Orders have been
issued to fortify Vicksburg so that a small force can hold the place against
one five times the number; the fortifications are to be on the highest ground
in the city. I was on duty at a picket post three miles below Vicksburg, on the
east bank of the Mississippi. There were four privates and two corporals at the
post, the corporals taking their turns in standing out in front as vedettes.
Source: Alexander G.
Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary,
p. 145
