Member Review "Vicksburg Is The Key"

bdtex

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By William L. Shea & Terrence J. Winschel.
Published in 2003 by The University of Nebraska Press.
223 pages of text including Epilogue,Notes,Bibliographical Essay,Index,13 Illustrations and 16 maps.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8032-9344-1.
Paperback. Retail price $16.95.

I bought a "Very Good" Autographed Copy at Amazon for $1.69 + S&H which actually turned out to be in "Like New" condition.

The cover is from the Andy Thomas print "The Guns Of Vicksburg" which is hanging on my bedroom wall and I'm looking at as I write this.

Finished this one today. I bought the book thinking it might be about the Siege Of Vicksburg but it is actually a well written starter book about the entire Vicksburg Campaign, including on the Yazoo River and Port Hudson and all the action west of the Mississippi River in Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana. The book is comprised of 16 Chapters and only Chapters 11-14 are about the Siege. In those chapters there are 2 really good maps of the Confederate siege lines and fortifications and Union troops dispositions during the May 19 and May 22,1863 Union assaults on the lines.

Although I have read 2 books on the Vicksburg Campaign,1 on Champion Hill,1 on Port Hudson and 3 on operations in Louisiana west of the Mississippi River,I read and wrote down 4 things from this book that I don't recall reading/seeing before about the Vicksburg Campaign:

1. That the resounding Union victory at the Battle of Arkansas Post on Jan. 9-11,1863 was part of the Vicksburg Campaign and had a profound impact on the course of the war in Arkansas.

2. That a short-line railroad ran from Port Hudson for 19 miles northeast to Clinton,LA,both of which I visited twice last year.

3. Gen. McPherson overstated Confederate troop strength at the Battle of Raymond on May 12,1863, causing Grant to continue on northeast to Jackson pursuing the Confederates retreating from Raymond. His original plan was to march directly north from Raymond and cut the rail line between Jackson and Vicksburg.

4. The Confederate campaign and final attack on Helena, Arkansas on July 4,1863 was meant to be a diversion to draw Union troops away from Vicksburg.

The Epilogue of the book is a summary of the post-Vicksburg life of 18 key figures of the campaign and the state of preservation/development of some of the battlefields and parks as of publication of the book.

The length,subject organization by chapter and maps quality makes this book an easy and fairly quick read.


bdtex
 
excellent book I have a signed copy hhe gave me at Gettysburg I was surprised because he had audio books when I asked he took one out of his bag and gave it to me and then he signed it pretty nice guy.
 
I have one more thing to add about the book. As others have pointed out in other threads in CWT, Co-author Terrence J. Winschel used to be the park historian at Vicksburg NMP.
 
According to the dust jacket, Vicksburg was the key to the control of the Mississippi River. It may be a good book, but that is hardly deep insight.
 
Vicksburg is the key to ........ what? There are several possible answers; what lock is the author referring to?

“See what a lot of land these fellows hold, of which Vicksburg is the key. The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket.” Is the famous quote from Lincoln that the National Park uses. I think the only source for this is Porter, so that alone causes many folks to question it.
 
That is a pretty snippy non-answer.
As you can see from the date of the OP,I read it and reviewed it in January 2018. I've read another 20 books since then. I don't recall all the details from the book. I do recall that "Vicksburg is the key" is an excerpt from a famous quote from Pres. Lincoln.
 
According to the dust jacket, Vicksburg was the key to the control of the Mississippi River. It may be a good book, but that is hardly deep insight.
I know. That's why I called it a "starter book" in my OP.
 
View attachment 174759

By William L. Shea & Terrence J. Winschel.
Published in 2003 by The University of Nebraska Press.
223 pages of text including Epilogue,Notes,Bibliographical Essay,Index,13 Illustrations and 16 maps.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8032-9344-1.
Paperback. Retail price $16.95.

I bought a "Very Good" Autographed Copy at Amazon for $1.69 + S&H which actually turned out to be in "Like New" condition.

The cover is from the Andy Thomas print "The Guns Of Vicksburg" which is hanging on my bedroom wall and I'm looking at as I write this.

Finished this one today. I bought the book thinking it might be about the Siege Of Vicksburg but it is actually a well written starter book about the entire Vicksburg Campaign, including on the Yazoo River and Port Hudson and all the action west of the Mississippi River in Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana. The book is comprised of 16 Chapters and only Chapters 11-14 are about the Siege. In those chapters there are 2 really good maps of the Confederate siege lines and fortifications and Union troops dispositions during the May 19 and May 22,1863 Union assaults on the lines.

Although I have read 2 books on the Vicksburg Campaign,1 on Champion Hill,1 on Port Hudson and 3 on operations in Louisiana west of the Mississippi River,I read and wrote down 4 things from this book that I don't recall reading/seeing before about the Vicksburg Campaign:

1. That the resounding Union victory at the Battle of Arkansas Post on Jan. 9-11,1863 was part of the Vicksburg Campaign and had a profound impact on the course of the war in Arkansas.

2. That a short-line railroad ran from Port Hudson for 19 miles northeast to Clinton,LA,both of which I visited twice last year.

