The scene had gone on for weeks. The garrison was so badly weakened, hungry, and sick there were fears it could not turn back another attack if one came. So the commander decided to surrender. He and the opposing general worked out terms of the capitulation under a tree on the battlefield. Later the losing general, John Pemberton, would say, “If I had 10,000 more Missourians I would have won and carried the war.” Maybe one reason he lost was because the other side had more Missourians than he did, including a couple of Missouri generals who would make a difference in the next two years. This was Vicksburg.
