1. Tom Lovell Union Fleet Passing Vicksburg Limited Edition Print $225.00
Union General William T. Sherman once called the Mississippi River the spinal column of America. Certainly the goods and supplies that traveled on the river were the backbone of Confederate strength; the town of Vicksburg, Mississippi, was vital to control of the river. In December 1862, Shermans land forces, intending to halt the shipment of war supplies to the Confederacy, assaulted the city. It was an effort doomed to fail: the town was well fortified and its hills and sheer cliffs proved formidable. Sherman then retreated south, joining with the forces of General Ulysses S. Grant. Their combined troops, hoping to let the Union navy circumvent Vicksburg, tried to cut levees and canals from the Yazoo River and bayous. These attempts also failed.
