On July 1, Johnston moved his army of 4 infantry and 1 cavalry divisions to the east bank of the Big Black River, seeking a vulnerable place to attack Grant’s outer defenses. His reconnaissance during the next 3 days convinced him that no move against the Federal position was practicable. Receiving word of the surrender on July 4, he withdrew to Jackson. THE SURRENDER OF VICKSBURG. By July, the Army of Vicksburg had held the line for 6 weeks, but its unyielding defense had been a costly one. Pemberton reported 10,000 of his men so debilitated by wounds and sickness as to be no longer able to man the works, and the list of ineffectives swelled daily from the twin afflictions of insufficient rations and the searching fire of Union sharpshooters. Each day the constricting Union line pushed closer against the Vicksburg defenses, and there were indications that Grant might soon launch another great assault which, even if repulsed, must certainly result in a severe toll of the garrison. (Grant had actually ordered a general assault for July 6, 2 days after the surrender.) General Pemberton, faced with dwindling stores and no help from the outside, saw only two eventualities, “either to evacuate the city and cut my way out or to capitulate upon the best attainable terms.” Contemplating the former possibility, he asked his division commanders on July 1 to report whether the physical condition of the troops would favor such a hazardous stroke. His lieutenants were unanimous in their replies that siege conditions had physically distressed so large a number of the defending army that an attempt to cut through the Union line would be disastrous. Pemberton’s only alternative, then, was surrender. [Illustration: _The Union ironclad gunboat _Cairo_, sunk by a Confederate “torpedo” (mine) near Vicksburg._ From _Photographic History of the Civil War_.] _David and Goliath of the Union fleet, photographed at Vicksburg after the surrender:_ [Illustration: _A patrol boat, the “tinclad” _Silver Lake_._] [Illustration: _The powerful ironclad ram _Choctaw_._ From _Photographic History of the Civil War_.] Although not requested, Pemberton also received the verdict of his army in a message from an unknown private, signed “Many Soldiers.” Taking pride in the gallant conduct of his fellow soldiers “in repulsing the enemy at every assault, and bearing with patient endurance all the privations and hardships,” the writer requested his commanding general if he would “Just think of one small biscuit and one or two mouthfuls of bacon per day,” concluding with the irrefutable logic of an enlisted man, “If you can’t feed us, you had better surrender us, horrible as the idea is.” [Illustration: _Maj. Gen. M. L. Smith, commanding the Confederate left at Vicksburg._ Courtesy Library of Congress.] [Illustration: _Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson, commanding the Union XVII Corps._ Courtesy Library of Congress.]