Bayou Battles for Vicksburg : The Swamp and River Expeditions, January 1-April 30, 1863 / Timothy B. Smith.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smith, Timothy B., 1969- author.

Series:

Modern war studies.

Modern War Studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Strategy--Tropical conditions--History--19th century.

Strategy.

Vicksburg (Miss.)--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Vicksburg (Miss.).

Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885--Military leadership.

Grant, Ulysses S.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (554 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Lawrence, Kansas : University Press of Kansas, [2023]

Summary:

"In Bayou Battles for Vicksburg, the third in sequence but fourth-published volume in his five-volume history of the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War, Tim Smith chronicles the third through seventh attempts by Ulysses S. Grant to capture the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi. The accepted strategy up to this point [in the] war was aligned with the principles of the Swiss theorist Antoine-Henri Jomini, whose work was taught at West Point, where commanders on both sides of the conflict had been educated. But Jomini didn't have anything to say about creeks, rivers, and bayous in a subtropical swamp environment. Moreover, Jomini emphasized secure supply lines and a slow, steady, unified approach to a target such as Vicksburg. Grant threw out the book with a bold, and ultimately successful, plan to divide his forces to accomplish multiple goals and to confuse the enemy by cutting levies, flooding whole sections of watersheds, and bypassing strongholds by digging canals far around them, thus avoiding a direct approach. Once Grant finally reached the high, dry ground on the east side of the Mississippi River on May 1, the next phase began: the inland overland campaign began, and it continued for the next seventeen days. This will be covered in the next, and last, in the series of Smith's Vicksburg volumes"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Table of Contents

Maps

Illustrations

Preface

Prologue: Vicksburg Not by the Book

1. We Were Out-Generaled Some Way": To January 1

2. "Can the Enemy Intend Another Attempt to Approach Vicksburg?": January 1-10

3. "We Have Disposed of This Tough Little Nut": January 11-13

4. "The Work of Changing the Channel of the Mississippi": January 14-31

5. "But Grand Is on Two Other Projects": February 1-15

6. "The Prospect of Opening the Pass Is Encouraging": February 16-28

7. "The Yankee Boats Are Here": March 1-15

8. "The Enemy Press Me on All Sides": March 16-21

9. "We Intend to Take the Boats": March 21-31

10. "This Is the Only Move I Now See as Practicable": April 1-12

11. "They Are About to Execute Some Plan": April 13-23

12. "Attracting Attention from Grant": April 24-29

13. "We Land the Army in the Morning": April 30

Epilogue: "But I Was on Dry Ground

Appendix A: Union Order of Battle for Arkansas Post, January 11, 1863

Appendix B: Confederate Order of Battle for Arkansas Post, January 11, 1863

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Back Cover.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780700635672

070063567X