In this thrilling narrative history of the Civil War’s most strategically important campaign, Winston Groom describes the bloody two-year grind that started when Ulysses S. Grant began taking a series of Confederate strongholds in 1861, climaxing with the siege of Vicksburg two years later. For Grant and the Union it was a crucial success that captured the Mississippi River, divided the South in half, and set the stage for eventual victory. Vicksburg, 1863 brings the battles and the protagonists of this struggle to life: we see Grant in all his grim determination, Sherman with his feistiness and talent for war, and Confederate leaders from Jefferson Davis to Joe Johnston to John Pemberton. It is an epic account by a masterful writer and historian.
Vicksburg, 1863
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Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Among the most visited of Civil War battlefields, Vicksburg here receives a narrative equal to its significance and popular interest. Though Vicksburg was obviously the strategic key to control of the Mississippi River, it was anything but clear how to unlock the place or to keep it locked. The military difficulties its geography presented to both attacker and defender underlie a perceptiveness present throughout Groom’s account: he grasps commanders’ options, senses the sturdiness of their military character, and dramatizes their choices in a way that awakens the inner armchair general in Civil War readers. Nor does Groom neglect the chain connecting the decisions of strategists to the tumultuous experiences of those on the receiving end, from Union and Confederate soldiers to plantation owners and their slaves. The present-tense flow in Groom’s prose enhances vividness, just as it captures the fogginess of war that beset the minds of generals and admirals who conducted the Vicksburg campaigns, of which there were more than half a dozen before Grant’s victory. A superior example of general-interest Civil War history, this is skillful work by Groom, also the author of several military histories and the novel Forrest Gump (1986). --Gilbert Taylor
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
“A fantastic read. . . . A serious cut above previous works on the subject. Reading Vicksburg 1863 is like spending a couple of evenings alone with Groom as he tells you a story dear to his heart. It is intimate, quirky, utterly fascinating and, ultimately, deeply personal. . . . Groom has established himself unquestionably as heir to the late Shelby Foote with this commanding, thoroughly entertaining narrative account.”
—Minneapolis Star-Tribune
“Brilliantly described. . . . Rarely has the story of such a lengthy and complicated campaign been told with such clarity and grace. . . . Groom’s book is full of such authentically rendered excitement. . . . He proves again that facts skillfully woven can be more moving than the products of the busiest imagination. . . . With Vicksburg, 1863, he has fully arrived as a narrative historian.”
—The Washington Post
“Groom’s mastery of plot and storytelling leaves him inordinately well-disposed to piece together the tangled mass of major battles and peashooter skirmishes . . . that made up the Vicksburg campaign. . . . “If Vicksburg seems like a very old story to tell, Groom’s lively account has a frighteningly contemporary sheen.”
—The Chicago Tribune
“Unique. . . . Offers fresh insights on the human costs of the war and what it meant to the nation. . . . Groom brings the novelist’s touch to history, personalizing characters . . . in an easily relatable way for the average reader.”
—The Associated Press
“A masterful telling of the pivotal Civil War siege and battle.”
—New York Post
“Illuminating. . . . Groom can help any reader understand and appreciate that when North met South in combat the issues weren’t one-dimensional and the outcome wasn’t a foregone conclusion.”
—The Vicksburg Post
“A galvanizing and harrowing account. . . . Relying on southern sensibilities, historical scrupulousness and a novelist’s feel for a good yarn, Groom plunges into this cauldron with a presentation that gives full vent to the cost in human lives and the enormous stakes for both sides.”
—The New Jersey Star-Ledger
“Groom’s command of the military facts, and his extraordinary mixture of vignettes big and small, brings this distant, chaotic, and shockingly violent episode to life.”
—The Weekly Standard
“With [Vicksburg, 1863] Groom attains the stratospheric narrative heights heretofore enjoyed by such popular-history masters as Bruce Catton, Shelby Foote and James M. McPherson. His pacing is so good, his attention to detail so riveting, and his flair for action writing so pitch-perfect that the reader is utterly absorbed and inexorably swept along. . . . There have been many books about Vicksburg, but none better than this.”
