MARCH 22, 1863:
General
Ulysses S. Grant's quixotic project to work gunships and troops around through
the swamplands and bayous in behind Vicksburg, Mississippi, was officially
abandoned on this day.
Having faced weeks of torrid tropical heat, exhausting
humidity, a mass outbreak of malaria, local Confederate snipers who had grown
up in and among these backwaters and could vanish among the tussocks, and ooze
so deep that it could swallow a man unlucky enough to set his foot in the wrong
place, Grant gave up the attempt to bypass Vicksburg, "The Gibraltar of
The Confederacy" by hacking a manmade oxbow creek/canal out of the
twisting jungle waters of "The Father of Waters." No matter how deep
Billy Yank dug, the river would silt right back up. The water in the swamplands
was too shallow and simply would not accommodate the draft of the Union
gunboats.
As consolation, the Union captured huge quantities of corn
and cotton meant to sustain the besieged Confederate city. The edibles were
used by Union troops, and enough cotton was seized to pay the price for a new
U.S. gunboat. Quite a few horses, mules and cattle renewed their allegiance to
the Union, as well.
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