User:Hog Farm/Canal blurb

The construction of the canal, as illustrated in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper

Grant's Canal was a military effort to construct a canal throuh a bend in the Mississippi River across from Vicksburg, Mississippi. During the American Civil War, control of Vicksburg and the Mississippi River was considered crucial by both the Union and the Confederacy. In June 1862, Union officer Thomas Williams was sent to De Soto Point with his men to dig a canal to bypass the strong Confederate defenses around Vicksburg. Disease and falling river levels prevented completion, and the project was abandoned until January 1863, when Ulysses S. Grant took an interest in the project. The upstream entrance of the canal was moved, but this time heavy rains and flooding interfered with the project. Work was abandoned in March, and Grant eventually used other methods to capture Vicksburg. In 1876, the Mississippi River changed course near the old canal path, although Vicksburg's river access has since been restored. Only a small section of the canal survives. (Full article...)