NF Occupied Vicksburg

[chellers]

Bradley R. Clampitt (Author)
LSU Press (October 19, 2016)

During the Civil War, Vicksburg, Mississippi, assumed almost mythic importance in the minds of Americans: northerners and southerners, soldier and civilian. The city occupied a strategic and commanding position atop rocky cliffs above the Mississippi River, from which it controlled the great waterway. As a result, Federal forces expended enormous effort, expense, and troops in many attempts to capture Vicksburg. The immense struggle for this southern bastion ultimately heightened its importance beyond its physical and strategic value. Its psychological significance elevated the town's status to one of the war's most important locations. Vicksburg's defiance dismayed northerners and delighted Confederates, who saw command of the river as a badge of honor. Finally, after a six-week siege that involved intense military and civilian suffering amid heavy artillery bombardment, Union forces captured the "Gibraltar of the Confederacy," ending the bloody campaign.

While many historians have told the story of the fall of Vicksburg, Bradley R. Clampitt is the first to offer a comprehensive examination of life there after its capture by the United States military. In the war-ravaged town, indiscriminate hardships befell soldiers and civilians alike during the last two years of the conflict and immediately after its end. In Occupied Vicksburg, Clampitt shows that following the Confederate withdrawal, Federal forces confronted myriad challenges in the city including filth, disease, and a never-ending stream of black and white refugees. Union leaders also responded to the pressures of newly free people and persistent guerrilla violence in the surrounding countryside. Detailing the trials of blacks, whites, northerners, and southerners, Occupied Vicksburg stands as a significant contribution to Civil War studies, adding to our understanding of military events and the home front. Clampitt's astute research provides insight into the very nature of the war and enhances existing scholarship on the experiences of common people during America's most cataclysmic event.

About the Author
Bradley R. Clampitt is associate professor and chair of the Department of History and Native American Studies at East Central University and the author of The Confederate Heartland: Military and Civilian Morale in the Western Confederacy.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0807163384/?tag=civilwartalkc-20

Disclaimer: This post is neither a recommendation nor solicitation by CivilWarTalk or Chellers. It is solely for informational purposes.

 

[Tin cup]

That one will be on my "to get in the future" list!

Kevin Dally

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

That one will be on my "to get in the future" list!

Kevin Dally

Chellers is well known for adding books to our "must read" lists.

This is yet another one.

Seriously @chellers , thanks for the heads up.

This book looks very interesting!

 

[chellers]

Chellers is well known for adding books to our "must read" lists.

This is yet another one.

Seriously @chellers , thanks for the heads up.

This book looks very interesting!

The pleasure is all mine, sir.

 

[mobile_96]

Hope I am around long enough to get to this vol.
A friend, from a older CW discussion group in Yahoo, let me help review a book he was writing on a Wis. Cav. reg his GGFather belonged to. Reading it showed me for the 1st time that not long after Sherman's march to Meridian, most of Mississippi was virtually given back to the rebels, with the area west of Big Black being held by the Union troops. When they ran low on forage and food they would make raids past the Big Black to gather supplies, if local farmers stopped selling to them. The unit did have a problem with healthy camping areas and had to move around a bit.
Was a pretty good regimental history but is still unpublished, and after almost 15 yrs went into research.