Vicksburg: "Situated on the Mississippi River"

This description of Vicksburg and its surrounding area appeared in a short history of the siege of Vicksburg written by Confederate supporter A.S. Abrams and published in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1863.

Vicksburg is situated on the Mississippi river, about five hundred and thirty miles from the Gulf of Mexico, and is built on a plateau of hills rising about two hundred feet above the water. These hills slope gradually upwards from the banks of the river, except in the upper portion of the city, where they rise precipitously and form cliffs, towering over the banks of the river.— Northward, above the city, are a tier of hills generally known as the "Walnut Hills." The Mississippi river takes an abrupt turn at this point, forming a peninsula of that portion of Louisiana, opposite Vicksburg, for about two miles, when it makes another abrupt angle. Nine miles above this second curve in the river the Yazoo empties itself. The rear of the city is a succession of hills, and the general feature of the country is broken and largely intersected with ravines. It is also greatly cut up by bayous and creeks, formed by the rain and overflow of the numerous springs which are to be found over the whole country.

Below Vicksburg, at Warrenton, the country is low and marshy for about six hundred yards from the banks of the river, when it makes an abrupt rise, forming a line of almost mountainous heights.

The country around Vicksburg is very fruitful. Large crops of cotton were usually made, and at the time we are speaking of, a very extensive crops of corn and other cereals had been planted. A large quantity of corn and bacon fell into the hands of the enemy on their march to Vicksburg; so large, in fact, that from Gen. Grant's official report, the entire Yankee army subsisted for eight days on what they found in the different plantations around Vicksburg, and during the entire siege their horses and mules used no other corn but that of the surrounding planters.

From the time the attack on our works on Chickasaw Bayou was made, to the return of the enemy, but little or nothing was done to strengthen our position. The fortifications in the rear of the city were commenced, but progressed slowly. It was not anticipated that they would be required, but to use the words of a prominent officer there, where "only thrown up to satisfy the public"....

On the 22d of January, 1863, intelligence was received that fifty gunboats and transports had passed Greenville, coming down, and the following day a large fleet laden with troops arrived at the bend of the river above Vicksburg, known as "Young's Point." As soon as the boats arrived, the enemy landed on the Louisiana shore, at a place called "White's Plantation," which in a few hours became dotted with tents. The gigantic plan of cutting a canal through the lower end of the peninsula was then put in motion.... No demonstration was attempted against the city, until the morning of the 1st of February, when the ram Queen of the West ran past the batteries in open daylight. 

Source:

A full and detailed history of the siege of Vicksburg by A.S. Abrams (Atlanta, 1863). Pages 14-15.