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00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.

This Week in the Civil War - 522

Ulysses Grant’s relentless march toward Confederate held Vicksburg continued into March of 1863.  Since the end of January Union troops had been digging a canal at “Swampy Toe,” opposite Vicksburg in an effort to move boats and men around the fortified city. 

By early March digging continued despite occasional artillery shells thrown in that direction by Confederate batteries from Vicksburg.  A canal was needed since on Monday, March 9, 1863 a “Quaker” ironclad, made of logs with pork barrels for funnels, drifted down the Mississippi past Vicksburg and was subjected to withering fire from the Confederate batteries. 

Albert Richardson in the New York Tribune later complained that “the people of the East….only knew that months dragged wearily by….that the soldiers were reported dying from disease….The country was heartsick for victory.”