The sufferings and privations and hardships of long marches, and exposures and hard-fought battles and a long-continued siege, were all forgotten in the realization of the most glorious victory that had ever crowned the arms of an American hero.
Promiscuously mingled with the blue uniforms of the Federal soldiers was the dirty yellow of the Confederate prisoners, and their filthy appearance and fear-worn faces were in striking contrast with their elated victors.
The magnitude of the victory can perhaps be better understood by the following official report:
| Rebel losses in Major-General Grant's Department since the landing of the army at Grand Gulf, Mississippi, May 1, 1863. | |
| Loss in men up to May 18th | 40,000 |
| Prisoners taken at Vicksburg | 31,000 |
| 71,000 | |
| Citizen prisoners, 1,500 of whom were women and children | 5,000 |
| Prisoners sick and wounded | 13,220 |
| Prisoners fit for duty | 18,000 |
| Tents captured | 4,000 |
| Mules captured | 1,500 |
| Horses captured | 1,000 |
| Freight cars | 200 |
| Locomotives | 5 |
| Large siege-guns captured | 188 |
| Field-pieces captured | 151 |
| Rounds of ammunition | 300 |
| Stands of small arms | 35,000 |
| Shot-guns, etc. | 30,000 |
| Value of public property captured, from ten to fiteen million dollars. | |
| Approved, by order of | |
| James Wilson, | |
| Lieutenant-Colonel and Provost-marshal. | |
I found the Paymaster-General at Vicksburg, and succeeded in getting from him a box of cartridges. Not liking to remain in the place while the prisoners were there, lest some of them might, at some future time, recognize me, should I be so unfortunate as to get captured, I told General Grant how I felt about it, and he sent me to my regiment, then at Black River, to stay until the prisoners were sent away.
A few days after the surrender, the prisoners were all paroled, and then marched through our lines at Black River. While they were passing our camp, I kept out of sight by remaining in my quarters. The second day after the prisoners commenced to pass an exception occurred.
A rebel Major came along and dismounted, and sat down as if to rest, holding his horse by the halter. It was soon evident, from his numerous inquiries, that rest was not so much of an object as contraband information. His horse was a nice one, and was equipped with a fine saddle and bridle, and across his saddle was a portmanteau.
A soldier of the 30th Illinois Regiment came to my quarters, and requested me to go out and see the Major and converse with him. He also told me that the Major was trying to get information from the soldiers that he had no business with, and that if I would succeed in holding his attention, the boys would play some kind of a caper upon him for his improper inquisitiveness.
I went out, and found him engaged in trying to find out the strength of General Grant's army. As I came up I squatted right down in front of him, and commenced to ask him questions about how he liked the siege, etc.; then, fixing my eyes on his, I gave him a severe rebuke for participating in such an unjust cause, and tried to show him its utter hopelessness. I then spoke of the blessings of peace, prosperity, and happiness, as they had existed under our Government before the war, and then contrasted that state of affairs with the existing state of affairs in the rebellious States, and concluded by telling him that any man who had been guilty of raising his hand against the best Government that ever existed, ought to be satisfied with the experience that he had had, and heartily ashamed of himself.
As I began to talk, the soldiers began to gather in a crowd around us. I suspected that some of them would cut the halter-strap and lead the horse off into the woods, before the crowd would open sufficiently for the Major to see which way it went.