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June 10, 2015 - January 24, 2019
acting on behalf of the state government, responded heatedly: “I have to state that Mississippians don’t know, and refuse to learn, how to surrender to an enemy. If Commodore [Flag Officer] Farragut or Brigadier-General [Major General] Butler can teach them, then let them try.” Autry’s reductions in rank for Farragut and Butler were likely intentional insults rather than mistakes. Martin L. Smith, commanding Confederate forces in the city, replied similarly, “Having been ordered to hold these defenses, it is my intention to do so as long as in my power.” And Mayor Lazarus Lindsay added,
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Hilarious
Surprisingly to the soldiers, many citizens in Vicksburg condemned their presence because they feared more Confederate soldiers would attract more Union attention. Even now, some residents clung to the notion that the war would pass them by, and they did not want to deal with any outsiders, even men defending their city. Soldiers went to work anyway, burning excess cotton, constructing fortifications and campsites, and fighting sickness, especially outbreaks of measles.
“It becomes my duty to give you notice to remove the women and children beyond the range of our guns within twenty-four hours, as it will be impossible to attack the defenses without injuring or destroying the town, a proceeding which all the authorities of Vicksburg seemed determined to require. I had hoped that the same spirit which [induced] the military authorities to retire from the city of New Orleans, rather than wantonly sacrifice the lives and property of its inhabitants, would have been followed here.
“You have heard that I was incompetent, and a traitor; and that it was my intention to sell Vicksburg. Follow me, and you will see the cost at which I will sell Vicksburg. When the last pound of beef, bacon, and flour, the last grain of corn, the last cow and hog and horse and dog shall have been consumed, and the last man shall have perished in the trenches, then and only then will I sell Vicksburg.” Despite the obvious hyperbole, the words boosted morale.5
PEMBERTON QUOTE ON MAY 18, 1863
The 13th U.S. Infantry took heavy casualties as they came up from a ravine and crossed a hill. “Onward to the charge was the motto, and most gallantly did we charge,” wrote one. At times subject to crossfire from Stockade Redan and the 27th Louisiana Lunette, these army regulars struggled to within a stone’s throw of the redan before being forced to take cover “to keep from being annihilated.” Survivors counted some fifty-five holes in their regimental flag, and one noted, “Just after dark the rebels set a house on fire to keep us from getting our killed and wounded off the battlefield.”
MAY 19, 1863 failed assault
