when i talk about the overall subject of gettysburg versus vicksburg, obviously vicksburg does not have a pickett's charge. if you like the romance of war, how much grander does it get? timest tell you how many , howboy in mississippi many times in my parents past year that i walked across the terrain with my little toy musket and rebel flag that the ole miss cheerleaders gave me and i was reenacting pickett's charge. that is what captured my imagination right there. it was the seminal moment. i had even read william faulkner at. yet. it ends in defeat. it is a huge debacle. i will say that having read about the battle. it is a bad mistake and it really can't be -- i can offer of a whole hours worth excuses on why he did it but i can't justify in the end. robert e lee, if he ran out of options would hit you haead on. the sevenme books on days campaign, the battle of the wilderness, look the pattern with robert e. lee, he will hit you had on if he runs out of action -- out of options. the union army pursues the confederate army. here is one of the great what if's. up -- thearmy and's uni

this was after vicksburg. grant was ready at last, the time of testing was over, and he had reached his full stature. better than any other northern soldier, better than any other man other than lincoln himself, bringing the infinite power of the growing nation to bring on the desperate weakness of the brave, traumatic, and tragically archaic little nation that approach it. understood too that although rebellion must be crushed with utmost vigor, the rebels themselves were men who would again be friends and fellow citizens. now was time to go on. sherman had said it. sling the knapsacks for new fields. so in conclusion, ladies and gentlemen -- [laughter] i actually forgot that slide was on there. and if i had remembered that and remember i was going to be on c-span, then i would not have put that slide on there. what is that larry -- blurry image you put over something? i guess c-span, since this is not live, they can do something about that. and all the people who did not pay $130 to attend this conference, y

i'm still going to stick with vicksburg. i think the loss of 30,000 combat veterans is something that you can't do without. new orleans didn't have a large garrison. fall, theburg's entire river is now in union hands. the confederates can still operate a little bit. essentially the river is now in union hands. i will stick with vicksburg. i love gettysburg two, by the way. park summit, pennsylvania. you mentioned political will. i was wondering since most of the folks in the confederate congress would be more inclined to us -- to favor safe conscription laws over a federalized system. who was responsible for mustering that political will? >> that's a good question. i'm not sure. it is ironic that the confederacy is founded on the idea of state rights but they created very centralized and strong and invasive central government. they had to to wage the kind of war that they are going to fight. it does lead to conflict with certain state governors like joe brown in georgia and north carolina who resist the intrusion of confeder

and then he has to victory at vicksburg. why is vicksburg so impressive? it was really a daring capture. >> new orleans, baton rouge and memphis had fallen to union forces. it meant that the one great citadel, the great bastion on the necessary river was vicksburg. it was located at that time, there was a bend in the mississippi that forced folks to slow down. there were seven miles of every elaborate fortification. it seemed like this in pregnant fortress. he had a very daring strategy to take vicksburg. under cover of night, he had ironclad transports come down the river, despite heavy selling from the confederates. he also marched troops down the bank of the mississippi. they then crossed over vicksburg to the only dry land in that area. and then grant has this lightning campaign. he wins five major victories in a three-week period. surrounds vicksburg, lays siege and vicksburg surrenders at the same time as the victory of gettysburg. and for a second time, grant i captured an entire confederate army more than 30,000 soldiers. at that point, the union n

loomslores why gettysburg larger in historical memory such as battles like vicksburg. this talk was hosted as a symposium by the civil war blog. introduce my to good friend matt atkinson. he has an undergrad degree from the university of mississippi. and a masters degree from the university of louisiana monroe.