3. Gen. McPherson overstated Confederate troop strength at the Battle of Raymond on May 12,1863, causing Grant to continue on northeast to Jackson pursuing the Confederates retreating from Raymond. His original plan was to march directly north from Raymond and cut the rail line between Jackson and Vicksburg.

4. The Confederate campaign and final attack on Helena, Arkansas on July 4,1863 was meant to be a diversion to draw Union troops away from Vicksburg.

The Epilogue of the book is a summary of the post-Vicksburg life of 18 key figures of the campaign and the state of preservation/development of some of the battlefields and parks as of publication of the book.

The length,subject organization by chapter and maps quality makes this book an easy and fairly quick read.


bdtex
Thanks for your book review.
 
As you can see from the date of the OP,I read it and reviewed it in January 2018. I've read another 20 books since then. I don't recall all the details from the book. I do recall that "Vicksburg is the key" is an excerpt from a famous quote from Pres. Lincoln.
Hi bd.

Just wanted to let you know that since I took over the book review hosting in January I have been sending Ami and Mike the links to some book reviews like yours that meet the criterion to be featured on the home page and that were, shall we say, neglected when they originally appeared. That is why a review you did a year ago is suddenly popping up now.

I appreciate that your review follows Mike's requirement that a picture of the book's cover appear at the top of the review, that the "Book Review" dropdown prefix was used, and that the title, author, and publisher info appears as the first text. I hope to have 50 book reviews featured on the homepage in 2019 and I welcome any other reviews from you following Mike's criterion.
 
As you can see from the date of the OP,I read it and reviewed it in January 2018. I've read another 20 books since then. I don't recall all the details from the book. I do recall that "Vicksburg is the key" is an excerpt from a famous quote from Pres. Lincoln.
Sorry, I did not notice the date.
 
View attachment 174759

By William L. Shea & Terrence J. Winschel.
Published in 2003 by The University of Nebraska Press.
223 pages of text including Epilogue,Notes,Bibliographical Essay,Index,13 Illustrations and 16 maps.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8032-9344-1.
Paperback. Retail price $16.95.

I bought a "Very Good" Autographed Copy at Amazon for $1.69 + S&H which actually turned out to be in "Like New" condition.

The cover is from the Andy Thomas print "The Guns Of Vicksburg" which is hanging on my bedroom wall and I'm looking at as I write this.

Finished this one today. I bought the book thinking it might be about the Siege Of Vicksburg but it is actually a well written starter book about the entire Vicksburg Campaign, including on the Yazoo River and Port Hudson and all the action west of the Mississippi River in Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana. The book is comprised of 16 Chapters and only Chapters 11-14 are about the Siege. In those chapters there are 2 really good maps of the Confederate siege lines and fortifications and Union troops dispositions during the May 19 and May 22,1863 Union assaults on the lines.

Although I have read 2 books on the Vicksburg Campaign,1 on Champion Hill,1 on Port Hudson and 3 on operations in Louisiana west of the Mississippi River,I read and wrote down 4 things from this book that I don't recall reading/seeing before about the Vicksburg Campaign:

1. That the resounding Union victory at the Battle of Arkansas Post on Jan. 9-11,1863 was part of the Vicksburg Campaign and had a profound impact on the course of the war in Arkansas.

2. That a short-line railroad ran from Port Hudson for 19 miles northeast to Clinton,LA,both of which I visited twice last year.

3. Gen. McPherson overstated Confederate troop strength at the Battle of Raymond on May 12,1863, causing Grant to continue on northeast to Jackson pursuing the Confederates retreating from Raymond. His original plan was to march directly north from Raymond and cut the rail line between Jackson and Vicksburg.

4. The Confederate campaign and final attack on Helena, Arkansas on July 4,1863 was meant to be a diversion to draw Union troops away from Vicksburg.

The Epilogue of the book is a summary of the post-Vicksburg life of 18 key figures of the campaign and the state of preservation/development of some of the battlefields and parks as of publication of the book.

The length,subject organization by chapter and maps quality makes this book an easy and fairly quick read.


bdtex
A fascinating and crucial campaign. Has anyone also read, The Beleaguered City: the Vicksburg Campaign by Foote? If so, what is your opinion of it? If not, any particular reason why not?

Norm
 
A fascinating and crucial campaign. Has anyone also read, The Beleaguered City: the Vicksburg Campaign by Foote? If so, what is your opinion of it? If not, any particular reason why not?

Norm
To be honest,I hadn't heard about it until now. I've already acquired 8 books by gift or purchase this year,but so far have only read 3 off my already unmanageable stack of unread books this year. It's unlikely that I'll get to Foote's Vicksburg book any time soon. I did put it in "Save for Later" though.
 
To be honest,I hadn't heard about it until now. I've already acquired 8 books by gift or purchase this year,but so far have only read 3 off my already unmanageable stack of unread books this year. It's unlikely that I'll get to Foote's Vicksburg book any time soon. I did put it in "Save for Later" though.
It is an excerpt and adaptation from Foote's three volume Civil War set. It was done by Modern Library.

If you read the three volume Civil War by Foote, you have read this material already.
 
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