In April of 1861, the Civil War became a reality at Charleston harbor when Fort Sumter was fired upon by Southern forces. While many leaders North and South believed capturing the opposing capital would quickly end the war, Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis recognized the Mississippi River as a geographic key to victory. Flowing 2,320 miles and bringing commerce and prosperity to the vast interior, the river made Mississippi, with more than 600 strategic miles along its border, a likely battleground for control of the Lower Mississippi River Valley. When the war closed the river to Northern commerce, the states of the Old Northwest demanded action, and by August the Union had committed its manpower and treasure to reopening it. A shallow-draft fleet of gunboats was rapidly built, and by mid-1862 ironclads dominated the Western waters, yet Vicksburg still held and the river remained closed from its wharf southward for 240 miles to Port Hudson, Louisiana. In the first months of 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant organized a joint operation to open the last stretch of the river, using diversions to distract Confederate General John C. Pemberton before crossing unopposed at Bruinsburg, Mississippi, on April 30. Grant defeated a Southern force at Port Gibson on May 1, entered Grand Gulf two days later to establish a supply base, then surprised both friend and foe by marching northeast toward Pemberton's railroad line of communications instead of directly on Vicksburg. After a Confederate attack on Grant's right flank failed at Raymond on May 12, Grant pivoted east and captured Jackson on May 14, then turned west and defeated Pemberton's army at Champion Hill on May 16 and at Big Black Bridge on May 17. Assaults on Vicksburg on May 19 and 22 failed, siege operations followed, and nearly two months later Vicksburg and its army surrendered on July 4, with Port Hudson falling on July 9. The Mississippi River was reopened, and in Lincoln's words, "The Father of Water again flows unvexed to the sea."
