RARE CONFEDERATE PRINTED VICKSBURG DEFENSE COMMENDATION. Confederate Imprint

War Department, Richmond, (Virginia), (First Printing). SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. BOMBARDMENT OF CITIES INEFFECTIVE. RARE CONFEDERATE PRINTED VICKSBURG DEFENSE COMMENDATION. [Confederate States Of America] [Mississippi River] [Vicksburg Siege] [1862-1863]. Confederate States of America. War Department Adjutant And Inspector General's Office. War Department, Adjutant And Inspector General's Office. Richmond, July 22, 1862. General Orders, No. 51. The Successful Defence Of Vicksburg Against The Mortar Fleet Of The Enemy, By Major General Van Dorn, And The Officers And Men Under His Command, Entitles Them To The Gratitude Of The Country, The Thanks Of The Government, And The Admiration Of The Army. By Their Gallantry And Good Conduct, They Have Not Only Saved The City Entrusted To Them, But They Have Shown That Bombardments Of Cities, If Bravely Resisted, Achieve Nothing For The Enemy, And Only Serve To Unveil His Malice And The Hypocrisy Of His Pretended Wish To Restore The Union. The World Now Sees That His Mission Is One Of Destruction-Not Restoration. Lieutenant Brown, And The Officers And Crew Of The Confederate Steamer Arkansas, By Their Heroic Attack Upon The Federal Fleet Before Vicksburg, Equaled The Highest Examples Of Courage And Skill. They Prove That The Navy, When It Regains Its Proper Element, Will Be One Of The Chief Bulwarks Of National Defence, And That It Is Entitled To A High Place In The Confidence And Affection Of The Country. By Command Of The Secretary Of War. S. Cooper, Adjutant And Inspector General. 1 leaf printed on recto only with blank conjugate leaf. 20-1/2 x 13-1/4 cm. (8.1 x 5.2 inches). Very light foxing. Handsome copy. Richmond. July 22, 1862. - - -

"Early in the war Union officials set as a major goal the capture of the Mississippi River, to cut the Confederacy in half and block the transfer of food from the West . . . Captain David G. Farragut . . . was chosen to lead the expedition . . . By the middle of Feb. 1862, Farragut had assembled a fleet at Ship Island, near the mouth of the Mississippi. His first objective was to pass Forts Jackson and St. Phillip, commanding the river a short distance above Head of Passess. This he did 24 Apr. Captured them 4 days later, and 1 May took the city of New Orleans. Vicksburg, the 'key to the Mississippi' was next. Spread along the banks at a hairpin turn of the river, the city was protected from naval attack by bluffs so high that ships guns could not reach the batteries crowning them. Farragut realized at once that it could be taken only by an army force from the rear, but he bombarded it ineffectually for a day or two, then returned to New Orleans. At the insistence of the Union high command, late in June Farragut returned to Vicksburg and resumed the bombardment. In the midst of it he ran past the city and joined a fleet that had come down from Cairo, Ill., under Captain Charles H. Davis. Combined, they continued the siege, disturbed 15 July when the Confederate ironclad blazed its way through them and safely reached Vicksburg. All Union efforts to destroy the vessel failed. Farragut remained in front of Vicksburg for 67 days . . . On 4 July 1863, Vicksburg fell - to an army under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant." - Faust. Patricia L. Faust's "Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopaedia Of The Civil War," p. 784. Thomas T. Moebs' "Confederate States Navy Research Guide," p. 281 (Isaac N. Brown). Parrish and Willingham, #2429 locates seven copies (Boston Athenaeum, Confederate Museum, Duke University, Indiana Historical Society, National Archives, University of Virginia, and Virginia State Library).

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