actually the Battle of Champion Hill, which, once won by Grant, made victory in the subsequent siege a foregone conclusion. This action (combined with the surrender of Port Hudson to Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks on July 9) yielded command of the Mississippi River to the Union forces, who would hold it for the rest of the conflict.