Walnut Hills. Miss.,
June 15th, 1863.
Dear Father:
I have received several letters from Mary and yourself, but
as I have to deal with nineteen-twentieths of those received, have neglected to
answer them.
All I can say is that I am well. I have the enemy closely
hemmed in all round. My position is naturally strong and fortified against an
attack from outside. I have been so strongly reinforced that Johnston will have
to come with a mighty host to drive me away. — I do not look upon the fall of
Vicksburg as in the least doubtful. If, however, I could have carried the place
on the 22nd of last month, I could by this time have made a campaign that would
have made the State of Mississippi almost safe for a solitary horseman to ride
over. As it is, the enemy have a large army in it, and the season has so far
advanced that water will be difficult to find for an army marching, besides the
dust and heat that must be encountered. The fall of Vicksburg now will only
result in the opening of the Mississippi River and demoralization of the enemy.
I intended more from it. I did my best, however, and looking back can see no
blunder committed.
ULYSSES
SOURCE: Jesse Grant Cramer, Editor, Letters of
Ulysses S. Grant to His Father and His Youngest Sister, 1857-78, p. 98-9
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