The Daily Citizen was edited and published at Vicksburg, Mississippi, by J.M. Swords. Like several other Southern newspapers of the Civil War period, its stock of newsprint paper became exhausted and the publisher resorted to the use of wallpaper. On this substitute he printed the following known issues: June 16, 18, 20, 27, 30, and July 2, 1863. Each was a single sheet, four columns wide, printed on the back of the wallpaper. Paper tells of the hardships of the people, such as resorting to the eating of mules, local casualties of the war, and news of the armies.

On July 4, Vicksburg surrendered, the publisher fled, and the Union forces found the type of the Citizen still standing. They replaced two-thirds of the last column with other matter already in type, added a note at the bottom, and started to print a new edition. Note reads, “July 4, 1863. Two days bring about great changes. The banner of the Union floats over Vicksburg. Gen. Grant has "caught the rabbit:" he has dined in Vicksburg, and he did bring his dinner with him. The "Citizen" lives to see it. For the last time it appears on "Wall-paper." No more will it eulogize the luxury of mule-meat and fricasseed kitten -- urge Southern warriors to such diet never-more. This is the last wall-paper edition, and is, excepting this note, from the types as we found them. It will be valuable hereafter as a curiosity.”

The Siege of Vicksburg (May 18 – July 4, 1863) was the final major military action in the Vicksburg Campaign of the Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mississippi River and drove the Confederate Army of Mississippi, led by Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton, into the defensive lines surrounding the fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Vicksburg was the last major Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River; therefore, capturing it completed the second part of the Northern strategy, the Anaconda Plan. When two major assaults (May 19 and 22, 1863) against the Confederate fortifications were repulsed with heavy casualties, Grant decided to besiege the city beginning on May 25. After holding out for more than forty days, with their reinforcement and supplies nearly gone, the garrison finally surrendered on July 4. The successful ending of the Vicksburg Campaign significantly degraded the ability of the Confederacy to maintain its war effort. The Confederate surrender on July 4, 1863, is sometimes considered, when combined with Gen. Robert E. Lee's defeat at Gettysburg by Maj. Gen. George Meade and retreat beginning the same day, the turning point of the war.

Double sided frame measures 19”x 27”.  Reverse shows wallpaper. Wire is mounted on reverse for hanging.  [sl]

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