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The second most important July 4
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Posted: Tuesday, July 16, 2013 11:24 am
Richard Schmidt Living and Learning | 0 comments
I spent Independence Day with my grandchildren in Baltimore where we watched fireworks, ate barbecue, and rarely spoke of the significance of the day. They're still young and I trust they'll learn in time what happened on July 4, 1776, and why it's important.
But my mind that day kept reverting to the second most important July 4 in American history, of which this year marks the sesquicentennial. One could say that what was begun on July 4, 1776, was completed on July 4, 1863. It was not a pretty thing to see.
The Civil War had raged for two years with neither side gaining a decisive advantage. The Mississippi River was a key supply route for the Confederate troops which Union troops had tried in vain to cut. But that changed on July 4, 1863, when General Grant's army took the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, and its bluff overlooking the river.
Grant had twice tried to take Vicksburg six weeks earlier, but his troops couldn't claw their way up the hills surrounding the city. Well-armed rebel troops repelled the Union attackers from within the city by raining gunfire down upon them.
Then Grant had a better idea. With reinforcements, he was able to build entrenchments, surround Vicksburg — and wait. He said he was sick of the loss of life and would simply "outcamp the enemy."
The Confederates found themselves boxed in. Munitions were plentiful in Vicksburg but gunpowder was no substitute for food. By the end of June, half the Confederate soldiers were suffering from scurvy, malaria, dysentery or diarrhea. They began to eat their animals, including rats they trapped. Some ate their shoes. They dug caves for safety from the constant Union bombardment and perhaps in search of edible insects. Union soldiers began referring to Vicksburg as "Prairie Dog Village."
For the rest: http://www.gulfcoastnewstoday.com/o...cle_3a2aedec-ee34-11e2-b841-0019bb2963f4.html
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Posted: Tuesday, July 16, 2013 11:24 am
Richard Schmidt Living and Learning | 0 comments
I spent Independence Day with my grandchildren in Baltimore where we watched fireworks, ate barbecue, and rarely spoke of the significance of the day. They're still young and I trust they'll learn in time what happened on July 4, 1776, and why it's important.
But my mind that day kept reverting to the second most important July 4 in American history, of which this year marks the sesquicentennial. One could say that what was begun on July 4, 1776, was completed on July 4, 1863. It was not a pretty thing to see.
The Civil War had raged for two years with neither side gaining a decisive advantage. The Mississippi River was a key supply route for the Confederate troops which Union troops had tried in vain to cut. But that changed on July 4, 1863, when General Grant's army took the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, and its bluff overlooking the river.
Grant had twice tried to take Vicksburg six weeks earlier, but his troops couldn't claw their way up the hills surrounding the city. Well-armed rebel troops repelled the Union attackers from within the city by raining gunfire down upon them.
Then Grant had a better idea. With reinforcements, he was able to build entrenchments, surround Vicksburg — and wait. He said he was sick of the loss of life and would simply "outcamp the enemy."
The Confederates found themselves boxed in. Munitions were plentiful in Vicksburg but gunpowder was no substitute for food. By the end of June, half the Confederate soldiers were suffering from scurvy, malaria, dysentery or diarrhea. They began to eat their animals, including rats they trapped. Some ate their shoes. They dug caves for safety from the constant Union bombardment and perhaps in search of edible insects. Union soldiers began referring to Vicksburg as "Prairie Dog Village."
For the rest: http://www.gulfcoastnewstoday.com/o...cle_3a2aedec-ee34-11e2-b841-0019bb2963f4.html
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