Question

How was the city of vicksburg captured?

Answer 1

Hint: Vicksburg is a city located on the Mississippi river. Vicksburg was an important port that lies between the north, Memphis and South, New Orleans. It was an important remaining point of the confederates on the Mississippi river. It was ideally suited for defence purposes. If the north could take vicksburg the confederacy would be automatically cut off from supply lines to the west and the other Rebel States would be isolated from the rest of the south.

Complete answer: On 18 May, 1863, the siege of Vicksburg began between the confederate and the union. Grant's army approached Vicksburg and decided to lay siege to the city. By doing that the confederate army hides behind the defences of the city for the first couple of days. Grant's army tried to bomb them constantly and waited until they ran out of food. The same happened as the conditions in the city got worse over the next several weeks. The people ran out of food and many soldiers became sick because of malnutrition and diseases. On the same hand the city was constantly being bombed so people could not walk the streets all live in their houses. Finally on July 4, 1863, the confederates general Pemberton surrendered to the Grant which resulted in the great victory for the union. The surrender of Vicksburg greatly heartened the north. This gave control to the union and marked the major turning point of the civil war in favour of the union.

Note: The American Civil war was fought between the northern and Southern States. The Southern States did not want the north to decide or make laws for them as a result many Southern States decided to form their own country called Confederacy. The North on the other hand wanted to stay as one United country and so the war began between the two which lasted from 1860 to 1865. It was the battle of Gettysburg and the siege of Vicksburg by the north that changed the whole scenario where the North started to win the Civil war.