when vicksburg fell on july 4 of 1863. dodge operatives i completed 200 missions, logged thousands of miles and they had gone as far as atlanta georgia and even to richmond, virginia and made it back. interestingly enough, dodd was very protective of his scouts and spies because they were all southern union's. -- unionists. they had to live in mississippi when the war was over. one of the problems he ran into was the army wants to know whether money is going. -- where their money is going. he is paying be scouts and spies and they have to find vouchers. they refuse to sign vouchers because they do not want their name associated with any people -- any piece of paper that might lead back. it could go hard on them and their families. they need to be paid and the army would not pay them unless they had vouchers. dodge basically worked out a deal that he would get the vouchers and then tell the army that he had them that he promised his operatives he would never, ever let the army see them. this went a long for a little while u

. >> to have more power and resources why is vicksburg so impressive? >> so new orleans or bad news -- baton rouge that the one bastion the river that spur was located that was forced to slow down very elaborate fortress so grant had a daring strategy under the cover of night men to come down the river and he also marched some troops down to the banks of the mississippi percentage the only guy driving in the area and there was a lightning campaign and then to surround vicksburg surrenders at the same time as gettysburg and for a second time grant has captured an entirely confederate army of more than 30,000. at that point the union not only controls the mississippi but the forces in the livestock came from west of the fee. so with this major source of supplies. thatat was. >> february 1864 congress passes a bill reinstating the title of the lieutenant general. and then grant becomes that lieutenant general. he comes to washington. but he happens to arrive the same day lincoln was having a reception at the white house grant goes in lincoln warmly embrace

be is there vicksburg or gettysburg was more important. when you put them together, the --t they happen concurrently when you take all three of those collectively, gettysburg can be viewed as a turning point. [indiscernible] >> can everyone hear me? >> i think the turning point for the potomac happened after gettysburg. as one historian writes a lot corps commanders and brigade commanders and it will negatively affect the pursuit. , you john newton took over have a lot of guys wounded. in mind body and spirit. you have mine run and they are really missing these commanders as one historian would say, but he was no john reynolds. affect to thel point where they will reorganize the army. they go from seven cores down to four. the need to reorganize. i think that is the big turning point in regards to the army of the potomac in regards to gettysburg. you say john reynolds was competent, anna people would argue with that. >> i have said time and time i cannot tell you who was where at what point in time. outside of manassas. when you think abou

and then he has to victory at vicksburg. why is vicksburg so impressive? it was really a daring capture. >> new orleans, baton rouge and memphis had fallen to union forces. it meant that the one great citadel, the great bastion on the necessary river was vicksburg. it was located at that time, there was a bend in the mississippi that forced folks to slow down. there were seven miles of every elaborate fortification. it seemed like this in pregnant fortress. he had a very daring strategy to take vicksburg. under cover of night, he had ironclad transports come down the river, despite heavy selling from the confederates. he also marched troops down the bank of the mississippi. they then crossed over vicksburg to the only dry land in that area. and then grant has this lightning campaign. he wins five major victories in a three-week period. surrounds vicksburg, lays siege and vicksburg surrenders at the same time as the victory of gettysburg. and for a second time, grant i captured an entire confederate army more than 30,000 soldiers. at that point, the union n

had a plantation 20 miles from vicksburg. he was the power behind the throne of the pierce administration. i don't know who else was in the game there. you have a purchase in mexico. the purchase was to secure the valley of the gila river for the potential southern route transcontinental railroad. i was reading the journal of an in an army that was going out to california during the mexican war. it was interesting. he wrote, if they ever build a railroad to california, it will not be through this rally. it's awful. that's why the public as an purchase. 1855, you have the upper midwest answering back. it's answer is, the kansas-nebraska act. stephen douglas who owned a lot of property in chicago. that would benefit him. it almost looks the know. i think they are playing for their teams in that sense. you have this back-and-forth tug-of-war or we are going to fight -- organize the nebraska territory so we can separate -- subsidize that railroad with a land-grant. this as athink about spatial enterprise. the government in washin

