Letter from Corporal John Griffith Jones, from a camp near Vicksburg, to his parents and brothers in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, 9 June 1863 [page 1 of 2]

Description

John has been very busy since his last letter. He has heard that the enemy's rations are running out and he expects that they will be in Vicksburg within the week. He says that his finger is getting better despite the hot weather.

He writes that the black soldiers have been fighting bravely towards Jackson, Mississippi for the last few days and that they have taken a number of prisoners, 'bully for the Blacks'.

John doesn't believe that the rebels will have slept for three weeks as the shells have been dropping on them from all directions. He has heard a rumour that the shells have killed General Pemberton's wife in Vicksburg.

John says that their picket is within a hundred and fifty yards of the fort and that the two sides speak to each other every night. According to him, these are the words of the rebels
"Say we got a new General Comanding us"
"What is his name?"
"General of starvation"

John says that he is following the teams every day carrying provisions to the army.

[In this letter, and in a number of others, John Griffith Jones describes the battle of Vicksburg. The battle took place between May and July 1863 and most historians agree that the Union's victory was one of the civil war's turning points]