What is The Abe and Jeff: Presidents and Equals in Vicksburg?

They were born in Kentucky and Indiana. They were not abolitionists, but they regarded slavery as evil. They worked as farm laborers and store clerks in New Salem, Illinois. They were taught to read and write by their stepmother. Their family moved to Decatur, Illinois, in 1830. They became very popular.

The Civil War was inevitable. The clash over slavery would be the main battleground. The Mississippi River was an essential conduit for supplies in the South. In the 1800s, travel up and down the Mississippi was dangerous. In the 1860s, the North focused its attention on a 150-mile stretch of the river between Port Hudson and Vicksburg.

When the port of New Orleans fell to the Union in February 1861, major evacuation procedures were undertaken along the Lower Mississippi Valley. The economy of the South was disrupted. Many towns along the river found the situation unsustainable.

In the summer of 1863, the Confederate States of America accepted terms from the Union for relief from Vicksburg. The first concentration of attack began two days after the surrender. The two-day bombardment produced the first casualties. The resulting loss of the port of Vicksburg marked the end of the Vicksburg Campaign.

After the capture of Vicksburg, the United States had complete control of the Mississippi River. However, the area of the river between Port Hudson and Vicksburg remained under the control of the Confederacy.