411. The Draft Riots.--At the outset both armies were made up of volunteers; soon there were not enough volunteers. Both governments then drafted men for their armies; that is, they picked out by lot certain men and compelled them to become soldiers. The draft was bitterly resisted in some parts of the North, especially in New York City. CHAPTER 40 THE YEAR 1863 [Sidenote: Position of the armies.] 412. Position of the Armies, January, 1863.--The Army of the Potomac, now under Hooker, and the Army of Northern Virginia were face to face at Fredericksburg on the Rappahannock. In the West Rosecrans was at Murfreesboro', and Bragg on the way back to Chattanooga. In the Mississippi Valley Grant and Sherman had already begun the Vicksburg campaign. But as yet they had had no success. [Sidenote: Grant's Vicksburg Campaign, 1863. _Hero Tales_, 239-248.] 413. Beginnings of the Vicksburg Campaign.--Vicksburg stood on the top of a high bluff directly on the river. Batteries erected at the northern end of the town commanded the river, which at that point ran directly toward the bluff. The best way to attack this formidable place was to proceed overland from Corinth. This Grant tried to do. But the Confederates forced him back. [Sidenote: Siege of Vicksburg. _Source-Book_, 320-323.] [Sidenote: Surrender of Vicksburg, July 4, 1863.] 414. Fall of Vicksburg, July 4, 1863.--Grant now carried his whole army down the Mississippi. For months he tried plan after plan, and every time he failed. Finally he marched his army down on the western side of the river, crossed the river below Vicksburg, and approached the fortress from the south and east. In this movement he was greatly aided by the Union fleet under Porter, which protected the army while crossing the river. Pemberton, the Confederate commander, at once came out from Vicksburg. But Grant drove him back and began the siege of the town from the land side. The Confederates made a gallant defense. But slowly and surely they were starved into submission. On July 4, 1863, Pemberton surrendered the fortress and thirty-seven thousand men. [Sidenote: Port Hudson surrendered.] [Sidenote: Opening of the Mississippi.] 415. Opening of the Mississippi.--Port Hudson, between Vicksburg and New Orleans, was now the only important Confederate position on the Mississippi. On July 8 it surrendered. A few days later the freight steamer _Imperial_ from St. Louis reached New Orleans. The Mississippi at last "flowed unvexed to the sea." The Confederacy was cut in twain. [Sidenote: Chancellorsville, May, 1863. _Hero Tales_, 213-223.] [Sidenote: Lee invades Pennsylvania.] [Sidenote: Meade in command.]