{"id":262,"date":"2013-06-27T10:30:53","date_gmt":"2013-06-27T14:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=262"},"modified":"2025-04-18T09:42:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T13:42:09","slug":"vicksburg-inspired-flag-salutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/vicksburg-inspired-flag-salutes\/","title":{"rendered":"Vicksburg inspired flag salutes"},"content":{"rendered":"

By James Breig<\/a><\/p>\n

Americans are familiar with the Battle of Gettysburg, the Union victory 150 years ago that turned back a Confederate attempt to invade the North. Less well known is the simultaneous Union triumph in Vicksburg, Mississippi.<\/p>\n

\"Vicksburg<\/a>
Vicksburg fighting (U.S. Army Center of Military History)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a result, the upcoming July 1-4 sesquicentennial of those dual turning points in the Civil War is likely to focus more on Gettysburg that Vicksburg, even though President Lincoln declared that the latter city was the key to ultimate victory. When it was achieved, he said that \u201cthe Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea.\u201d Until then, the Confederacy had controlled the \u201cmighty Mississippi\u201d and cut off Union shipping.<\/p>\n

\"Vicksburg's<\/a>
Vicksburg’s courthouse<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The win on the river inspired prose and poetry about flags. For example, a reporter for a Cincinnati newspaper described how Northern troops climbed to the top of the Vicksburg courthouse on the Fourth of July and \u201cflung out our banner of beauty and glory to the breeze.\u201d One soldier led the others in singing \u201cRally \u2018Round the Flag, Boys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several journals reprinted a letter written by a witness to that courthouse celebration. The author exulted that \u201conce more on the natal day of American liberty\u2026the dear old flag\u2026floats where the traitor signal floated but yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing more poetic, that writer continued: \u201cHearts leap, but the flag floats. Hearts break, but the flag floats. Joy goes up from the nation, for the flag floats\u2026.Treason trembles and patriotism triumphs, for the flag floats.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
A Civil War monument in Vicksburg.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In another reaction to the victory and the appearance of Old Glory, someone turned classically poetic and wrote \u201cVicksburg Is Ours,\u201d which appeared in the Salem (Massachusetts) Observer:<\/p>\n

O\u2019er sea-waves beating on the shore,<\/p>\n

\u2019Bove thunders ere the storms are o\u2019er,<\/p>\n

O\u2019er cataracts in headlong roar,<\/p>\n

High, high it towers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

O\u2019er all the breastworks and the moats<\/p>\n

The Starry Flag in triumph floats,<\/p>\n

And heroes thunder from their throats,<\/p>\n

\u2018Vicksburg is ours!\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By James Breig Americans are familiar with the Battle of Gettysburg, the Union victory 150 years ago that turned back a Confederate attempt to invade the North. Less well known is the simultaneous Union triumph in Vicksburg, Mississippi. As a result, the upcoming July 1-4 sesquicentennial of those dual turning points in the Civil War… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[63,43,76],"class_list":["post-262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-battle-flag","tag-civil-war","tag-vicksburg"],"yoast_head":"\nHow the Battle of Vicksburg Inspired Flag Poetry & Prose<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn about the Battle of Vicksburg in 1863 and how the Union victory there inspired prose and poetry about flags.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/vicksburg-inspired-flag-salutes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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