Vicksburg

Vicksburg (pop. 25,434), city in western Mississippi, seat of Warren County and site of a crucial campaign in the U.S. Civil War. Built in 1791 on the site of a Spanish outpost on the Mississippi River, it had a strategic position that made it a key Confederate bastion, until it was taken by Union forces under Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in 1863 after a 6-week siege. The port produces chemicals, machinery and metal, lumber and food products.