July 4th, 1863

Dear Journal, 

I fear that today might be my last. Vicksburg is now surrounded by General Grant’s men. They have cut off all supplies and surrounded our city, nobody getting in or out without being spotted. All the shops have run out of food, and for the last week I haven’t even found any rats to eat. Each day is the same, yet my body gets weaker and weaker and soon I may not be able to get up at all. I am only 19 and not ready to die. If you are reading this, please tell my wife Mary and my son Charles that I love them dearly, and that I will always be with them. I think of them often to remind myself of who I really am.

 I am assigned to defend the town of Vicksburg, making sure the Yanks don’t take control of the town and the Mississippi River. Six weeks ago, our messengers informed us that Grant’s men were not charging into town and were just passing by. We continued to get messages that General Grant was just going around the town. That news spread quickly and soon the whole town of Vicksburg was chanting, “The Yanks are scared of us. The Yanks are scared of us.” The next morning, May 18, 1863, realization struck. Our chants of victory soon became sobs of defeat. While we were just sitting here, Grant’s army was surrounding us, cutting off all supplies to and from Vicksburg. He was slowly going to starve us to death. Here I find myself, a month and a half into the siege. Everyone in the town is getting skinnier by the minute, forced to eat rats when and if we can catch them. 

We have given up. As I walked to the army camp, we knew what we had to do today, even if it pained us to do so. All together, sobbing, we raised the white flag as high as we could, hoping someone in the Union army would see it. It stayed there for 5 minutes, and the longer it was up there, the louder the weeps and sobs got from the town of Vicksburg. We set down the flag on the ground, and we all lay down, as if in sync. Laying there, I heard the chants and screams of joy from the Union. 

My final thought before I am handed to the Union soldiers is that war accomplishes nothing. People die thinking that they are going to change something by killing others, when really, people’s opinions stay the same. The people who end up losing will keep fighting, and it is just a constant reminder that war is never the solution. Goodbye journal. See you on the other side. 

-Johnny Montana