cullison hempel son marcus was killed last year here in vicksburg after an altercation with migrants when he's spoken out about his grievances and demonstrations he's found himself labelled a nazi. because of a russian military intelligence officer working for secret outfits who'd unit two six one six five began probing the computer network of the democratic national committee hitting nine states in three weeks and some of twenty fourteen and a book or chew over and alexandre cruel over was supposed to gather intelligence to help the mimic american some facebook and twitter the evidence is all their names dates and motives again from indictments now i'm sure the new york times isn't willing to accept miller's word as gospel but things seem a little too dramatic perhaps even for president putin putin is angry the russian leader thought the united states and hillary clinton had sought to undermine his presidency and there are plenty more where that came from somehow i doubt the russian president handed over and i hate hillary diary to the new york times but the bombshell d.n.c. hack th

goneif abraham lincoln had to vicksburg. instead. the full program airs at 6 p.m. eastern tonight. on our weekly series, the civil war. that is here on c-span3. featuring american history every weekend. sunday night, former obama administration secretary barney duncan on his book. he is interviewed former chancellor of the district of columbia public school. the connection between what politicians do and what happens in school. how do each other line more clearly? when he voters to understand if you want to pay our teachers better, make college more affordable. we have to get there by challenging officials we put in office. watch afterwards on c-span two book tv. war, kenn the civil masterson talks about general george meade commanded the army of the potomac during the gettysburg campaign. he examines the decision-making in the early part of the campaign leading into the start of the battle. this talk was part of the summer conference hosted by the gettysburg college civil war institute. >> it is my pleasure to introduce kent. he is a lawyer from kentucky. he has practicing law

i guess when i look at the progression of the war in context, i would put it with a vicksburg as more significant. the to do work together. the timing of those two in the summer of 1863 collectively makes the difference. upis: before i open things to the floor, i want to ask each of you to talk about different turning points. we have more on the docket tomorrow. any turning point you do not think we have hit or that we won't hit that you want to talk out? i live in williamsburg and most people don't think of williamsburg as a civil war mecca. people say you don't have civil war history here and when you read to the women's diaries, they just explode with all these letters. they are fighting to their husbands, boyfriends, dads, preachers, politicians about inflation. why the fall of 1862? it is not too far before then that we have the closing of cape campaign,he burnside ship island. kevin and i talked about that before. the union navy is able to get boats and the- women do not sit by. prices tick up on silk, champagne, food, stockings, they start writing. they are -- so the one thing

carson hempel son marcus was killed last year here in vicksburg after an altercation with migrants when he spoken out about his grievances and demonstrations he found himself labeled a nazi. and we got them all as they came forward on stage i politely asked the audience to show a little respect so i could tell the story of my son right in front of me there was a group of asylum seekers with a coordinator who was showing them how to hold posters up properly and what slogans to show and imagine how i felt as a father when you see syrian asylum seekers who came from the same country as the person who killed my son and they called me a nazi it was insane they'll evolve government money that comes from my taxes every month to pay for people like that. his son is also being painted as a white nationalist by some media outlets those among you in germany people are labelled left or right and this is the biggest mistake there is the overwhelming majority of people are centrist in their political ideals because they're not members of any party only one is their voice to be heard obviously it is t

why is vicksburg sour impressiv? it was really a daring capture. >> it happened, new orleans, baton rouge and memphis had fallen to junior forces animate that the one great citadel, the one great bastion on the mississippi river left was vicksburg.e vicksburg was located at the time, there was a bend in the mississippi that forced folks to slow down. theree were seven miles a very elaborate fortification. it seems like this impregnable fortress. grant had very daring strategy to take vicksburg under cover of night. he had ironclads and transports come down the river despite heavy shelling from the confederates. he also marched troops down the western bank of the mississippi. they then crossed over vicksburg to the only high dry land in that area, and then grant has this lightning campaign. he wins five major victories in a three-week timeframe, surrounds vicksburg, lays siege to it and vicksburg surrenders. it was the same time type as te victory at gettysburg. and for a second time grant has captured an entire confe

