Which 1863 battle under Ulysses S. Grant aimed to gain control of the Mississippi River and employed total warfare?

• A. Battle of Gettysburg
• B. Battle of Shiloh
• C. Battle of Vicksburg
• D. Battle of Antietam

Answer: (C)

The question tests understanding of why control of the Mississippi River was such a strategic goal and how Grant used a siege to achieve it. In 1863, Ulysses S. Grant led a campaign against Vicksburg, Mississippi, with the aim of gaining full control of the river. The Union surrounded the city and fought a long siege from May to July, ultimately forcing the Confederate garrison to surrender. Capturing Vicksburg meant the Union could control river traffic along the Mississippi from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes, effectively splitting the Confederacy in two and crippling its ability to move troops and supplies.

This approach isn’t about one big pitched battle winning the war; it’s about securing a strategic objective by isolating and wearing down the enemy’s logistics and capacity to fight. That broader aim aligns with the idea of applying pressure to undermine the Confederacy’s war effort, which is why this option is the best fit for the question.

Other battles mentioned occurred in different theaters and served different purposes. Gettysburg stopped a Confederate invasion of the North but didn’t focus on the Mississippi. Antietam halted Lee’s invasion in Maryland, again not about river control. Shiloh was an important Western Theater engagement earlier in the war, but it did not deliver control of the river.