Engineering Victory: The Union Siege of Vicksburg

Engineering Victory: The Union Siege of Vicksburg
ISBN-10
0809333910
ISBN-13
9780809333912
Category
History
Pages
289
Language
English
Published
2015-03-07
Publisher
SIU Press
Author
Justin S. Solonick

Description

After opening with a sophisticated examination of nineteenth-century military engineering and the history of siege craft, Solonick discusses the stages of the Vicksburg siege and the implements and tactics Grant's soldiers used to achieve victory. As Solonick shows, though Grant lacked sufficient professional engineers to organize a traditional siege - an offensive tactic characterized by cutting the enemy's communication lines and digging forward-moving approach trenches - the few engineers available, when possible, gave Union troops a crash course in military engineering. Ingenious midwestern soldiers, in turn, creatively applied engineering maxims to the situation at Vicksburg, demonstrating a remarkable ability to adapt in the face of adversity. When instruction and oversight were not possible, the common soldiers improvised.

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