Customer Reviews

Vicksburg 1863

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I recommend this book. I am not a Civil War fanatic but I grew up in Maryland. My limited view of the Civil War were the events around the Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The whole Mississippi theater of the Civil War was unknown to me.

I found this book easy to read (my first real Civil War history read). Very interesting stories of the war, politics, personalities and people caught up in this war. Almost makes me want to visit the area to see the city and local historical sites.

I've never had much interest in the Civil War, but found this book to be very enlightening. The first perhaps third is spent introducing many of the prominent historical figures, but done one at a time and with some depth, so that in later reading it is easy to remember their characters. The importance of Vicksburg is made clear, and the actual siege is developed in the latter part of the book. I found it an easy and interesting read, and highly recommend it to anyone. You don't have to be a historian to enjoy it.

If you prefer a fine photograph to an excellent painting, Winston Groom's Vicksburg 1863 might not be your book. Groom, born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Mobile, Alabama, writes a nuanced, rich, and many layered account of the fall of Vicksburg to Union forces. In proposing his theory that the fall of Vicksburg was a deeper blow to the South than the same day (July 4th, 1863) defeat of Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg, Groom verbally paints this almost unknown epic with all the richness that a well-wielded brush and a lushly daubed pallet can bring, and none of the rigidity that a pixel or silver-iodide based photo demands. Groom does much more than simply portray famous/infamous personalities, provide dates of combat, report casualty numbers, and detail geographic migrations of troops. How? Let me count a few of the ways.

Providing well chosen biographical nuggets and quotes, Groom brings to vibrant life the major players of the Vicksburg drama. William T. Sherman,U.S. Grant, Admiral (Damn the torpedoes!)Farragut, Jefferson Davis, General Joseph Johnston, General Pemberton (defender of Vicksburg)and a host of lesser known, but nonetheless fascinating, participants in this struggle leap into holographic focus in Groom's proof that the pen can be mightier than the camera. While it may be true that a picture is worth a thousand words, it is also true that Vicksburg 1863 is worth more than thousands of photos (of note is that Groom does include several pages of stunning Civil War photography). The ability to paint historical figures fully fleshed is a treasured, but not unique, gift. To move from good to fascinating, Vicksburg 1863 must offer more. And it does.

Feminists, and others who prefer to think of history as more than a collection of dates of famous battles and wars, frequently lambaste the term "history" as being synonymous with "His story" as in history is almost invariably described from a man's point of view. With Vicksburg 1863, Groom did not accomplish anything that will cause Gloria Steinem to sing him hosannas, but he might well get a respectful nod from her. By liberally quoting women, particularly from the diaries of Kate Stone and Emma Balfour, one gains fascinating access to the conditions that people lived through during times of battle. One sees the attempts to conquer Vicksburg, and its eventual fall, through the eyes of women, men, soldiers and civilians, young boys and girls, and even from the point of view of pets and livestock. Groom's approach moves the reader well beyond concerns about victory and defeat, slavery versus abolition, states rights versus federalism, and well into the contemplation of war as folly and needless destruction. Groom does this all without a detectable tinge of moralism or preachiness. He reports the story, you get to make your own conclusions.

Any five star book of the historical genre has a responsibility to the reader to provide some "Holy Cow! Who woulda' thunk??" facts that delight the mind and tickle the fancy. Stanley Karnow did this in his book about Vietnam, identifying, for example the first American president to send armed forces to Vietnam: Abraham Lincoln. Vicksburg 1863 is filled with more than adequate fascinalia to keep the history buff entertained, e.g. Grant's General Orders No. 11, which expelled Jews as a class from the territory that Grant was in charge of.

Does Groom have the chops to do a sweeping synthesis of the Civil War in general, and Vicksburg in particular? Briefly, yes. Raised a Southern boy, an alumni of a southern military school, a Vietnam War vet (1965-1969), and an accomplished journalist and author, he speaks with brain, heart, and quiet (but undeniable) authority. The history enthusiast that prefers a crisp static photo to represent truth may squirm a bit with the way Groom approaches Vicksburg. The aficionado of, for example, Monet's depiction of a garden, will thrive on the deeper layers of reality about Vicksburg in 1863 that may only be reached by permitting a bit of blurriness around the edges.

Before reading Vicksburg, 1863 by Winston Groom, I had no clue that the author of Forrest Gump was also an accomplished historian. Groom provides us with an informative and very readable book about the Vicksburg Campaign.

