On Tuesday, December 23, 1862, President Jefferson Davis by proclamation called the former Union commander of New Orleans, Union General Benjamin F. Butler, a felon, outlaw, and a common enemy of mankind.
Davis mandated that, if captured, Butler should not be treated as a prisoner of war but immediately executed by hanging as a felon, given his abusive rule in New Orleans. Visiting Vicksburg during his lengthy trip to the western states, Davis also wired his Secretary of War, acknowledging that Vicksburg’s defenses were in dire need of additional heavy guns and long range field pieces. The Confederate States of America would be physically dismembered, with the Union controlling the Mississippi River, if Vicksburg was not held at all costs.