The Web of Victory: Grant at Vicksburg

by Earl Schenck Miers

The Web of Victory tells of the Union siege of Vicksburg, a campaign that might very well have been the turning point of the Civil War and was without any doubt the turning point in the military career of General Ulysses S. Grant.If Grant began the campaign as a leader known more for his drinking and shabby appearance than for his strategy, he emerged from the siege with the respect of his president and the admiration -- in some cases grudging admiration -- of his fellow generals. Vicksburg revealed him as a daring, resourceful strategist, a leader who had the courage and inspiration to toss aside the military textbooks and give free rein to his genius.

Genres: Civil War, History, Nonfiction, Military History

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

Earl Schenck Miers was an American historian. He wrote over 100 published books, mostly about the history of the American Civil War. Some of them were intended for children, including three historic novels in the We Were There series. Miers received honorary degrees from Lincoln College and Rutgers University.

On 17 November 1972, at the age of 62, Miers died at his home in Edison, New Jersey.

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful little book on Grant's siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi ... arguably the anchor of the Western Front during the Civil War. While the tale does stray from Vicksburg here and there to give the reader some backstory on Grant and a few of his peers in both the North and the South, those short ventures just help flesh out the whole story. For the most part, Grant keeps center stage.

I liked this book because it didn't result in an account that smacked of hagiography. It showed Grant at his worst (drunk, but never disorderly) and at his best (when he ignored generally accepted tactics and went with his intuition). In the end, Vicksburg was a meaningful victory for the North and a kickstart to Grant's future.

The author wrote this book in the 1950s and the narrative has aged pretty well over the last 70 years. While there are many books that tell of Grant's siege of Vicksburg, this one was short and on target. The author doesn't waste the readers' time with ancillary matters ... we get Grant and we get Vicksburg.

[Marc Dunham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview of the Vicksburg campaign but doesn't add anything new to the existing body of work. For the authoritative study of the Vicksburg campaign see "The Campaign for Vicksburg" in three volumes by Edwin C. Bearss.

[Joel Manuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me 2 or 3 times to complete this, mostly because of Miers' somewhat choppy writing style, but this time I stuck with it and enjoyed it. He goes into a rather lengthy description of the bender Grant allegedly went on during the siege, which I haven't seen too many other places.

[Chas · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting account of the Vicksburg Campaign marred somewhat by the author's sometimes twitchy writing.