In the past four year, I have read quite a number of Civil War books. Most go into great detail about Gettysburg (Groom calls it a raid), and the surrender of Vicksburg is merely a footnote. Groom recounts the 6-month campaign to gain control of Vicksburg and thus, Union control of the Mississippi River. Even Lincoln knew that Vicksburg was "the key" as the port city was able to supply food, supplies and even troops throughout the south. Ironically, before the Civil War, Vicksburg was very pro-Union. But once the war began, the people of Vicksburg became loyal Confederates.

Groom makes this complicated and long campaign easy reading. General U.S. Grant and his troops made eight different attempts on Vicksburg (both land and water) before finally marching to Jackson, and then returning to Vicksburg on the land-side. After three failed attempts to take the city, Grant then began his famous siege. CSA General John Pemberton finally surrendered the city on July 4, 1863.

For much of Vicksburg, 1863, this story is about Union General Grant vs. Confederate General Pemberton. Grant proved to be tenacious and brilliant, although his staff had a full-time job in keeping him sober. After a Confederate raid at Holly Springs in which the Rebels captured all his supplies, Grant sent his troops out to forage and discovered that they didn't need a supply line to survive. Former Philadelphian John Pemberton never had the confidence of his men because of his northern-background. Still, he did the best that he could--especially without the support of General Joseph Johnston. This book is also filled with many what-ifs. What would have happened if Johnston had thrown his support behind Pemberton? Of what might of happened if James Longstreet's divisions had been sent to Vicksburg from North Carolina, instead of to Gettysburg?

Grant wrote that "the fate of the Confederacy was sealed at Vicksburg" and Groom theorizes what would have happened if Davis had petitioned Lincoln for peace in July of 1863. "The Union would have been restored, slavery abolished, and the South could have retired from the field with honor and with its economy more or less intact, instead of the bankruptcy, humiliation, and ruin that attended its ultimate surrender."

I especially liked the human interest stories in Vicksburg, 1863. During a truce to bury dead, "men of both armies came out from their lines and began to mix and mingle. Some played cards, some tried to barter, but the Confederate soldiers had little to offer except tobacco or the occasional war souvenir that they exchanged for Yankee coffee, fat meat, and hard tack." The diary entries of several Vicksburg
women were especially good.

This book includes several aides for the reader that should be included in every book about Civil War battles. They include 10 maps and a guide to military organization, weapons and tactics. I found these most helpful. Groom also included dozens of photographs of military personnel, Vicksburg scenes, boats, cannons, and the women diarists. Two things Groom does not include (and the reason I did not give Vicksburg, 1863 5 stars) are endnotes and an extensive bibliography.

Overall however, I think that Vicksburg, 1863 helps modern readers of the Civil War understand the Vicksburg Campaign and the importance of Vicksburg's surrender to the Union.

Winston Groom provides interesting little bios about the soldiers and politicians involved in the battle to take Vicksburg. For instance, I didn't know that Jefferson Davis was married to President Zachary Taylor's daughter.

The rest of the book deals with Ulysses S. Grant's frustrating attempts to take the most important river port on the Mississippi. Grant seemed to be the only general in the west who understood that taking Vicksburg would virtually cut the Confederacy in half, denying them food and materials from Texas and the rest of the rebel states. Grant tried to take the port by bombarding it with artillery from the ironclads on the river; he tried to bypass the town by cutting a canal, twice, and he finally floated past the town and attacked from the rear with a little help from defective Confederate artillery fuses.

Much of VICKSBURG 1863 deals with the incompetence of the generals, especially the higher-ups. General Joseph E. Johnston, rebel commander in the west, is delt the most criticism. If he had sent troops to attack Grant's army from the rear he could have decimated Grant's siege force, but Johnston was worried he'd lose Tennessee, which he ultimately did anyway. General Halleck, supreme commander of the Union force, is also portrayed as too timid with a habit of sending conflicting orders. More generals than you would think simply disobeyed orders. One of the worst was a corps commander and political general on Grant's staff, John McClernand. He attacked when he wasn't supposed to and stood his ground when he was supposed to attack. He was finally cashiered when he tried to blame the other corps commanders for Grant's failed frontal attack before the siege.

