General John Pemberton
John Clifford Pemberton grew up in Pennsylvania. After attending West Point, he served in the U.S. Army in posts all over the country. While serving at Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia, he met and later married Martha Thompson, the daughter of a prominent Norfolk shipping family. Historians believe it was this marriage that caused Pemberton to resign his commission and join the Confederate Army a week after Virginia seceded from the Union. On October 1, 1862, General Pemberton was given command of the District of Mississippi and Eastern Louisiana. He was instructed that Vicksburg was the most important place in his command and that he was to hold it at all costs. After battling the forces of Ulyssess S. Grant, Pemberton was forced to surrender at Vicksburg on July 4, 1863.
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