The Surrender of Vicksburg by Annie Wittenmyer

Name: The Surrender of Vicksburg
Author: Annie Wittenmyer

After days of expectation, firing around Vicksburg suddenly ceases on July 3 as General Grant and General Pemberton meet and Grant demands “unconditional surrender.” Starvation, dwindling ammunition, and weakened forces compel Pemberton to yield, with the formal surrender set for 9 A.M. on the Fourth of July. That night, the unusual silence and intense anticipation keep the camp awake. At dawn, the narrator travels with Dr. Maxwell and Mrs. General Stone to Fort Hill, a fiercely contested position marked by explosions, hand-to-hand fighting, and grenades. Now muskets are stacked, white handkerchiefs flutter above them, and Confederate and Union soldiers speak quietly together. Grant, McPherson, and Logan lead the victorious forces toward the city. The opposing lines form, Confederate officers hand over their swords, and the swords are then returned to Pemberton and his staff, who are permitted to retain them and remain free in the city. When the Stars and Stripes is finally raised over the Court House tower, Union soldiers and spectators erupt in tears, cheers, waving handkerchiefs, and tossed caps. Confederate soldiers stand silent with folded arms, while triumph is shadowed by sorrow for war’s bloody destruction.

By Annie Wittenmyer · First published 1895 · Genre: Civil War History, Historical Nonfiction, War Literature · 1,168 words

First lines

For days there had been unusual activity in the camp. The Fourth of July was to be celebrated by a general bombardment; and if there were signs of yielding, a sharp assault and an attempt to capture the city would be made. The besieged party was not in ignorance of what was going on. The pickets and sharpshooters, and the soldiers at points where the fortifications touched each other, had given the whole programme of a grand Fourth of July celebration in boastful proclamations. Everything was at fever-heat on the 3d of July, though the firing was kept up at the usual rate till about one or two P. M. Suddenly all firing ceased. The silence could almost be felt. There had been pauses before, lasting an hour or more, during interviews under a flag of truce. But as the afternoon slowly wore away, and the firing was not resumed, the excitement became intense. Later, it was reported that General Grant and General Pemberton had met under a great spreading oak-tree just inside the Union lines, and that General Grant had made his terms known in the memorable phrase "_unconditional surrender_."

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The Surrender of Vicksburg is listed on Textopian as a historical account by Annie Wittenmyer, dated 1895 CE.

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Work type: Historical account
Author: Annie Wittenmyer
Date: 1895 CE
Language: English
Genres: Civil War History, Historical Nonfiction, War Literature, Memoir, Eyewitness Account
Length: 1,168 words
Structure: 1 section, 9 paragraphs
Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)

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Genres

Civil War History — The work recounts the Union siege and capture of Vicksburg in July 1863, centering on historically identifiable events and figures including Ulysses S. Grant, John C. Pemberton, James B. McPherson, and John A. Logan.
Historical Nonfiction — It presents a factual narrative of a major military and political event, emphasizing the circumstances, ceremony, and consequences of Vicksburg's surrender rather than inventing a fictional plot.
War Literature — Its subject is the immediate human experience of siege warfare, military surrender, battlefield destruction, victory, grief, and the solemn aftermath of armed conflict.
Memoir — The first-person narrator describes her own presence, observations, reactions, and movements during the surrender, using personal recollection as the narrative framework.