Caves of Vicksburg — Living Underground During the Siege

When the shelling began, 4,000 civilians had nowhere to go. So they dug. The loess bluffs that made Vicksburg a fortress also made it possible to carve horizontal caves into the yellow-brown hillsides — quickly, by hand, without shoring. Families moved in. The caves ranged from crude holes to elaborate multi-room shelters with rugs, furniture, and ventilation shafts. Some charged rent. Church services were held underground. Women cooked in the cave mouths between bombardments. Diarist Mary Ann Loughborough wrote one of the most vivid civilian accounts of the war from inside a Vicksburg cave. By the end of the 47 days, the city above was rubble. The city below had kept its people alive.