Before the Civil War, Vicksburg was a small Mississippian city with a population less than 5,000. Nicknamed the ?Queen City of the Bluff? it sat atop a bluff over a horseshoe bend in the Mississippi River. It boasted three newspapers, a theatre, and an orchestra. Vicksburg was in the center of the south with several telegraph lines and railroads to major cities. It controlled the Mississippi from its highpoint 300 feet above the river. When the war …showed first 75 words of 2552 total…

…showed last 75 words of 2552 total…following morning on July 4th (Pemberton thought he would get better terms if he surrendered on Independence day) the Confederates marched out and stacked their arms in a pile. Most of the captured troops were immediately paroled. When Port Hudson heard of Vicksburg?s collapse they followed suit and surrendered on July 9. The Mississippi River was captured and the north controlled the western theatre. One observer proclaimed it the ?greatest strategic victory of the war.?