ANOTHER PROPERTY
[CIVIL WAR VICKSBURG CAMPAIGN]. BADEAU, Adam (1831-1895). Brigadier General, Union. Autograph manuscript signed ("General Adam Badeau"), written for War Stories for Boys and Girls, n.p., n.d. 33 pages, 4to, lined stationery, in a modern binder with transcription.
Details
[CIVIL WAR VICKSBURG CAMPAIGN]. BADEAU, Adam (1831-1895). Brigadier General, Union. Autograph manuscript signed ("General Adam Badeau"), written for War Stories for Boys and Girls, n.p., n.d. 33 pages, 4to, lined stationery, in a modern binder with transcription.
AN ACCOUNT OF VICKSBURG BY SHERMAN'S AIDE-DE-CAMP. An interesting account of the campaign for Vicksburg, written by Adam Badeau, aide-de-camp to General Sherman, future secretary to Ulysses S. Grant and Brigadier General. Badeau wrote extensively after the conclusion of the war and aided Grant in the completion of his famous Memoirs.
This manuscript, which represents a chapter from an apparently unpublished collection of narratives, gives a relatively neutral, detailed account of the lengthy campaign which led to the seige and capture of Vicksburg. Badeau introduces his reader to the Union objective: "The city of Vicksburg stands on a hill two hundred feet high...whoever occupies Vicksburg commands the most important river in America. The control of this river was the principal object of the Civil War." Noting Grant's determination to take the city by passage down the river, Badeau discusses the failed effort to build a canal "as the work was nearly complete, a rise in the river occurred, the banks of the canal broke, and the water rushed in...submerging the camps, sweeping away machinery and tools" and a separate effort to utilize the existing lake system for transport which also failed. Many voices began to call for Grant's removal but Badeau asserts that the General would not accept failure. Grant devised a new plan which would take him across the river south of Vicksburg into the heart of Mississippi, away from his supply line. Badeau writes: "No army in modern times had ever taken such a step. The very suggestion seemed to Grant's commanders like madness...But Grant had determined on his course and was not to be moved." It was this final push by Grant that led to the seige and fall of Vicksburg.
The fall of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, was integral to the success of the Union cause. Once the Mississippi River was under the complete control of Northern armies, the Confederacy was divided into two, denying it badly needed supplies from the West.
AN ACCOUNT OF VICKSBURG BY SHERMAN'S AIDE-DE-CAMP. An interesting account of the campaign for Vicksburg, written by Adam Badeau, aide-de-camp to General Sherman, future secretary to Ulysses S. Grant and Brigadier General. Badeau wrote extensively after the conclusion of the war and aided Grant in the completion of his famous Memoirs.
This manuscript, which represents a chapter from an apparently unpublished collection of narratives, gives a relatively neutral, detailed account of the lengthy campaign which led to the seige and capture of Vicksburg. Badeau introduces his reader to the Union objective: "The city of Vicksburg stands on a hill two hundred feet high...whoever occupies Vicksburg commands the most important river in America. The control of this river was the principal object of the Civil War." Noting Grant's determination to take the city by passage down the river, Badeau discusses the failed effort to build a canal "as the work was nearly complete, a rise in the river occurred, the banks of the canal broke, and the water rushed in...submerging the camps, sweeping away machinery and tools" and a separate effort to utilize the existing lake system for transport which also failed. Many voices began to call for Grant's removal but Badeau asserts that the General would not accept failure. Grant devised a new plan which would take him across the river south of Vicksburg into the heart of Mississippi, away from his supply line. Badeau writes: "No army in modern times had ever taken such a step. The very suggestion seemed to Grant's commanders like madness...But Grant had determined on his course and was not to be moved." It was this final push by Grant that led to the seige and fall of Vicksburg.
The fall of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, was integral to the success of the Union cause. Once the Mississippi River was under the complete control of Northern armies, the Confederacy was divided into two, denying it badly needed supplies from the West.