Describes the 14 month defense of Vicksburg, Mississippi by Confederate forces and the 47 day siege of Vicksburg by Union naval and land forces, which led to the complete opening of the Mississippi River. This publication is based on a previous publication by William C. Everhart.

From the earliest colonial settlements to Cold War bunkers, the North American continent has been home to thousands of forts and fortress structures. Fortress America surveys the broad sweep of fortifications throughout North America-from seacoast forts of the late eighteenth century to wooden inland forts built to defend against Native American, English, French, or Spanish attack; from Civil War-era coastal and inland waterways forts to the Great Plains' forts of the Old West; from World War II subterranean bunkers to Cold War concrete missile silos. The text of Fortress America is complemented with never-before-published photographs, and extraordinary drawings, cut-aways, and diagrams illustrating the design and structure of American forts.