Vicksburg

Vicksburg

Vicksburg
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	high interest, readability grades 4 to 6
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	4.16

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		surrounding, running, while, easily, defend, attack, supplies, army, siege, surrender, battle, during, goal, heavy, danger, impossible
	content words:		Civil War, Mississippi River, Ulysses S.

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Vicksburg
By Cathy Pearl

¹     While there was heavy fighting in the East during the Civil War, there was also fighting in the West. The Mississippi River was very important to the Southern army. Without control of this river, the South would be split in half. The army would be cut off from supplies that it badly needed.

²     Vicksburg seemed like it was safe from any attack. It sat high up on a hill. Below it was a sharp bend in the river. Union ships would be in danger if they came near the city. The Confederate army could easily take aim at the ships below them.

³     Also, Vicksburg was in a place with many swamps. The only land that was dry was to the east. The Confederate army was in control of that area. It seemed that the Union had no chance of taking control of the city.

⁴     Ulysses S. Grant knew that it would be almost impossible to win a battle for Vicksburg. But he wanted to. He knew that the South would be crippled if they lost control of the Mississippi River. Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, and most of Louisiana would be cut off from the rest of the South.

⁵     Grant had tried to take the city during the winter of 1862 and the spring of 1863. He had tried to attack from the north. That hadn't worked. He had also tried to dig a canal near the bend in the river. He would try to move his boats here where they would not be under attack from the city's guns. The canals had not been deep enough.

Paragraphs 6 to 12:
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