Text From the Civil War Stamps-- Part 2

The Vicksburg stamp.

"Taking place at the same time in the western theater was the climax of the longest and most complex military campaign of the Civil War: the Battle of Vicksburg.  A busy port city, Vicksburg was the last major Confederate stronghold preventing the Union from gaining complete control of the Mississippi River.  President Abraham Lincoln considered its capture 'the key' to bringing the war to an end..

After the U.S. Navy was unable to bombard the city into submission, General Ulysses S. Grant planned and implemented what has been called 'the greatest amphibious operation in American history up to that time.'  Grant marched his troops south along the western bank of the Mississippi River, and the Navy transported more than 20,000 men east across the river to an undefended site well below Vicksburg.

The troops then mounted an attack from the open ground east of the city.  Their assault began on May 19, but a long siege commenced after frontal attacks failed.  Finally, six weeks into the siege and with the city in ruins, Confederate general John C. Pemberton arranged a meeting with Grant and surrendered on July 4, one dau after the Union victory at Gettysburg.

The Battle of Gettysburg and Battle of Vicksburg stamps are part of the U.S. Postal Servives series commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War."

And, a Job Well Done.  --Old Secesh