By Donald L. Miller
Release Date: October 29, 2019
The astonishing story
of the longest and most decisive military campaign of the Civil War in
Vicksburg, Mississippi, which opened the Mississippi River, split the
Confederacy, freed tens of thousands of slaves, and made Ulysses S. Grant the
most important general of the war.
Vicksburg, Mississippi, was the last stronghold of the
Confederacy on the Mississippi River. It prevented the Union from using the
river for shipping between the Union-controlled Midwest and New Orleans and the
Gulf of Mexico. The Union navy tried to take Vicksburg, which sat on a high
bluff overlooking the river, but couldn’t do it. General Grant moved his army
south and joined forces with Admiral Porter, but even together they could not
come up with a successful plan. At one point Grant even tried to build a canal
so that the river could be diverted away from Vicksburg.
In Vicksburg, Donald L. Miller tells the full story of this
year-long campaign to win the city. He brings to life all the drama,
characters, and significance of Vicksburg, a historic moment that rivals any
war story in history. Grant’s efforts repeatedly failed until he found a way to
lay siege and force the city to capitulate. In the course of the campaign, tens
of thousands of slaves fled to the Union lines, where more than twenty thousand
became soldiers, while others seized the plantations they had been forced to
work on, destroying the economy of a large part of Mississippi and creating a
social revolution.
Ultimately, Vicksburg was the battle that solidified Grant’s
reputation as the Union’s most capable general. Today no general would ever be
permitted to fail as often as Grant did, but in the end he succeeded in what he
himself called the most important battle of the war, the one that all but sealed
the fate of the Confederacy.
About the Author
Donald L. Miller is
the John Henry MacCracken Professor of History Emeritus at Lafayette College
and author of ten books, including Vicksburg, and Masters
of the Air, currently being made into a television series by Tom Hanks. He
has hosted, coproduced, or served as historical consultant for more
than thirty television documentaries and has written for The New
York Times, The Washington Post, and other publications.
ISBN 978-1451641370, Simon & Schuster, © 2019,
Hardcover, 688 pages, Photographs & Illustrations, Maps, Appendix, End
Notes, Bibliography and Index. $35.00. To purchase this book
click HERE.
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