Siege of Vicksburg illustration

Illustration of the trenches at Vicksburg, Mississippi published in "The American Soldier in the Civil War" by Frank Leslie. The victory at the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, which lasted from May 22, 1863 to July 4, 1863, gave the Union control of the Mississippi River in the American Civil War after Confederate General John C. Pemberton surrendered his army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. Ulysses S. Grant was born Hiram Ulysses Grant in Point Pleasant, Ohio. During the U. S. Civil War, Grant was promoted to the rank of General and granted command of the Union army by President Abraham Lincoln. After the victory of the Union over the Confederacy, Grant's popularity led to his election as the 18th President of the United States in 1868