Vicksburg is the fifth volume in a series of historical novels
spanning the Civil War featuring the Brannon family of Culpeper County,
Virginia. The focus turns to the west and the Southern stronghold of
Vicksburg, Mississippi, where Cory Brannon is working to keep the town
supplied by wagon train and railroad from Texas.
Vicksburg is the key to the Mississippi River and the future of the
Confederacy, and Abraham Lincoln wants to put that key in his pocket.
For almost a year the Federal army and navy have tried to dislodge the
Confederates, but they have gained nothing. Finally, Union Gen. Ulysses
S. Grant, the hero of the battles at Forts Henry and Donelson and the
battle of Shiloh, is dispatched to take the town.
Cory and the woman he loves, Lucille Farrell, are working with her
uncle, Col. Charles Thompson, and a small contingent of dedicated
Southerners. In the spring of 1863, as the Union army begins to close
in, Cory must abandon that venture to take on a vital mission for
Confederate Gen. John Pemberton, the commander in charge of Vicksburg's
defenses. At the end of Cory's journey, however, is an even more
dangerous foray into Western Tennessee and over the border into Kentucky
with the horse soldiers of Nathan Bedford Forrest, Cory's mentor from
the battle of Shiloh. To help save Vicksburg, Cory becomes both a
cavalry raider and even a spy.
Yet his efforts cannot prevent the inevitable as the Yankees eventually
surround and lay siege to Vicksburg. With the Northern army set to seize
the city, Lucille must also cope with additional challenges as she
encounters a returning friend with secret plans of his own. The Federal
bombardment, illness, injury, and starvation all take their toll on the
defenders of Vicksburg, forcing Cory and Lucille to face decisions that
threaten not only their love but their very lives.
