Why was a Union victory at Vicksburg so important for the North?

Answer 1

The Union gained full control of the Mississippi River. and the union had control of food which made the city eat horses, rats and other things to survive then the confederates surrendered and they immediately sent food

Answer 2

It was important because it solidified Union control of the Mississippi River, cutting the Confederacy in half. This completed The Anaconda Plan to surround the South and enforce a blockade. With the West having been largely pacified at the time of the battle this narrowed the front and allowed the Northern Army to concentrate manpower and resources on the East without having to worry about an army attacking from behind. The Battle of Vicksburg was Grant's first real foray into the South as commander of the Army of Tennessee and can, arguably, be considered the turning point of the war. Vicksburg was also important because it imported food and supplies from west of the Mississippi. From Vicksburg, the South could then ship supplies to Southern forces to the east.

Previous attempts to capture Vicksburg proved to be fruitless. As it turned out only a siege caused Vicksburg to fall.

Answer 3

Capturing Vicksburg allowed the union to used the whole Mississippi Valley as a staging area for future campaigns and opened up communications all the way from St. Louis to New Orleans, which was captured from the Gulf side. This freed Grant to attack Chattanooga without having to worry about being counterattacked from the rear. This, in turn, led to Sherman's successful invasion of Georgia the following year. It also convinced Lincoln that Grant was the officer to take overall command of all Union forces.

Answer 4

It liberated the Mississippi, isolating all Confederates to the west of the river, putting this important military highway in Union hands, and freeing Grant to go to the aid of the Army of the Cumberland in Chattanooga.

Answer 5

It ended the war in the West, took 30,000 Confederates out of the war, liberated the Mississippi, isolated all Confederates to the West of the river, and released Grant and Sherman to fight in the East.

Answer 6

If the north was able to capture Vicksburg they could control the entire Mississippi river in which the could transport goods and troops up and down the river

Answer 7

The Confederate military high command saw the Propaganda value for the Union if Vicksburg was captured, however, none of the top generals believed that Vicksburg was of logistic or of military importance. Generals Lee, Johnston, and Beauregard believed that Middle Tennessee was the key in the West. Beauregard had already charged it off once New Orleans had been captured. The aspect of Vicksburg as a supply conduit had long passed before Vicksburg fell. The three Confederate states west of the Mississippi had ample supplies of its own and the free border with Mexico and those ports as well as Texas ports were not effected by the loss of Vicksburg. Th e assumption that supplies flowed west to east via Vicksburg was incorrect. If anything it was the revers. With that said the three states west of the Mississippi had long been distinct entities of their own.

Answer 8

Contrary to popular belief, the siege and surrender of the Confederate city fortress of Vicksburg was a propaganda victory for the North. In fact, the Union military and US President Lincoln created this propaganda victory themselves. Important facts concerning Vicksburg are as follows:1. The Confederate Military High Command did not believe that Vicksburg had little logistical or military value;

2. Despite this, the Union had conducted from 1862 to 1863, three serious campaigns and a siege in order to force the city's surrender;

3. These campaigns were well publicized in the Northern press and the Union's repeated failures magnified the city's importance and its value;

4. The fact that military control of the Mississippi River was part of General Winfield Scott's original plan to end the Southern rebellion, the Anaconda Plan, now gave Vicksburg identification value. It was now a name brand place;

5. The Union already had control of the Mississippi River, and the cover of the night gave Union gunboats access to all parts of the river except Vicksburg;

6. The idea that Vicksburg was a Confederate conduit for shipping Western supplies to the East was erroneous. It is true that for a time, supplies flowed East to West;

7. The propaganda phrase of " cutting the Confederacy in half", was a display of bad mathematics. The South had three of its eleven states located west of the Mississippi River and one state, Louisiana already had the Confederate city of New Orleans under control since May of 1862;

8. Texas had its own supplies and had an open border to Mexico and Mexico's Gulf and Pacific coasts if needed;

9. Texas bordered Arkansas and western Louisiana, and if needed, that border could exchange men and supplies in both directions;

10. After the fall of New Orleans, Confederate general PT Beauregard had already charged off Vicksburg, and General Lee convinced Confederate president Jefferson Davis that reinforcing Vicksburg with troops from Virginia was not in the South's best interest;

11. As late as May, 1862, the South had placed only 3,600 troops to defend Vicksburg. Union estimates were overly generous and incorrectly believed that Vicksburg had a garrison of up to 10,000 troops. It can be pointed out here that General McClellan was not the only general to over estimate the the enemy's troop numbers;

12. Confederate generals understood that Vicksburg was only one of many points on the Mississippi River that Union cargo ships could be harassed. This was the opposite view of President Lincoln and General Halleck. They directed that generals Grant and Sherman make every effort to capture Vicksburg;

13. Any loss in transit based on the fall of Vicksburg could and did not hurt the Confederate supply situation at all. This was due to the fact that the three effected states had long before been logistically separated;

14. The Confederate "west' had its own supply of food and livestock;

15. The reinforcement plans of Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War Randolph and General Johnston, had been falsely based on the idea that Arkansas had enormous and redundant forces. Therefore the belated rush to transport troops to Vicksburg, was for the South a hidden benefit. The time and resources would have been wasted;

16. As time would tell, Union cargo transport on the Mississippi River after the fall of Vicksburg was insignificant when compared to 1860 tonnage;

17. With that said, there was little to no supply transport utilization that was helped by the Union's control of Vicksburg;

18. Military historians believe that the Union troops now required to garrison Vicksburg were a waste of precious time and Union troops could have been better used elsewhere; and

19. If there was a positive gain for the Union it was the capture of over 60,000 rifles, many of British origin demonstrated had poorly the Union blockade was in denying imported weapons to places hundreds of miles from New Orleans.

Answer 9

It allowed the union yo control the Mississippi River.

Answer 10

It liberated the Mississippi and ended the war in the West, enabling Grant to rescue the Army of the Cumberland, besieged in Chattanooga.