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Thursday, October 9, 2008 - 6;30 p.m. - Elk's Lodge
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| Mr. Terry Winshcel - "Unvexed to the Sea, Vicksburg and Control of the Mississippi River" |
| Control of the Mississippi River was vital to the economic and military interests of both the North and South during the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln considered it the "key to victory," and gathered sizable land and naval forces to reclaim control of the lower Mississippi River Valley and thus split the South in two, achieve a major objective of the Anaconda Plan, and effectively seal the doom of Richmond. From Cairo, Illinois, South to the Gulf of Mexico, Union and Confederate land and naval forces struggled for control of the Mississippi River. By late summer of 1862 only Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Port Hudson, Louisiana, posed major obstacles to Union domination of the river. With the capture of these two posts in July 1863, the North reestablished control of the river. |
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Mr. Winschel is a thirty-year veteran of the National Park Service and has served at Gettysburg National Military Park, Fredericksburg National Military Park, Valley Forge National Historical Park, and is currently Historian at Vicksburg National Military Park. Terry has written 50 articles on the Civil War and more than 100 book reviews. He is author of “Triumph & Defeat: The Vicksburg Campaign, Vol. II” (SavasBeatie 2006), “Vicksburg is the Key: The Struggle for the Mississippi River” (University of Nebraska Press 2003), “The Civil War Diary of a Common Soldier” (LSU Press 2001), “Vicksburg: Fall of the Confederate Gibraltar” (McWhiney Research Foundation Press 1999), and “Triumph & Defeat: The Vicksburg Campaign” (Savas Publishing 1998). Mr. Winschel is the 2004 recipient of the Nevins-Freeman Award presented by The Civil War Round Table of Chicago, the 2006 Charles L. Dufour Award presented by The Civil War Round Table of New Orleans, and was named National Park Service Preservationist of the Year in 2007 by the Civil War Preservation Trust. |
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| Maj Gen Ulysses S. Grant | Lt Gen John C. Pemberton |
| Commanding Union Forces | Commanding Confederate Forces |