Why is the Battle of Vicksburg considered a turning point in the Civil War?

Answer 1

By closing the Mississippi to Southern traffic, Grant prevented reinforcements and supplies from getting to the rest of the South from Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas. It meant that Federal forces could use it to strike at will anywhere along the Mississippi Valley.

Answer 2

Because it ended the war in the West, enabling Grant to come to the aid of the Army of the Cumberland.

It also liberated the Mississippi, cutting-off all Confederate units to the West of the river.

Answer 3

The fall of Vicksburg was a strategically decisive event in the Civil War. Grant prevented the use of the Mississippi Valley by the Confederates, and allowed Union forces to use it with impunity, preventing the South from receiving supplies and reinforcements from Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. It completed phase two of The Anaconda Plan, cinching the blockade, choking off the South.

Answer 4

It closed the Mississippi River to Confederate traffic, cutting off the a great part of the Confederacy from reinforcements and material aid from the states on the other side of the river, and from using the river as a thoroughfare of transportation to raid or invade northern states, allowing the Union armies to encircle the South.

Answer 5

Siezing Vicksburg placed the entire Mississippi in Union hands. That cut most southern states off from Texas, Louisisna, and Arkansas, preventing reinvorcement of troops and supplies. This allowed Grant to turn his attention to the Deep South.

Answer 6

Of all the prospective battles that were turning points in the US Civil War, the siege and capture of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, was not a turning point at all. Two reasons for the misconception are clear. The first reason it seemed important was the fact Vicksburg was so difficult to capture. The city-fortress resisted all the varied attempts by Union forces to capture Vicksburg. From 1862 to the middle of 1863, the city was the target of gunboat cannons, assaults from every conceivable direction, and the high profile Union generals sent against it. From generals US Grant and Sherman and early attempts by Admiral Farragut, the city stood firm. Grant even tried to divert the Mississippi River in order to force its capture. Finally, only a siege which starved the city, caused its surrender.The second reason it has a high profilewas that its position on the Mississippi River. As long as Vicksburg remained a Confederate stronghold, Union gunboats and cargo vessels could not pass say from St.Louis to New Orleans. Added to that was the mystic attached to the Ananconda Plan. The early plan by General Winfield Scott that called for the control of the Mississippi River to help encircle all water entries in and out of Confederate ports. The city was also mistaken as a key point to transport supplies from the West to the East via a railway link. The break in railway links would had solved that problem. Clearly it had no effect. Supplies, before Union intervention, actually flowed east to west not the reverse. Finally, the idea of cutting the South in half lacks math skills. The Mississippi River separated two full states, Texas and Arkansas and half of Louisiana from the rest of the Confederacy. The capture of New Orleans was the actual one that crippled the River. Supplies to and fro from Texas were clear via land through Mexico and Texas Gulf ports. Texas had all the supplies it needed to exist separately, allowing them to flow eastward as necessary.

And when the cargo flow the River carried in 1860 is measured against 1863 and to the war's end. It was nowhere close to 1860. The myth that upper Union states needed the River to ship supplies is false.

Answer 7

The surrender of Vicksburg closed the Mississippi to southern traffic, making the transportation of troops and supplies impossible.