“We can’t start back until after the siege,” Barker explained, somewhat impatiently.
“Couldn’t we slip out at night?” Tatanka asked.
“We are not going to try it. The gunners on the boats would sink us or shoot us as spies or blockade-runners. I’m all-fired glad that we got in without being sunk or shot. We’re not going to try to get out.”
“How long is the siege going to last?” Bill asked.
“It can’t last much longer, because there is but little food left. The men are all weak and live on half-rations.”
“Couldn’t they cut their way out!” Tim asked timidly.
“They can’t do it. Grant has twice as many men as Pemberton, and Grant’s men are all strong and have plenty of food and ammunition.”
CHAPTER XXIII—THE LAST DAYS OF VICKSBURG
It had taken Grant a whole year to place his army in position on the hills in the rear of Vicksburg, but he had stuck to the campaign with the tenacity of a bulldog.
At first he had tried to move his army south by rail from Memphis, but Van Dorn had destroyed his supplies and cut the railroad.