Under Siege!: Three Children at the Civil War Battle for Vicksburg
Warren, Andrea. Under Siege!: Three Children at the Civil War Battle for Vicksburg.
New York: Melanie Kroupa Books, 2009.
176 pp. $21.95 (hardcover)
Period maps and drawings, photographs, and personal accounts introduce the modern-day reader to the hazards of daily life of the civilians and soldiers who endured the forty-seven day siege of Vicksburg. Author Andrea Warren reveals both the tribulations of war and the prevailing attitudes towards the war through the eyes of three children: ten-year-old Lucy McRae, daughter of a merchant; elevenyear- old Willie Lord, son of an Episcopal minister; and twelve-year-old Frederick Grant, son of Union General Ulysses S. Grant. As besieged Southerners, Lucy and Willie face hunger, fear, and brushes with death. Lucy almost suffocates after being buried in collapsed earth after a shell hits the cave that was supposed to provide protection for her family. Willie and his family watch their supper disappear after a shell blows out part of their home’s roof and floor, passing through the food-laden table. Unlike Lucy and Willie, Frederick’s presence at the Battle of Vicksburg was by choice. Frederick’s mother felt camp life would make a man of him and sends him into the midst of war to be with his father. (What modern-day mother would do that?) Frederick’s “rite of passage into manhood” led to an infected leg wound, dysentery, and typhoid fever – any one of which could have cost him his life.
This nonfiction book, with its index, bibliography, and Web site listing, is good for report writers, but it also makes fascinating historical reading for a time period in which the prevailing attitude towards war was very different from our attitude today. Recommended for school libraries (grades 6-9) and the young adult section of public libraries.
Miriam Rone
Librarian
Oxford Middle School
Entry Filed under: Book Reviews
Posted on: August 10th, 2010
