At that time I found that many of the citizens had been living under ground.

The ridges upon which Vicksburg is built, and those back to the Big Black, are composed of a deep yellow clay of great tenacity.

Where roads and streets are cut through, perpendicular banks are left and stand as well as if composed of stone.

The magazines of the enemy were made by running passage-ways into this clay at places where there were deep cuts.

Many citizens secured places of safety for their families by carving out rooms in these embankments.