Under Siege!: Three Children at the Civil War Battle for Vicksburg - Softcover

Warren, Andrea

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1250056934 ISBN 13: 9781250056931

Publisher: Square Fish, 2015

Synopsis

Meet Lucy McRae and two other young people, Willie Lord and Frederick Grant, all survivors of the Civil War's Battle for Vicksburg. In 1863, Union troops intend to silence the cannons guarding the Mississippi River at Vicksburg – even if they have to take the city by siege. To hasten surrender, they are shelling Vicksburg night and day. Terrified townspeople, including Lucy and Willie, take shelter in caves – enduring heat, snakes, and near suffocation. On the Union side, twelve-year-old Frederick Grant has come to visit his father, General Ulysses S. Grant, only to find himself in the midst of battle, experiencing firsthand the horrors of war.

"Living in a cave under the ground for six weeks . . . I do not think a child could have passed through what I did and have forgotten it." – Lucy McRae, age 10, 1863

Period photographs, engravings, and maps extend this dramatic story as award-winning author Andrea Warren re-creates one of the most important Civil War battles through the eyes of ordinary townspeople, officers and enlisted men from both sides, and, above all, three brave children who were there.

About this title

About the Author

Andrea Warren's noteworthy nonfiction has received the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award as well as a Robert F. Sibert Honor Book Award. Her book Escape from Saigon: How a Vietnam War Orphan Became an American Boy was a Booklist Editors' Choice and an NCSS-CBC Notable Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, among other recommendations. She lives in the Kansas City area.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6–9—This detailed look at the Battle of Vicksburg takes the tack of viewing the siege through the eyes of three children who were eyewitnesses and left written records of their experiences. Lucy McRae, 10, was a young resident from an upper-crust family. Her experiences of living in the caves that the Vicksburg residents dug to keep themselves safe during the shelling certainly draw parallels with those of children in modern-day locations such as Sarajevo. Willie Lord, 11, shared a similar experience to Lucy's. His family was broken up when his fragile mother was evacuated with the children to the countryside, only to find that she could not manage without her husband, the local pastor. They, too, dealt with life in the caves. Frederick Grant, 12, the son of Union General Ulysses S. Grant, accompanied his father throughout the campaign. His narrative gives the Union perspective. Excellent use of primary-source documents, maps, diagrams, and period reproductions adds depth and interest to what is almost a day-by-day recounting of this crucial siege. This volume is not only an excellent source for reports but is riveting historical reading as well. Pair it with Jim Murphy's The Boys' War (Clarion, 1990) for a look at America's bloodiest conflict through the eyes of its youth.—Ann Welton, Helen B. Stafford Elementary, Tacoma, WA
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About this edition

• Publisher: Square Fish
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1250056934
• ISBN 13: 9781250056931
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208