The Siege of Vicksburg
SGT Thomas Crow, SGT Randy Keaton, SGT Jared Martin, & SGT Robert W. Shadburn
ALC Class 001-16

The Siege of Vicksburg. The Siege of Vicksburg took place in, and around, Vicksburg, Mississippi, from May 18th, 1863 until July 4th of that same year; it ended military action during the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. MG Ulysses S. Grant was the Union General charged with taking the town of Vicksburg from Confederate LTG John C. Pemberton. Both men had numerous weapon systems and units at their disposal. During this campaign the Union and Confederate armies lost an enormous amount of soldiers with an estimated casualty count of 19,233 men combined—Maj. Gen. Grant rightfully worried of prolonged siege operations, as he knew the cost would be high (Winschel, 2004). The Vicksburg Campaign was one of the greatest Union victories of the Civil War. It effectively split the Confederacy in half. Once General Grant surrounded the town of Vicksburg, he instructed his Artillery Units to fire on the Confederates for hours on end in order to soften defenses before the Infantry was to advance (Winschel, 2004). It can therefore be concluded that the Union’s effective use of Field Artillery units and Navy Artillery not only paved the way for Infantry units to attack, …show more content…
Many different models were utilized; among them included the Ten Pounder Parrot Rifle. This weapon, invented by Robert P. Parrot—Superintendent of the West Point Foundry in Cold Spring, New York—proved to be very effective (Champio¬¬¬nhilz, 2014). The significance of this piece was the iron-reinforced band on the breach. This simple modification allowed the weapon the strength to withstand the stress of repeated firing and ultimate durability. Both the Confederacy and the Union utilized The Ten Pounder Parrot Rifle in a number of different