—Mobile Press-Register (Alabama)
“Civil-war buffs will be most interested in Winston Groom’s contribution to the contentious debate on whether General Joseph Johnston, the Confederate commander in the West, could and should have done more to relieve the defender of Vicksburg, General John Pemberton. Others will be struck more by the archaic nature of the Vicksburg campaign. The tactics of the besiegers and the sufferings of the besieged bring to mind medieval, or even Roman, times rather than mid-19th-century America.”
—The Economist
“Winston Groom bids fair to assume the mantle of the late Shelby Foote as a most eloquent and moving storyteller of the Civil War. His prose is unbeatable . . . while his pen portraits of individuals are crisp and incisive. The feel and smell and hardship of soldiers and civilians alike in a siege are all here in Vicksburg, 1863.”
—William C. Davis, author of Look Away! A History of the Confederate States of America
“An exciting, balanced account of what may have been the most decisive campaign of the Civil War. . . . It is all there—bravery and cowardice, competence and folly, fear and endurance, all with the constant, imponderable undertow of dumb luck, good and bad.”
—Stephen Fox, author of Wolf of the Deep
“[Groom] has delivered another tour de force. . . . Beautifully written, he places us in the minds and hearts of the citizens and soldiers who lived the battles and endured the hardships of war in the besieged city. This is a must read!”
—Frank J. Williams, Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court and founding Chair of The Lincoln Forum
—Minneapolis Star-Tribune
“Brilliantly described. . . . Rarely has the story of such a lengthy and complicated campaign been told with such clarity and grace. . . . Groom’s book is full of such authentically rendered excitement. . . . He proves again that facts skillfully woven can be more moving than the products of the busiest imagination. . . . With Vicksburg, 1863, he has fully arrived as a narrative historian.”
—The Washington Post
“Groom’s mastery of plot and storytelling leaves him inordinately well-disposed to piece together the tangled mass of major battles and peashooter skirmishes . . . that made up the Vicksburg campaign. . . . “If Vicksburg seems like a very old story to tell, Groom’s lively account has a frighteningly contemporary sheen.”
—The Chicago Tribune
“Unique. . . . Offers fresh insights on the human costs of the war and what it meant to the nation. . . . Groom brings the novelist’s touch to history, personalizing characters . . . in an easily relatable way for the average reader.”
—The Associated Press
“A masterful telling of the pivotal Civil War siege and battle.”
—New York Post
“Illuminating. . . . Groom can help any reader understand and appreciate that when North met South in combat the issues weren’t one-dimensional and the outcome wasn’t a foregone conclusion.”
—The Vicksburg Post
“A galvanizing and harrowing account. . . . Relying on southern sensibilities, historical scrupulousness and a novelist’s feel for a good yarn, Groom plunges into this cauldron with a presentation that gives full vent to the cost in human lives and the enormous stakes for both sides.”
—The New Jersey Star-Ledger
“Groom’s command of the military facts, and his extraordinary mixture of vignettes big and small, brings this distant, chaotic, and shockingly violent episode to life.”
—The Weekly Standard
“With [Vicksburg, 1863] Groom attains the stratospheric narrative heights heretofore enjoyed by such popular-history masters as Bruce Catton, Shelby Foote and James M. McPherson. His pacing is so good, his attention to detail so riveting, and his flair for action writing so pitch-perfect that the reader is utterly absorbed and inexorably swept along. . . . There have been many books about Vicksburg, but none better than this.”
—Mobile Press-Register (Alabama)
“Civil-war buffs will be most interested in Winston Groom’s contribution to the contentious debate on whether General Joseph Johnston, the Confederate commander in the West, could and should have done more to relieve the defender of Vicksburg, General John Pemberton. Others will be struck more by the archaic nature of the Vicksburg campaign. The tactics of the besiegers and the sufferings of the besieged bring to mind medieval, or even Roman, times rather than mid-19th-century America.”
