The Mississippi River was an important military highway that bordered ten states, roughly equally divided between Union and Confederate loyalties. Both sides soon realised that control of the river was a crucial strategic priority.

Mississippi Valley Campaign, the campaigns and battles of the American Civil War that were fought for control of the Mississippi River. Western waterways were major arteries of communication and commerce for the South, as well as a vital link to the Confederate states of Louisiana and Texas.

The Mississippi River campaigns, within the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War, were a series of military actions by the Union Army during which Union troops, helped by Union Navy gunboats and river ironclads, took control of the Cumberland River, the Tennessee River, and the Mississippi River, a main north-south avenue of ...

Dec 18, 2012 · On November 6, 1861, Foote committed several of his transport ferries as well as two of his three gunboats to supporting Grant’s 3,000-man attack on Belmont, Missouri, just across the river from the fortress at Columbus.

The Mississippi River played a pivotal role in the Civil War, serving as a strategic artery for both the Union and the Confederacy. Control of the river was crucial for the Union’s Anaconda Plan, which aimed to split the Confederacy and cut off its supply lines.

Nov 9, 2009 · As the Civil War began, the South controlled the Mississippi River—a critical transportation corridor and supply line—from Cairo, Illinois, all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico.

Mississippi's location along the lengthy Mississippi River made it strategically important to both the Union and the Confederacy; dozens of battles were fought in the state as armies repeatedly clashed near key towns and transportation nodes.

When Vicksburg fell to Union troops on July 4, 1863, the Confederacy lost its last chance to control the Mississippi River. Control of the Mississippi River during the American Civil War was an economic and psychological factor for both the North and the South.

Nov 12, 2024 · The Mississippi River played a crucial role in the American Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865. The river was a vital transportation route, economic lifeline, and strategic military location that influenced the outcome of the war.

As Benton Rain Patterson makes clear in The Mississippi River Campaign, 1861-1863, west of the Appalachians the war was characterized by a series of Federal successes and Confederate disasters. Nowhere was this more true than in the struggle for control of the Mississippi River.