The Most Glorious Fourth (Vicksburg and Gettysburg, July 4th, 1863)
by By Schultz, Duane P.
Category: History , United States , Civil War Period (1850-1877)

The story of the Independence Day that turned the tide of the Civil War. July 4, 1863, was a  glorious day for the Union cause. It saw the  surrender of Vicksburg and the retreat of  General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia after a crushing defeat at Gettysburg. In interweaving  the narratives of these two storied battles,  Duane Schultz has presented a compelling  blow-by-blow account of what is arguably the  most pivotal point of the entire conflict. All  the players are brought to life here, whether it is Lincoln agonizing in the telegraph office  while he waits for news from Generals Grant and  Meade, General Pete Longstreet trying to cajole  Lee into revising his plan of attack, or the  women of the towns of Vicksburg and Gettysburg  coming under fire and tending to the legions of  wounded. We see a nation in the midst of its  greatest convulsion, and we see that, while the  "Glorious Fourth" dashed the greatest  hopes of the Confederacy, the war was far from  over.