—The Economist
“Winston Groom bids fair to assume the mantle of the late Shelby Foote as a most eloquent and moving storyteller of the Civil War. His prose is unbeatable . . . while his pen portraits of individuals are crisp and incisive. The feel and smell and hardship of soldiers and civilians alike in a siege are all here in Vicksburg, 1863.”
—William C. Davis, author of Look Away! A History of the Confederate States of America
“An exciting, balanced account of what may have been the most decisive campaign of the Civil War. . . . It is all there—bravery and cowardice, competence and folly, fear and endurance, all with the constant, imponderable undertow of dumb luck, good and bad.”
—Stephen Fox, author of Wolf of the Deep
“[Groom] has delivered another tour de force. . . . Beautifully written, he places us in the minds and hearts of the citizens and soldiers who lived the battles and endured the hardships of war in the besieged city. This is a must read!”
—Frank J. Williams, Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court and founding Chair of The Lincoln Forum
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 41 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
A talented Southern storyteller gives his version of the Vicksburg campaign. This book should serve to inform, or remind, readers of the importance of the six-month effort by the North to take the city that controlled shipping on the Mississippi River.
Winston Groom provides his take on almost everything that occurred from the present day vantage point of one who at heart wishes the South might have somehow acted in a way that did not lead to its ultimate abject defeat. He seems to think the North provoked the war (I know the South fired the first shots); he does not see why the hard war of General Sherman was necessary (I do); or why North and South could not simply come to a political compromise when the war turned bad for the South (I think because of the evil of slavery combined with a refusal by Southern leadership to accept the primacy of the federal union).
To me a most interesting and telling fact is contained in a minor foot note on page 155: After the Civil War, the city of Vicksburg did not officially celebrate The Fourth of July until 1945.
While I do not agree with all of Mr. Groom's political and social observations, I do think his book is entertaining and well written. The vivid descriptions of the numerous land battles and naval engagements make for compelling reading, while the many generals and admirals are brought to life.
Mr. Groom's book should help serve to refocus attention to the major and hard fought Union victory of July 4, 1863 at Vicksburg from the still headline battle of the same time, Gettysburg. While the few bloody days at Gettysburg remain the subject of enormous public attention, Vicksburg is the campaign (and Grant the general) that determined the Civil War's military outcome.
Winston Groom provides his take on almost everything that occurred from the present day vantage point of one who at heart wishes the South might have somehow acted in a way that did not lead to its ultimate abject defeat. He seems to think the North provoked the war (I know the South fired the first shots); he does not see why the hard war of General Sherman was necessary (I do); or why North and South could not simply come to a political compromise when the war turned bad for the South (I think because of the evil of slavery combined with a refusal by Southern leadership to accept the primacy of the federal union).
To me a most interesting and telling fact is contained in a minor foot note on page 155: After the Civil War, the city of Vicksburg did not officially celebrate The Fourth of July until 1945.
While I do not agree with all of Mr. Groom's political and social observations, I do think his book is entertaining and well written. The vivid descriptions of the numerous land battles and naval engagements make for compelling reading, while the many generals and admirals are brought to life.
Mr. Groom's book should help serve to refocus attention to the major and hard fought Union victory of July 4, 1863 at Vicksburg from the still headline battle of the same time, Gettysburg. While the few bloody days at Gettysburg remain the subject of enormous public attention, Vicksburg is the campaign (and Grant the general) that determined the Civil War's military outcome.
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Shelby Foote never claimed to be a historian and always referred to himself as a "story teller", Winston Groom falls into this category. This is not a serious history with many footnotes on each page. The book will not illuminate the thinking of Pemberton, nor analyze the military tactics of Grant. This is a good telling of the story of the North's campaigns to capture Vicksburg. This is not just Grant's campaign of 1863 but also all of the efforts to break the Confederacy's grip on the Mississippi River and split the South in two.
