Vicksburg during the Civil War
• Approximate population of 5,000
• As Pemberton’s army came into Vicksburg, many civilians tried to leave, but the withdrawing Confederate army and the advancing Federal army clogged or blocked most roads
• The civilians trapped inside Vicksburg would be subjected to shelling, hunger, and difficult living conditions
THE CITY OF VICKSBURGHarper’s Weekly
Vicksburg During the Siege
• Several women wrote very descriptive diaries of their experiences– Emma Balfour– Mary Ann Loughborough
Emma Balfour
Emma Balfour
• Wife of Dr. William Balfour; lived in house next door to Pemberton’s headquarters
• Remained in house rather than living in a cave
• “We have slept scarcely none now for two days and two nights. Oh! It is dreadful…. [E]very shell… came rushing down like some infernal demon…”– Excerpt from diary
Pemberton’s Headquarters
Mary Ann Loughborough
• Originally from Missouri– Fled south after pro-secession
efforts failed in Missouri– Lived in Oxford, Jackson, and
Vicksburg
• Wife of Confederate captain James Loughborough
• Took refuge in a cave and wrote My Cave Life in Vicksburg
Vicksburg Caves
• Caves varied from simple one-room abodes or multi-room suites.
• Contained parlors and bedrooms that were furnished with items from home
• Most cooking was done outside the main cave entrance.
• Sometimes there were connecting openings from one family cave to another for escape purposes in case an artillery shell caused the earth to crumble.
Loughborough’s Cave
• “Our new habitation was an excavation made in the earth, and branching six feet from the entrance, forming a cave in the shape of a T. In one of the wings my bed fitted; the other I used as a kind of dressing room; in this the earth had been cut down a foot or two below the floor of the main cave; I could stand erect there; and when tired of sitting in other portions of my residence, I bowed myself into it, and stood impassively resting at full height– one of the variations in the still shell-expectant life.”– My Cave Life in Vicksburg, 53.
Loughborough’s Cave
• “Our quarters were close, indeed; yet I was more comfortable than I expected I could have been made under the earth in that fashion.”– My Cave Life in
Vicksburg, 54.Recreation of a cave displayed at the Vicksburg National Military Park
Loughborough’s Cave
• “Our policy in building had been to face directly away from the river. All caves were prepared, as near as possible, in this manner. As the fragments of shells continued with the same impetus after the explosion, in but one direction, onward, they were not likely to reach us, fronting in this manner with their course.”
Cave Life
• The caves did their job very well – during the siege less than 20 civilians were killed by the bombardment.
Mr. Tom Lewis standing in front of a cave on Grove Street, Circa 1890’s.
Activity
• Between shellings, Vicksburg came to life
• Pedestrians ventured out of their caves and tried to live normally
• Because water was scarce, collecting it from ditches and mudholes was an important activity
• Another pleasant diversion during interludes in the shelling was cooking outdoors
Rationing• At the time Pemberton surrendered, there
were still ample supplies, but rations had been cut to make food last longer– Toward the end of the siege, the daily
ration was “two common biscuits, two rashers (slices) of bacon, a few peas and a spoon full of rice ...”
– Eventually mule meat was issued in place of bacon
• “I am gratified to say it was found by officers and men not only nutritious, but very palatable, and [in] every way preferable to poor beef.” (John Pemberton)
• Both soldiers and non-combatants in Vicksburg lost weight, became dehydrated, and suffered from severe malnutrition
SOUPMule TailBOILED
Mule Bacon with Poke GreensMule Ham Canvassed
ROASTSMule Sirloin
Mule Rump Stuffed with RiceVEGETABLESPeas and Rice
ENTREESMule Head Stuffed Ala Mode
Mule Beef Jerked Ala MexicanaMule Ears Fricasseed Ala Gotch
Mule Hide Stewed New Style Laid OnMule Spare Ribs Plain
Mule Liver HashedSIDE DISHES
Mule SaladMule Hoof Soused
JELLIESMule FootPASTRY
Pea Meal Pudding Blackberry SauseCotton Seed PiesChina Berry Tarts
DESERTWhite Oak Acorns
Beech NutsBlackberry Leaf Tea
Genuine Confederate Coffee
Medical Situation
• Many houses, like Cedar Grove, became hospitals
• Of the 29,500 men Pemberton surrendered, 5,700 were hospital patients
Cedar Grove still has a cannon ball lodged in its parlor
Vicksburg Citizens Learned to Improvise
The July 2, 1863 edition of The Daily Citizen was printed
on wallpaper
Civilian Response to Surrender
• Alice Shannon wrote to her sister that she could see “that hateful [US] flag flying from the Court House Hill.”
• Surrendering on Independence Day was seen by many as proof of Pemberton’s disloyalty– Vicksburg would not celebrate the
Fourth of July for the next 82 years (until two months after the V-E Day in World War II)
Alice Shannon
Sieges Today?
• What do our current law of land warfare and rules of engagement imply about Vicksburg-like sieges?
Sarajevo• Judges at the Hague war crimes tribunal jailed Stanislav
Galic, a former Bosnian Serb general, for 20 years Dec 5, 2003 for deliberately shelling and shooting civilians during the siege of Sarajevo in the 1992-95 Bosnian war.
Iraq• One official at the Pentagon said that a siege of
Baghdad is likely but that its aim would be to break the will of the regime -- not of the majority of the residents. “This will not be Vicksburg,” the official said, referring to a nearly two-month siege of the city in Mississippi during the Civil War. “It’s not Sherman’s march to the sea. We do not want to destroy the people's resources, and we don't want to break their will. We will surround the city, and Gen. Franks will take the city on his terms and on his schedule.” – “Troops Reach Baghdad’s Airport,” Geoffrey
Mohan and Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times