There are lots of illuminating pictures in the book, including some of rebel civilians who wrote journals about the siege. I would have liked to see one of Freddie Grant, Grant's twelve-year-old son who spent most of the battle at his father's side. Of course part of Grant's bio addresses Grant's drinking problem. According to Winston Groom, it was true but only during down times when Grant was bored, never during an actual battle. When his wife was around he was a veritable teetotaler and his chief of staff, General Rawlins, was not afraid to chastise him when he did fall off the wagon.

Groom provides an epilogue of sorts which tells what happened to the principal characters after the war, something always appreciated by the Civil War addict.

For someone who wants to read about one of the most significant turning points of the Civil War, but not get buried in details, this book is perfect. Groom takes you back to 1863 and sets the stage for the siege of Vicksburg in this book. He doesn't spend a lot time with the battles and all the details of the commanders, positions of troops, etc. - but keeps your interest and allows both the civil war buff and non-buff to gain a perspective of that famous battle and its implications to the future of the war.

This is a fun read - I see with other reviews that this book contains some errors - but I would point out that unless you are writing or teaching about the Civil War, these errors will not matter to you. This book is not dry, but instead a very good read and introduces you to some interesting characters including the women who wrote some of the famous diaries of this period. I highly recommend Vicksburg, 1863 by Winston Groom.

Warning -- there are so many errors of fact in this book that one should consider it as a "story" rather than history. Please allow me to mention a couple that show the author weaving a story rather than reporting history in a scholarly fashion.

The author states that concerning James H. Wilson; "After Vicksburg he was promoted to brigadier general and switched to cavalry, in which he served under Sherman throughout the Battle of Atlanta." The truth is that Lt. Col. Wilson went with Grant to Chattanooga after Chickamauga and then was sent to Washington to reorganize the Cavalry Bureau. Upon Grant's taking command of all the Federal armies in February, 1864, he relieved Wilson of his Cavalry Bureau post and gave him a division in the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Wilson's performance was somewhat spotty during 1864 although he remained a favorite of Grant's who showed promise. Sherman was disappointed with his cavalry during the Battle of Atlanta, and Grant sent Wilson to Sherman where Wilson reported in on November 23, 1864, well after the Battle of Atlanta. Wilson then went with Thomas while Kilpatrick went with Sherman on his march through Georgia and the Carolinas. At no time was Wilson with Sherman at the Battle of Atlanta.

The comment that "local lore" stated that Grant's wife was captured at Holly Springs by Van Dorn in December, 1862 is ridiculous. She was with Grant at the time in Oxford. Apparently fact is giving way here to a cracking good story. Maybe that was the purpose of this work.

There are also a number of minor errors such as on page 75, "With the fall of Fort Donelson, ..." which should read, "With the fall of Fort Henry, ..." since Donelson had not yet been attacked. Such carelessness does not belong in a history book.

I would also like to register a comment on the author's discourse over the OR (Official Records) and the Southern Historical Society Papers. These two sets, the OR of 128 volumes and the SHSP of 52 volumes, can be purchased together in print for $2,500.00, (not the SHSP alone for $1,500.00 as Broom states) and should be in the library of every historian interested in the Civil War. They may be available on CDs, but since an historian is likely to have several volumes open at one time to many page markers while performing research, attempting to use a CD is an exercise in going blind and limiting research. One of the dings on Shelby Foote when he wrote his three volume story of the Civil War was that he accessed the OR in a library and his narrative of the Civil War read like a novel. Somehow Ken Burns, the foremost Northern propagandist today liked Foote and used him repeatedly in his TV semi-documentary on the Civil War that presented the North as heroic and the South as evil defenders of slavery. In many respects this book could have been writted by Shelby Foote the storyteller and consigned to a bottom shelf to gather dust after my initial read.

Author Groom does not argue excessively in behalf of the Lost Cause, but there is a decidedly Southern tilt to his story. Frankly, this is to be expected since ALL of the battles in the book took place on Southern soil (with the technical exception of Belmont in Southern Missouri that was actually Southern-controlled territory at the time of the battle.)

I purchased this book in the hopes it might be a good one-volume account of the battle (probably including the approach campaign by Grant that began at Belmont and the approach from the South starting with the taking of New Orleans.) In that I was disappointed; and the three volume set by Bearss supplemented by the first volume of Grant's autobiography remain the definitive accounts.

In short, this is an interesting book with lively prose, but the reader should be cautioned not to take its facts or commentary at face value. The author would have done better to seek the assistance of his friend Charles Bracelen Flood whose books on the Revolutionary and Civil Wars are excellent.