Fourth Battle of Vicksburg. From May 19th to 22nd, General Grant unsuccessfully attempted to take the fort, then decided to strangle it with a siege reinforced by 220 cannons that thundered day and night. On July 4th, the Southerners surrendered: 30,000 prisoners, including 15 generals, and 60,000 excellent individual weapons (almost all British Enfield rifles). The entire Mississippi River had finally fallen into Northern hands, and the Confederacy was cut in two and, worse, isolated from Mexico, its last link to the outside world.
