The Battle of Vicksburg: The Turning Point of the US Civil War

When people think about all of the battles fought during the United States Civil War, the most famous is the Battle of Gettysburg. The majority would say it was the most important battle and the turning point of the war, however, that is not the case. The turning point of the Civil War occurred in the spring of 1863 when the Battle over Vicksburg was fought. Vicksburg was the key to success for the side who claimed victory and when the Union did just that, the war was changed from that point forward.

When the South seceded from the Union they took the most profitable natural factor with them, the Mississippi River. The Mississippi was as important to each side as anything else because it allowed various supplies and products to be traded around the nation, and around the world as well as travel from the north to the south. Whomever had control over the river would have a distinct advantage, right away. President Abraham Lincoln recognized this and even spoke to Union military leaders about it. Lincoln said, “…what a lot of land these fellows hold, of which Vicksburg is the key! The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket…. We can take all the northern ports of the Confederacy, and they can defy us from Vicksburg.” Unless the Union army was invincible in all other battles, which was not the case at all, Vicksburg would prove to be the key to victory.

Vicksburg, Mississippi was located directly in the middle of the Confederacy. In addition to containing the largest river in the nation, it held an even bigger strategic location that could greatly effect the South. Historian Bruce Catton noted this importance, “…Vicksburg broke the Confederacy into halves…and inflicted a wound that would ultimately prove mortal. The Confederates…at Vicksburg, they lost what they could not afford at all.” With the Confederacy, now a literally divided nation, their forces were backed into corners. There was no unity for the South who even started to pass the blame around for the loss at Vicksburg. Confederate leader Jefferson Davis, blamed a southern army General, Joe Johnston. When asked about blaming Johnston, Davis was quoted as saying, “Yes, from a want of provisions inside and a General outside who wouldn’t fight.” Johnston was ordered to protect Mississippi from Union forces, but instead, he retreated and allowed Union army leader, Ulysses S. Grant to pass through easier than expected. This blame shows how the morale of the South was deteriorating and with it, allowed the North to take advantage of it. Morale went to a new low after the loss at Vicksburg that high ranking Confederate officers no longer thought they had a chance to defeat the North. In a diary entry, Josiah Gorgas, the chief of Confederate ordnance wrote, “..The Confederacy totters to its destruction.”

The Union victory at Vicksburg did not only effect the South at home. The major loss had effects on them internationally as well. If Britain had officially recognized the South as an independent country, the North would lose without a doubt due to Britain’s dependence on Southern resources. If recognized, the South teamed with the navy from Britain would dismantle the North, and they knew it. A victory at Vicksburg would empower the South and potentially help them in international diplomacy. So when the North won at Vicksburg, there was no chance that Europe would physically get involved. The South’s failure held off any aid from Europe because they were not going to help a dying cause, which the South clearly was.

Vicksburg was officially surrendered to the North on July 4th, 1863. The Union Army had another cause to celebrate the nations independence day as the Confederacy’s future was looking grimmer each day. As Vicksburg was surrendered, the Confederacy surrendered nearly 30,000 soldiers and over 50,000 weapons with it. That meant that that was 30,000 less people the Union officers had to account for.

There was no logical way that the South could rebound from such a devastating defeat. They lost their major natural trade and travel force in the Mississippi River. The Confederacy was split in half and allowed the Union to pick and choose where they wanted to fight and how. The South lost almost 10,000 men due to death and products such as ammunition and weapons, they could not afford such a major loss of life and resources.

It was an important victory in that whomever won Vicksburg would have the upper hand for the rest of the Civil War. The Battle of Vicksburg proved to be the turning point of the US Civil War that the Union was looking for. The victory deflated the South and any chance they thought they had of winning the war, was slim to none. The North was on a new high thanks to this victory and even though the US Civil War lasted another two years, the Confederacy was never the same again.