- Joined
- Mar 31, 2012
- Location
- Central Ohio
150 years ago today (May 18), a force of Union gunboats appeared on the Mississippi River off Vicksburg.
This detachment, led by Commander S. Phillips Lee aboard the USS Oneida, had moved up the river after the capture of New Orleans, accepting the surrender of Baton Rouge and Natchez, among others, without a shot being fired. The intent was to 'keep up the stampede' while there was still some sort of psychological advantage.
Ironically, Vicksburg had been, at the outset, one of the more Union-leaning areas of the state of Mississippi. Heavily dependent on the river trade and with many business and personal contacts in the Midwest, Vicksburgers were very noncommittal about breaking those ties; and they sent pro-Union delegates to the state's secession convention. Outvoted, however, they settled in to do the best they could to protect the Hill City.
Colonel James L. Autrey expressed this sense of defiance when he replied to Lee's surrender demand with words that have become famous. "Mississippians don't know, and refuse to learn, how to surrender to an enemy. If Commodore Farragut or Brigadier-General Butler think they can teach them, let them come and try."
In some senses, this note sounded the opening of the campaign for Vicksburg, which would dominate the war in the Western theater for the next fourteen months.
This detachment, led by Commander S. Phillips Lee aboard the USS Oneida, had moved up the river after the capture of New Orleans, accepting the surrender of Baton Rouge and Natchez, among others, without a shot being fired. The intent was to 'keep up the stampede' while there was still some sort of psychological advantage.
Ironically, Vicksburg had been, at the outset, one of the more Union-leaning areas of the state of Mississippi. Heavily dependent on the river trade and with many business and personal contacts in the Midwest, Vicksburgers were very noncommittal about breaking those ties; and they sent pro-Union delegates to the state's secession convention. Outvoted, however, they settled in to do the best they could to protect the Hill City.
Colonel James L. Autrey expressed this sense of defiance when he replied to Lee's surrender demand with words that have become famous. "Mississippians don't know, and refuse to learn, how to surrender to an enemy. If Commodore Farragut or Brigadier-General Butler think they can teach them, let them come and try."
In some senses, this note sounded the opening of the campaign for Vicksburg, which would dominate the war in the Western theater for the next fourteen months.
Bringing the