History of the Civil War in 10 Battles, Part 11: Vicksburg (1 of 2)

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 23 October 2018

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the next two episodes Scott and James will discuss the Siege of Vicksburg. In the summer of 1863, Grant’s Army of the Tennessee came to Vicksburg, located on a high bluff converged on Vicksburg, a Mississippi town on the same river. Union occupation of the town was critical to control of the strategic river. If it fell then the Confederacy would completely lose access to critical supply lines in Texas and Mexico.

Grant's six-week campaign began in June. His army came to Vicksburg, which was defended by Confederate General John C. Pemberton's men, who built a series of trenches, forts, redans, and artillery lunettes surrounding the city. Grant's army surrounded Pemberton and outnumbered him two to one. Trapped for six weeks, the residents of Vicksburg were forced to dig caves and eat rats to survive. But, due to Pemberton's diligence and resourceful mind, they continued to trust his command despite dire circumstances.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History of North America podcast is a sweeping historical saga of the United States,
0:09.3	Canada, and Mexico from their deep origins to our present epoch.
0:14.1	Join me, Mark Vinet, on this exciting, fascinating epic journey through time, focusing on the compelling,
0:20.7	wonderful, and tragic stories of North America's inhabitants, heroes, villains, leaders,
0:27.1	environment, and geography.
0:29.5	I invite you to come along for the ride!
0:59.5	Welcome to the History Unplugged Podcast, the unscripted show that celebrates unsung
1:13.6	heroes, myth busts historical lies, and rediscover the forgotten stories that changed our world.
1:21.3	I'm your host, Scott Rank.
1:29.0	Welcome back to our series on the most important battles in the Civil War.
1:33.2	Things are going very poorly for the Union, the last we left off.
1:37.4	Especially with Chancellor'sville, the Union disaster, it has been defeat after defeat.
1:41.9	Well, we've looked mostly at the Eastern Theater, but we haven't looked at the West,
1:46.8	and also because we're looking at the major conflicts, there are many other smaller battles
1:52.3	that sometimes we gloss over, or we can't say too much about, even though in the wider
1:56.9	scope of the war, they are critically important.
1:59.3	So what we're going to do is, in this episode, first we'll look at what is happening in
2:04.5	the West, then we're going to look at the Siege of Vicksburg, or more broadly the Vicksburg
2:10.0	campaign, which is a very critical moment in the Civil War.
2:14.0	So let's start out with the West.
2:15.8	So James, what's happening out there, at the same time that everything's happening out
2:20.5	in the East that we've already discussed?
	...

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