The book gives us a good foundation talking about how important the Mississippi River is to 19th century America and the founding of Vicksburg. While our attention is never taken from the city, the outside world is never forgotten. Richmond's wishes, directives and interference are never far from the surface and play a major role in the developing campaign. Events in Virginia, New Orleans and Port Hudson keep the war in perspective. The interaction between Pemberton, Johnston and Davis are given a proper place but is not over estimated. Grant's problems with Halleck, McClernand, the press and Washington play a role in the planning and pace of operations. Politics is almost as important as military operations in this book. This is correct as Vicksburg is of major interest to both presidents.
Are their problems? Yes, there are a number of problems with the story as the author chooses to tell it. First and foremost is the question of Grant's drinking. The author accepts as true incidents discredited by a number of current historians but well accepted at one time. The book has a number of statements about military operations that some historian's question. Again, most of these were generally accepted and still are by some historians. None of these problems is major nor will they cause real misunderstanding.
The author is from the South and his ancestors fought for the Confederacy. I have not found his Civil War stories to be part of the Lost Cause tradition. Nor have I found him to be excessively favorable to one side or the other. This is a well-told story of a complex military campaign that resulted in the capture of the "Gibraltar of the West". While not a great book, it is a good one and pulls together in one-volume a completed history of Vicksburg.
The book gives us a good foundation talking about how important the Mississippi River is to 19th century America and the founding of Vicksburg. While our attention is never taken from the city, the outside world is never forgotten. Richmond's wishes, directives and interference are never far from the surface and play a major role in the developing campaign. Events in Virginia, New Orleans and Port Hudson keep the war in perspective. The interaction between Pemberton, Johnston and Davis are given a proper place but is not over estimated. Grant's problems with Halleck, McClernand, the press and Washington play a role in the planning and pace of operations. Politics is almost as important as military operations in this book. This is correct as Vicksburg is of major interest to both presidents.
Are their problems? Yes, there are a number of problems with the story as the author chooses to tell it. First and foremost is the question of Grant's drinking. The author accepts as true incidents discredited by a number of current historians but well accepted at one time. The book has a number of statements about military operations that some historian's question. Again, most of these were generally accepted and still are by some historians. None of these problems is major nor will they cause real misunderstanding.
The author is from the South and his ancestors fought for the Confederacy. I have not found his Civil War stories to be part of the Lost Cause tradition. Nor have I found him to be excessively favorable to one side or the other. This is a well-told story of a complex military campaign that resulted in the capture of the "Gibraltar of the West". While not a great book, it is a good one and pulls together in one-volume a completed history of Vicksburg.
27 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The Vicksburg Campain has been begging for an accurate telling since the day it ended in 1863. Many have answered the call, including well-respected historians (Catton), novelists (Foote), and battlefield guides (Bearss), yet all have failed. Winston Groom, author of Forrest Gump, is the latest heavyweight to throw his hat into the ring with an entertaining spinning of the tried-and-true yarn.
Groom does not pretend to be a scholar, so his deference to those who have written before him is completely forgivable. The man is a masterful storyteller, and his weaving of first-hand accounts from average people with the reports and memoirs of the principal actors makes his story lively and engaging.
In the mold of Shelby Foote, Groom eschews the use of notes, leaving us guessing at his sources. He does refer to these sources in passing from time to time, for example quoting Brooks Simpson's groundbreaking biography of Grant, "Triumph Over Adversity." However, he proves later on that if the information gets in the way of a good story, he ignores his own sources. The funniest example of this is when he repeats the debunked story that Julia Grant was captured at Holly Springs by Van Dorn, but then includes an asterisk:
* other sources say she was in Oxford with Grant at the time
Yeah, ya think? Like the much-acclaimed biography of Grant that you yourself used as a source????
I found myself enjoying parts of this book immensely, and dying a little bit inside when I read other parts. Exactly like a box of choco-lits: to find the pralines and nougats, sometimes you have to eat half of that one with the non-descript and vaguely medicinal pink goo inside.
