Vicksburg: The Bloody Siege that Turned the Tide of the Civil War

It was one of the bloodiest sieges of the war—a siege that drove men, women, and children to seek shelter in caves underground; where shortages of food drove people to eat mules, rats, even pets; where the fighting between armies was almost as nothing to the privations suffered by civilians who were under constant artillery bombardment—every pane of glass in Vicksburg was broken.

But the drama did not end there. Vicksburg was a vital strategic point for the Confederacy. When the city fell on...