Near Vicksburg, Mississippi
Sunday, 24 May 1863

Dear Diary,

I can hardly believe that I'm still alive to 
write in this, what with the past couple of 
months of marching, and the hard fighting of 
the last few days outside of Vicksburg - but 
it looks like we've got the Johnnies for sure 
this time, just like a cork in a bottle. Still, 
it will probably take us a bit of time before 
they're convinced that they've only got one 
alternative - just like at Donelson - surrender.

We started moving south again early in April - 
if it hadn't been for that raid at Holly 
Springs, I'm sure we'd have moved much sooner.  
At any rate, as soon as we could, the whole 
army started moving south along the west bank 
of the Mississippi, through some of the worst 
swamps and woods I ever hope to see.  

On the night of the 16th, our gunboats ran the 
defenses of Vicksburg, something no one thought 
they could do!  The whole town of Vicksburg is 
a fort - it sits up on a bluff overlooking the 
Mississippi, with earthworks all around the 
city, and heavy guns controlling the river.  
General Pemberton's got a whole Reb army in 
the town, too.  

Anyway, Porter's fleet made it through without 
losing a single boat, and linked up with us on 
the 18th.  We were ferried across the river, 
and  immediately started off for the capitol of 
Mississippi, Jackson.  There was supposed to be 
a large Confederate army under Joe Johnston 
somewhere near Jackson, plus a railroad linking 
him with Pemberton's Confederates in Vicksburg.  
If we could take Jackson, we could cut the rail 
line, and prevent the Johnnies from joining 
forces. 

Going was slow, and supplies hard to come by - 
Grant learned from Holly Springs!  If you don't 
have supply depots, there's nothing for the enemy
to raid - so for the entire month, we lived off 
the land.  This part of Mississippi was pretty 
much untouched by the war - but we solved that! 
I doubt there's a live pig, chicken, or a fence 
post standing anywhere within ten miles of our 
line of march!

For whatever reason, the Rebs abandoned Jackson, 
and we occupied the place on the May 14, linking 
up with Sherman's boys in the process.  Jackson 
will never be the same again!  On the 19th, and 
again on this last Thursday, we tried to storm 
the Reb defenses at Vicksburg, hoping to end this 
thing quickly - but they're simply too strong.  
I doubt any of our boys got closer that 50 yards 
before they were cut down.  Nat Robertson was 
like to cut in half by a cannon ball on Thursday, 
and Sam Wilder lost a couple of fingers on his 
right hand to shrapnel, but luckily I wasn't 
touched, even though I was right next to Nat in 
the charge.  

No matter, we're on the outside, and too strong 
for Johnston to come to their aid, or for them to 
cut their way out.  It's just a matter of time, 
and the Rebs know it.  Some of the boys have 
started calling Vicksburg "Prarie Dog Town" - the 
citizens didn't evacuate, and have been forced to 
dig bombproofs into the hillsides and bluffs to 
escape our bombardment.  

I hate to see women and children suffer, but they 
didn't evacuate the town when they had a chance, 
and from our point of view, they're Secesh anyway.  
If they want to end the suffering, it's within 
their power - all they've got to do is surrender!