![]() ![]() Shells from stationary cannons and gunboats on the river rained on the city, forcing the inhabitants to seek shelter in caves dug into the surrounding hillsides. The bombardment and siege of Vicksburg began on. ![]() Loughborough, however, chose to remain close to her husband and feared she would not be able to get to Mobile, the closest city of refuge. Pemberton, commander of the Confederate defenders, had already ordered women and children out of the city. "Ah! Vicksburg," she recalls, "our city of refuge, the last to yield thou wilt be and within thy homes we will not fear the footsteps of the victorious army but rest in safety amid thy hills." General John C. She had been living in Jackson, Mississippi, but moved to Vicksburg in the mistaken belief that it would be safer. Loughborough arrived in Vicksburg a few weeks before the assault began. ![]() Loughborough is best known for her only book, My Cave Life in Vicksburg (1864), a graphic description of the siege of that city by the Union army in 1863. ![]() When the Civil War began, Loughborough apparently followed her soldier husband from place to place, living for a while in Tennessee and Mississippi. Her marriage in the 1850s brought her to the South, where she spent the rest of her life. Little is known about Mary Ann Webster Loughborough's early life or education, but it is obvious that she was a well-read and intelligent woman. Born 27 August 1836, New York, New York died 27 August 1887, Little Rock, Arkansas ![]()
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