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[[File:Battle_of_Vicksburg,_Kurz_and_Allison.png|left|300px|thumbnail|Battle of Vicksburg]]

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Vick's plans would be carried out by family members and his namesake town indeed developed into a bustling center of trade. When the Civil War exploded and Mississippi broke away from the Union, Vicksburg boasted mills, factories, four fire companies and three newspapers. Military strategists on both sides recognized the importance of the city which became known as "The Gibraltar of the Confederacy," borrowing from the Greek tale of strongman Hercules and the towering rock formation at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. <ref>Meyer, Ryan, ”The Confederate Gibraltar Falls”, <i>Army Heritage Museum</i>, 2007</ref> Whichever side could control Vicksburg would surely reign supreme on the Mississippi River during the war.

[[File:GenUSGrant.jpg|thumbnail|275px|left|General Ulysses S. Grant]]

The man put in charge of wresting the Vicksburg stronghold from Southern hands was Ulysses S. Grant. Prior to the secession of the Southern states Grant had been a struggling Illinois businessman who had performed without distinction in his training at West Point and in combat with the United States Army during the Mexican War. The advent of the Civil War, however, energized him and he organized a company of volunteers to fight without the benefit of any formal connection to the United States Army.