Patricia Ann Stockdale

Diary of a Confederate: Johnson's Island Patricia Ann Stockdale

The Confederates quickly were told by shouts from Union soldiers that the war was over. Vicksburg had surrendered. Vicksburg, under siege since May 22nd, fell on July 4th. 1863. But General Gardner wanted to see proof. When Banks showed him the dispatches from Vicksburg, he agreed to surrender. Banks agreed to parole the Confederate enlisted men, if they signed an oath, but officers were captured and taken prisoners. The greatly outnumbered confederates had held their ground into July. But, when word of the Vicksburg defeat reached General Gardner, he realized that the situation was hopeless and nothing could be gained by continuing the defense of Port Hudson. The battle was over and the Mississippi River was in the hands of the Union, and the Confederacy was cut in half. The sheen of a bright moon revealed the sad carnage of the day, and the horrors of war became vividly distinct. A journal kept by Dr. Maj. J. L. Stockdale from July, 1863 ? April, 1864, makes reference to some of these events, a day to day record of happenings, emotions, and conditions, but were limited as to what they could or could not divulge. Their journals gave a somewhat basic insight into what prison life was like, as well as the personal conflicts and hardships encountered among their families and friends during the Civil War.