Booknotes: The Civil War Siege of Jackson, Mississippi

New Arrival:
• The Civil War Siege of Jackson, Mississippi by Jim Woodrick (Arcadia Pub and The Hist Press, 2016).

The Battle of Jackson that preceded Grant's capture of Vicksburg was not a great battle, nor was the Siege of Jackson a great siege on the order of those that had just occurred at Vicksburg and Port Hudson. The so-called Siege of Jackson was, however, the last great event of the Vicksburg Campaign. After a week long stand off in early July 1863 against a powerful Union expedition under William T. Sherman, Joe Johnston's Army of Relief evacuated the capital for the second time and the wrecked city came under federal control again (albeit briefly). Woodrick's book studies the military operation in some detail as well as the destruction visited upon Jackson, which was nicknamed "Chimneyville." Though compact, this is the first standalone book on the subject.