How did Vicksburg help further General Grants Career in the civil war?
The victory of the Union forces at Vicksburg cut the south in two and gained the United States control of the strategic Mississippi. After Vicksburg fell Grant sent General Sherman after the retreating Confederates and keep to the pressure on. Meanwhile in the east at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania the Union forces under General Meade defeated Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia but failed to maintain pressure on the retreating confederates. This allowed Lee to escape and fight another day. Outraged by Meade’s failure to chase Lee but delighted by Grant’s performance at Vicksburg President Abraham Lincoln decided to bring Grant east and place him in command of all Union Armies principally the army of the Potomac confronting Lee’s army.
