Vicksburg is the key the struggle for the Mississippi River - Shea, William L. (University of Nebraska Press, 2003)
Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002
Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-222) and index
The river and the war -- Gibraltar on the Mississippi -- On to Vicksburg -- The first onslaught -- Dark winter -- Detour in Louisiana -- River of no return -- The odds are overpowering -- The shriek of an eagle -- Indecision, indecision, indecision -- A grand and appalling sight -- Outcamp the enemy -- Too weak to save Vicksburg -- The glorious Fourth -- No longer a point of danger -- The Mississippi is opened
The struggle for control of the Mississippi River was the longest and most complex campaign of the Civil War. It was marked by an extraordinary diversity of military and naval operations, including fleet engagements, cavalry raids, amphibious landings, pitched battles, and the two longest sieges in American history. This fast paced, gripping narrative of the Civil War struggle for the Mississippi River is the first comprehensive single-volume account to appear in over a century