by Timothy B. Smith
Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2024. Pp. xxv, 535.
Illus., maps, appends, notes, biblio., index. $54.95. ISBN:0700636552
Grant's Blitz that Isolated VicksburgFor several years Prof. Smith (Tennessee at Martin) has been writing an impressive five volume study of Vicksburg, now complete with The Inland Campaign for Vicksburg which, although the last issued, is actually the third in chronological order.
What makes this volume unusual is that, although many have written about the events of the seventeen days addressed in this book, it is the first single volume account of the extraordinary series of marches and major battles – Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hill, the Big Black River Bridge – that U.S. Grant fought in so short a time. These bottled up the Confederacy’s Army of Mississippi in fortress Vicksburg, setting the stage for the siege and ultimate surrender of the city.
Smith makes the case that many prior works touching on this period have often overlooked or only vaguely considered Grant’s supply system, which he views as quite efficient. He argues that despite large scale foraging, in the end, the Union Army of Tennessee, was primarily sustained by a new supply base established on the Yazoo River, which allowed Grant and his soldiers to finish the job in taking Vicksburg.
While Grant’s shifting of his army across the Mississippi to encircle Vicksburg is one of the most masterful movements in history, it was so daring that event Sherman and Lincoln had doubt about his plans. But having positioned his army on the high ground east of Vicksburg, he was in a position to finish the job of taking the Confederate bastion.
Smith gives the reader some insightful analysis of the 17 days operation, from Port Gipson to Champion Hill to the Big Black River Bridge, that bottled up the Confederate army and set the stage for its siege and surrender. An “op tempo” so impressive that bookish General-in-Chief Henry Halleck compared it to Napoleon’s victory at Ulm in 1805.
Smith closes the book by saying “Grant was always a step or two ahead the entire time” .
The Inland Campaign for Vicksburg is essential reading for anyone interested in the Civil War, and a fine finish to Smith’s multivolume treatment of the struggle for Vicksburg.
Our Reviewer: David Marshall has been a high school American history teacher in the Miami-Dade School district for more than three decades. A life-long Civil War enthusiast, David is president of the Miami Civil War Round Table Book Club. In addition to numerous reviews in Civil War News and other publications, he has given presentations to Civil War Round Tables on Joshua Chamberlain, Ulysses S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the common soldier. His previous reviews here include, From Antietam to Appomattox with Upton’s Regulars, Our Flag Was Still There, Never Such a Campaign, The Boy Generals: George Custer, Wesley Merritt, and the Cavalry of the Army of the Potomac, from the Gettysburg Retreat through the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864, Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South, Unforgettables, Bayou Battles for Vicksburg, Race to the Potomac, Conflict of Command, The World Will Never See the Like, The War that Made America, A Fine Opportunity Lost, The Iron Dice of Battle: Albert Sidney Johnston and the Civil War in the West, The Limits of the Lost Cause on Civil War Memory, War in the Western Theater, and J.E.B. Stuart: The Soldier and The Man.
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Note: The Inland Campaign for Vicksburg is also available in e-editions.
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