Perhaps the greatest aspect of this book is that it will be guaranteed to draw attention to Vicksburg, which is inarguably the greatest campaign ever fought on American soil yet somehow seems to have taken a back-seat to that skirmish fought in the east around the same time (help me out here ... think it starts with a G). Here's hoping "1863" goes to the top of the NYT bestseller list and is turned into a blockbuster film starring Brad Pitt, generating enough attention that serious scholars will finally get around to giving this campaign the attention and the telling that it deserves.
Groom does not pretend to be a scholar, so his deference to those who have written before him is completely forgivable. The man is a masterful storyteller, and his weaving of first-hand accounts from average people with the reports and memoirs of the principal actors makes his story lively and engaging.
In the mold of Shelby Foote, Groom eschews the use of notes, leaving us guessing at his sources. He does refer to these sources in passing from time to time, for example quoting Brooks Simpson's groundbreaking biography of Grant, "Triumph Over Adversity." However, he proves later on that if the information gets in the way of a good story, he ignores his own sources. The funniest example of this is when he repeats the debunked story that Julia Grant was captured at Holly Springs by Van Dorn, but then includes an asterisk:
* other sources say she was in Oxford with Grant at the time
Yeah, ya think? Like the much-acclaimed biography of Grant that you yourself used as a source????
I found myself enjoying parts of this book immensely, and dying a little bit inside when I read other parts. Exactly like a box of choco-lits: to find the pralines and nougats, sometimes you have to eat half of that one with the non-descript and vaguely medicinal pink goo inside.
Perhaps the greatest aspect of this book is that it will be guaranteed to draw attention to Vicksburg, which is inarguably the greatest campaign ever fought on American soil yet somehow seems to have taken a back-seat to that skirmish fought in the east around the same time (help me out here ... think it starts with a G). Here's hoping "1863" goes to the top of the NYT bestseller list and is turned into a blockbuster film starring Brad Pitt, generating enough attention that serious scholars will finally get around to giving this campaign the attention and the telling that it deserves.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
More than OKI but not outstanding
For those that have an interest in the history of the Civil War this is a book you can not miss. I would recommend that you read it after reading the memories of Grant
Published 8 days ago by OD
5.0 out of 5 stars
Totally enjoyed.
I have not caught onto the e-books, still like reading a book and turning pages. I am not a Civil War buff, just interested in learning more about it before our trip to Gettysburg... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Leonard R. Rider
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great read
We are going to Vicksburg in April and this book was recommended as a good one to read before the visit. My husband put it on his Kindle. He raves about it. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Patricia Brandt
3.0 out of 5 stars
Siege on the Mississippi
This is a well written history of the Civil War campaign to take Vicksburg and gain control of the Mississippi River in 1863, one of the Union's main strategic war objectives. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Brian Lewis
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vicksburg 1863
This book was good reading. The author writes great history as well as fiction. He also wrote Forrest Gump. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Bill
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent history
The Vicksburg campaign was critical to the overall strategy of splitting the CSA in two. Groom does an excellent job of blending civilian and military aspects of the fighting.
Published 8 months ago by Stephens Parker
2.0 out of 5 stars
Just started reading, but found some mistakes
Okay, only about a third into the book, but I have found some mistakes that scare me.
For example, the author has the gender of Grant's kids wrong. Read more
For example, the author has the gender of Grant's kids wrong. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Seth Mendelson
1.0 out of 5 stars
Whaaaa?
I bought both Shiloh and Vicksburg by Winston Groom on the recommendation of a friend. I started Vicksburg and was brought up short by the statement that Grant had four children,... Read more
Published 9 months ago by sidonia
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book.
This book is an easy read that moves quickly and covers the subject completely and accurately. Reading it is like sitting down with the author on his back porch while he tells you... Read more
Published 10 months ago by W. Brown
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great book needs more maps
I enjoyed the writing style and found the book very readable. There could have been more maps with greater detail to help understand the flow of the campaign. Read more
Published 10 months ago by E. White Jr.
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