Part 1 of Essay
The Civil War split our nation, Americans fighting Americans, brother against brother. The war lasted four long years, a key battle fought westward was the turning point in the war: the Battle of Vicksburg. Between Cairo, Illinois, and the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi River twists and winds for nearly 1,000 miles. Comm ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... was a booming center of trade, its wharves crowded with boats carrying all manner of goods and commodities. It boasted a municipal orchestra, a Shakespeare repertory company, and an imposing courthouse in the Greek revival style. To its proud citizens, Vicksburg was the "Queen City of the Bluff" and a center, as one of them wrote, of "culture, education and luxury." All this was to change with coming of the war. By early 1862 the peaceful town had become one of the most strategically import ....