On Dit -- Vicksburg Daily Citizen, Vicksburg MS
N 32° 21.445 W 090° 50.676
15S E 702815 N 3582096
A brief bit in the gossipy On Dit (French for 'One Says') column of the Vicksburg Daily Citizen newspaper, edition of the 2nd of July 1863, details General Grant's purported plans to dine in the besieged city on the 4th of July.
Waymark Code: WMMMBK
Location: Mississippi, United States
Date Posted: 10/08/2014
Views: 2
A brief bit in the On Dit gossip column of the Vicksburg Daily News edition of 02 July 1863 (which had to be printed on the back of wallpaper because of a paper shortage in the besieged city), taunts General Grant's 4th of July plans to dine in the city.
Obviously the editors knew the residents of the city and the Confederate army trapped in it with them were all in dire straits. What they did NOT know is that Grant's reported assertion would prove true -- he WOULD dine in the city on July 4th, the day the Confederates surrendered the city and Grant (with his army) rolled in to raise the US flag over the Vicksburg Courthouse.
On that day, the Confederacy was split in half. They lost their most valuable supply route: The Mississippi River.
From the archives of the Library of Congress: (
visit link)
"THE DAILY CITIZEN
VICKSBURG MISS.
Thursday July 2, 1863
[Col 2, bottom of page]
"ON DIT. -- That the great Ulysses -- the Yankee Generalissimo surnamed Grant, has expressed his intention of dining in Vicksburg on Saturday next, and celebrating the 4th of July by a grand dinner, and so forth. When asked if he would invite Gen. Js. Johnston to join, he said "No, I think there would be a row at the table." Ulysses must get into the city before he can dine in it. They say to cook rabbit is to "First catch the rabbit."
The waymark coordinates are at the site where the city was surrendered, paving the way for Grant's planned dinner, inside the Vicksburg National Military Park.