Behind these fortifications Pemberton, driven from the Big Black River,
gathered his twenty-one thousand troops to make the last stand for the
saving of the Mississippi to the Confederacy. In the upper picture we see
Fort Castle, one of the strongest defenses of the Confederacy. It had full
sweep of the river; here "Whistling Dick" (one of the most powerful guns
in possession of the South) did deadly work. In the lower picture we see
the fortifications to the east of the town, before which Grant's army was
now entrenching. When Vicksburg had first been threatened in 1862, the
Confederate fortifications had been laid out and work begun on them in
haste with but five hundred spades, many of the soldiers delving with
their bayonets. The sites were so well chosen and the work so well done
that they had withstood attacks for a year. They were to hold out still
longer. By May 18th the Federals had completely invested Vicksburg, and
Grant and Sherman rode out to Haynes' Bluff to view the open river to the
north, down which abundant supplies were now coming for the army. Sherman,
who had not believed that the plan could succeed, frankly acknowledged his
mistake. But the Mississippi was not yet theirs. Sherman, assaulting the
fortifications of Vicksburg, the next day, was repulsed. A second attack,
on the 22d, failed and on the 25th Grant settled down to starve Pemberton
out.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: THE WORK OF THE BESIEGERS