Under Siege!

Meet Lucy McRae and two other young people Willie Lord and Frederick Grant all survivors of the Civil War''s Battle for Vicksburg. In 1863 Union troops intend to silence the cannons guarding the Mississippi River at Vicksburg – even if they have to take the city by siege. To hasten surrender they are shelling Vicksburg night and day. Terrified townspeople including Lucy and Willie take shelter in caves – enduring heat snakes and near suffocation. On the Union side twelve-year-old Frederick Grant has come to visit his father General Ulysses S. Grant only to find himself in the midst of battle experiencing firsthand the horrors of war. . Living in a cave under the ground for six weeks . . . I do not think a child could have passed through what I did and have forgotten it. – Lucy McRae age 10 1863 . Period photographs engravings and maps extend this dramatic story as award-winning author Andrea Warren re-creates one of the most important Civil War battles through the eyes of ordinary townspeople officers and enlisted men from both sides and above all three brave children who were there.