Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-04-12
When vicksburg Fell

near at hand, 1t is timely opportu-
nifty to remember some of the great
crises in Confederate history.
When the news reached Washing
ton city that Vicksburg had fallen
the victory for federal troops at
Gettysburg was also received.
General Grant sent the following
dispatch from Cairo. the nearest
point where telegraph office could
be reached. Here is the dispatch
he sent to that point, by Captain
w. M. Dunn. of his staff:
1.-THE enemy surrendered this morn
ing. The only terms allowed is their
parole as prisoners of war. This I
regard as a great advantage to us
at this moment. 1t saves proba bly,
several days in the capture and
leaves troops and transports ready
with a large force moves Immediately
On Johnston to drive him from the
state. 1 will send troops to the relief
Of Banks and return the Ninth Army
Corps to Burnside"
In his memoirs. General Grant
writes: This news. with the vic
tory at Gettysburg. lifted a great
lold of anxiety from the minds of
the president, his cabinet and the
loyal people all over the north. Tie
late of the Confederacy was sealed
when Vicksburg fell. Much hard
lighting was to be done afterwards,
and many precious lives were to be
sacrificed, but the morale was with
after
"Pemberton and his army were
kept in Vfclsburg until the whole
could be paroled. The paroles were
in duplicate by organization. Zone
oh FnHnro1e cd
crates, and signed by the command
ing officers of the companies by
regiments.) Duplicates were made
for each soldier, and signed by each
individually, one to be retained by
the soldier signing and one to be
fused to sign their paroles-prefeT-
ring to be sent north as prisoners
to being sent back to fight again.
Others again kept out of the way,
hoping to escape either alternative.
"Pembertons appealed to me in per per,
| their paroles, but declined. 1t also
leaked out that many of the men who
had signed these paroles intended
to desert and go to their homes, 80
soon as they got out Of our lines.
Pemberton, hearing this, again ap-
! ed arms for a battalion to act as
guards in keeping his men together
while being marched to camp in
| instruction, where he expected to
keep them until exchanged. This re-
quest 1 also declined. 1t was, pre-;
cisely what 1 expected and hoped
that, they would do. 1 told him
would see to it that they marched
out Of my lines in good order. By
| the 18th, just one week after the
surrender, the paroles We're complet-
ed, and the Confederate garrison
marched out. Many deserted and
| fewer of them were ever returned to
the ranks to fight again, than would
| have been the case had the surrer-
Ger been unconditional, and the pris-
oners sent to the James river to De
| paroled."
1t was a gloomy day for us in
| Georgia when the news reached us.
General Pemberton was a diSappvlnt-
| ment, to say the least that can be
said of him as military command
| err He was openly accused by re-
| turned soldiers as disloyal to the
| Confederacy. He is never exploited
on Memorial day as hero Of the
dead Confederacy. Such is life! And
| such is war! And with such incom-
petent officers the ConfederaCy went
gloom. Says General Grant again:
''At Vicksburg $1,000 prisoners were
surrendered, together with 172 can
| non, about $4,000 muskets and a
large amount of ammunition. The
small arms of the enemy We're far
superior to the bulk of ours" We
| were got taught that lesson in the
records which had been published.
After the surrender, ] author
| ICED all co1onelS whose regiments
were armed with inferior muskets to
| place them in the stack Of captured
arms, and replace them with the lat
ter. A large number Of arms, turned
into the ordnance department as cap
tured, were thus arms that had really
bee used by the Union army in the
capture of Vicksburg. Upon the
surrender Of the garrison of Vicks-
burg, there were three things that
demanded immediate attention:
First, to send a force to drive. the
enemy from our rear and out of the
state. Second, to send reinforce
ments to Banks at Port Hudson to
complete the triumph of opening the
Mississippi river from it's source to
its mouth. Third, to inform the
authorities at Washington and the
north of the good news, to relieve
their long suspense ad stregthen
their confidence in the ultimate sue
cess of the cause they had SO much
surrender of Vicksburg almost as
soon as it occurred, and Immediately
fell back on Jackson. On July
Sherman was within ten miles CT
jackson, and on July IL was close up
to the defenses of the city and she'll
ing the town. This siege was Kept
up until the morning of the 18th,
when it was found that the enemy
had evacuated during the night. The
weather was very hot, the roads
dusty and the water bad. Johnston
destroyed the roads as he passed, and
had so much the start that pursuit
was useless. but Sherman sent
Steele's division to Brandon, 4 miles
east of Jackson" Again: II wrote
to Sherman: Impress upon the men
the Importance Of going through the
state in an orderly manner. abstain
ing from taking anything not abso-
lutely necessary for their subsistence
when when travelling. They should
try to create as favorable an impress
sion as possible upon the people,
What pity it was that Grant was
not in chief command when Tecum-
sch Sherman crossed the state of
Ill