Case-F 

A Relic of the Vicksburg Siege

The 47-day siege of Vicksburg was perhaps the most pivotal military action of the Civil War. The culmination of Ulysses S. Grant’s brilliant Mississippi Campaign, it removed the Confederacy’s strongest fortress along the river and began Grant’s ascension to command of all U. S. forces.

For the city’s residents, the siege was a test of endurance that cut them off from the outside world. By late June, newspaper editor J. M. Swords had run out of paper for his Vicksburg Daily Citizen and began running issues on wallpaper. Swords fled when the city began to fall, leaving the July 2 edition unprinted. U. S. soldiers found the press when they entered the city two days later and printed the issues, but added their own note in the bottom-right corner to brag about Grant’s victory and declare their versions will “be valuable hereafter as a curiosity.”

AV-LB3219 – Vicksburg Daily Citizen

Label Audio