Mort Kunstler's July Civil War Calendar-- Part 1: Grant Takes Vicksburg

THE GLORIOUS FOURTH

"General Ulysses S. Grant at Vicksburg

"On July 4, 1863, jubilant Union soldiers marched past the gaunt defenders of Vicksburg and into the city which was the final Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River.

"General Ulysses S. Grant, in his typically informal dress without swordbelt, rode to the Old Landing to meet and congratulate Admiral David Porter, commander of the river fleet, aboard his flagship, USS Benton.  There were more than eight thousand Union troops on hand cheering, waving flags, and celebrating this great victory.

"The fall of Vicksburg placed the entire Mississippi River in Union hands."

There are many Union soldiers cheering Grant as he rides past them.  Grant looks to them and raises his hat.  There are Union ironclads and warships in the river in the background.

Between this and Gettysburg the day before, the real beginning of the end for the Confederacy.

--Old Secesh