chester himes grew up in a small country towns, you know, not so far from vicksburg and mississippi. he's lived for a little while in augusta georgia. st. louis was a big city, but maybe a smaller neighborhood and heavily industrialized cleveland his family bought a house in a jewish neighborhood in many of the northeastern and midwestern cities as a pattern of migration. african-americans followed jewish americans into somewhat suburban neighborhoods often peered himes graduated from high school, one of the few black students at an integrated high school in the jewish neighborhood in cleveland. it's worthwhile to remember that links he is also housed sort of a similar academic career finish is a few years older than chester himes. in the summer of 1926, chester himes graduated from high school in january and he's working at this very posh hotel in african-americans had all the service jobs, the busboys, the custodial staff and one day he was flirting with two young white women and i mention this because it's going to wind up coming up again and again in the work and life of chester

during the time before the gettysburg campaign when he was very concerned about what was going on at vicksburg, and wanted to move part of lee's army out there. lee reminded him all decisions in war intel risk, you just have to calculate the risk. feelsculated the risk, he the best option is to march into maryland. the armies that will confront each other in maryland are very different in certain ways. the army of northern virginia begins to campaign much stronger than almost any confederate writer will leverage knowledge to you. 70-7rmy is probably about -- 70,000-75,000 men. it is extremely poorly supplied, particular the troops in the second manassas campaign. regular food, their uniforms and clothing are falling apart because they had no resupply. they are beyond their supply line. the only troops that are well supplied are the ones that come up to richmond -- from richmond. the army is in rough shape. lee knows that. theigade commander fights -- rights the following about his men. " such a filthy and unprintable set of villains i have never seen. they have lost on honor or decency, all se

tell james seddon the war derate secretary of before the kidsburg campaign about ddon was concerned vicksburg and wanted to move the rmy out there lee reminded him all decisions in war entail risk. to calculate the risk. lee's calculated the risk and option for the confederate si is to march into confederacy is to march into maryland. the two arms that will confront different. the army of northern virginia begins the campaign much any ger than almost confederate writer will ever acknowledge to you. 70,000 to bly about 5,000 men, extremely poorly supplied particularly the troops second maneen in the machine campaign. they have -- second manassas campaign. food.ave no regular their uniform and clothing are falling apart because they have supplies because they are beyond supply line. are those that are supplied throws that come up from richmond and reenforce lee. rough shape and lee knows that. dorsey pender writes following machine -- men in his brigade during the harper's ferry operation. such a group i have never seen honor or decency and right or respect for property i would strike many with

found in particular, a general actually changed a sentence, a black soldier named john mitchell in vicksburg deserted, and and after the courts trial, the army said that he would only be incarcerated for hard labor for a few months, and then it went up to the general command. hawkins said we needed to make an example out of this deserter, so they changed it to execution. so john mitchell was executed. there is a change and it goes back and forth. there is a drastic difference between the number of black soldiers and white soldiers who were convicted and sentenced to death for desertion and how many were actually executed. and that is the number i was speaking about where they are about equal. statistically speaking, the same amount of soldiers were executed in white-black regiments from what i have found so far. a lot of these, i have to go through court-martial records one after another, and it is not like they are catalog and the stats are equally drawn out, but they are about you for desertion. via? clerks to follow up on that answer to the previous question, could you name the three top

so great that we ended up destroying each other on america's fields and farms from gettysburg to vicksburg. washington's warnings went unheated a mere 100 years after he gave them. we self-corrected, but only after great harm to ourselves. it has been 150 years since we nearly destroyed each other. are we on any more secure path? it would appear from our treatment of each other and our view of our own nation's future that we are tempted to walk an old path. if that be the case, then taking counsel from george washington might be a timely exercise. with regard to unity, we must realize we are all in the ship of state together, crashing it on the rocks as we fight each other for control of the helm who will deny any safe harbor we wish to obtain. washington believed that we must view our unity as a sacred tie that links together the various parts. quote, citizens by birth or choice of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. the name american, which belongs to you and your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than appalachia