Museum of the Confederacy - Artifact of the Month

May 2013 Artifact of the Month

Object: Biscuit
Acc. #: 0985.7.176
This biscuit is an example of the type eaten in Vicksburg, Mississippi during the siege of the city. The Siege of Vicksburg began on May 25, 1863, as General Ulysses S. Grant determined to capture the city after several unsuccessful attacks. Confederate soldiers under General John C. Pemberton had retreated within the city’s defenses to protect it, so they and city’s civilians were soon bombarded with Union artillery and faced increasing food shortages. This small biscuit would have been made and eaten while regular foodstuffs were still available. When all of the genuine food was gone, soldiers and civilians sustained themselves by eating everything from rats to shoe leather to wallpaper paste soup. The siege ended on July 4, 1863, when Pemberton finally surrendered.

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