him back.

[Sidenote: Siege of Vicksburg. _Source-Book_, 320-323.]

[Sidenote: Surrender of Vicksburg, July 4, 1863.]

414. Fall of Vicksburg, July 4, 1863.--Grant now carried his whole
army down the Mississippi. For months he tried plan after plan, and
every time he failed. Finally he marched his army down on the western
side of the river, crossed the river below Vicksburg, and approached the
fortress from the south and east. In this movement he was greatly aided
by the Union fleet under Porter, which protected the army while crossing
the river. Pemberton, the Confederate commander, at once came out from
Vicksburg. But Grant drove him back and began the siege of the town from
the land side. The Confederates made a gallant defense. But slowly and
surely they were starved into submission. On July 4, 1863, Pemberton
surrendered the fortress and thirty-seven thousand men.

[Sidenote: Port Hudson surrendered.]

[Sidenote: Opening of the Mississippi.]

415. Opening of the Mississippi.--Port Hudson, between Vicksburg
and New Orleans, was now the only important Confederate position on the
Mississippi. On July 8 it surrendered. A few days later the freight
steamer _Imperial_ from St. Louis reached New Orleans. The Mississippi
at last "flowed unvexed to the sea." The Confederacy was cut in twain.

[Sidenote: Chancellorsville, May, 1863. _Hero Tales_, 213-223.]

[Sidenote: Lee invades Pennsylvania.]

[Sidenote: Meade in command.]

416. Lee's Second Invasion, 1863.--"Fighting Joe Hooker" was now in
command of the Army of the Potomac. Outwitting Lee, he gained the rear
of the Confederate lines on Marye's Heights, But Lee fiercely attacked
him at Chancellorsville and drove him back across the Rappahannock. Then
Lee again crossed the Potomac and invaded the North. This time he
penetrated to the heart of Pennsylvania. Hooker moved on parallel lines,
always keeping between Lee and the city of Washington. At length, in the
midst of the campaign, Hooker asked to be relieved, and George G. Meade
became the fifth and last chief of the Army of the Potomac.

[Illustration: BATTLEFIELD OF GETTYSBURG, LOOKING SOUTH FROM ROUND TOP.]

[Sidenote: Lee retires.]

[Sidenote: Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863.]

417. Gettysburg, July 1, 1863.--Meade now moved the Union army
toward Lee's line of communication with Virginia. Lee at once drew
back. Both armies moved toward Gettysburg, where the roads leading
southward came together. In this wa