Battle of vicksburg The Vicksburg Campaign was one of the most decisive campaigns of the Civil War and also one of the greatest campaigns in history. Vicksburg, Mississippi, perched upon a steep bluff along the east bank of the Mississippi River was of strategic importance to the north and south. The opening of the Mississippi River to Northern shipping was of prime importance to the Union. It would help them move troops from camp to camp, divide the confederacy down the middle, and commerce of old Northwest would once again have access to the sea. The capture of Fort Donelson had broken the first line of Confederate defense for the Mississippi River Valley.