September 20, 2024
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Illinois soldiers played a key role in capture of Vicksburg 160 years ago

Some Civil War scholars think the battle was more important than Gettysburg

By Tom Emery
The Illinois Memorial at the Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg, Mississippi. This photograph by Carol M. Highsmith is in the public domain care of the Library of Congress.

The Illinois Memorial at the Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg, Mississippi. This photograph by Carol M. Highsmith is in the public domain care of the Library of Congress. (Carol M. Highsmith, care of the Library of Congress)

The battle of Gettysburg was larger and more famous, but many historians think another movement around the same time was just as important, if not more so.

This week marks the 160th anniversary of the siege, and fall, of the Mississippi River stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi, which gave the Union control of that vital waterway and effectively cut the Confederacy in two.

The Vicksburg campaign is considered by some historians as equal to the significance of Gettysburg, which ended the day before Vicksburg surrendered July 4, 1863.

The North recognized the Mississippi as a key to victory and gradually captured all other river cities before launching an offensive at the formidable fortifications of Vicksburg in late 1862.

Illinois sent more troops to the battle than any other state. They were involved in practically all aspects of the campaign.”

—  Mike Madell, superintendent of the Vicksburg National Military Park

“The Mississippi was vital to commerce,” said Mike Madell, superintendent of the Vicksburg National Military Park. “Whoever controlled the river also controlled the movement of goods, troops and everything else.”

An estimated 36,000 Illinois men participated in the campaigns for Vicksburg, which culminated in a 47-day siege in the spring and summer of 1863. The siege followed a pair of failed frontal attacks May 19 and 22.

Although in defeat, the assault May 22 is considered a shining moment for Illinois in the war. Of the 106 Medal of Honor recipients from Illinois in the Civil War, 43 earned them that day.

That includes Carlos Colby of the 97th Illinois, an Alton man who remembered that “it looked like certain death to face that leaden rain and iron hail.” Eight men of the Decatur-area 116th Illinois and seven of the 55th Illinois also received the medal for their actions May 22.

“Illinois sent more troops to the battle than any other state,” Madell said. “They were involved in practically all aspects of the campaign.”

Vicksburg finally fell on July 4, and President Abraham Lincoln wrote that “the Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea.” The city reportedly did not officially celebrate the Fourth of July again until 1945.

The victory also reaffirmed Ulysses S. Grant, a Galena resident, as the premier Union general of the Western theater. The next year, he was appointed commanding general of the Federal armies.

The names of all Illinois men in the offensive are inscribed on an entablature inside the Illinois Monument at the Vicksburg battlefield. The breathtaking structure is modeled after the Roman Pantheon and is considered the foremost monument to Illinois troops at any Civil War battlefield park.

• Tom Emery is a freelance writer from Carlinville, Illinois. He can be reached at ilcivilwar@yahoo.com.