When U.S. Grant met with Confederate General John Pemberton on July 3rd, 1863, Pemberton intended to surrender his army. But first, he wanted to know what Grant's terms would be. Famous for being "Unconditional Surrender" Grant following his capture of Fort Donelson in February 1862, where he had memorably offered no terms to the trapped Confederates, Grant quickly proved that the nickname wasn't just idle talk. There were no terms, Grant essentially told Pemberton. Surrender and take your chances. And with that, the meeting nearly came to an end before it had barely started. Exactly what happened next somewhat depends on who's account you read. Grant would write that the two men were about to call it a day on this sour note when John Bowen, one of Pemberton's officers and a former Missouri neighbor of Grant's, suddenly spoke up, suggesting he and the other subordinate officers present step aside and try to work something out. By contrast, Pemberton later claimed that he, Pemberton, was about to leave after basically telling Grant to pound sand, and that it was Grant rather than Bowen who then suggested subordinate officers work things out. A remarkably fast change of heart by Grant, if true. Whatever the case, a small group of Union and Confederate officers were indeed the ones who attempted to hammer out the details. (Ironically, Bowen, heavily involved in bringing the siege to an end without further bloodshed, would die from an illness before the month was out.) While this was going on, Grant and Pemberton awkwardly stood together nearby, making small talk about old army days and probably anything else except the current situation. While no agreement was reached at this meeting, Grant did agree to send his final terms to Pemberton later that night, which he did. Grant was not keen on giving any terms to what he considered men in rebellion against the United States. It smacked of legitimizing their claim of being the army of a separate country. Practical considerations eventually changed his mind. Grant wanted to quickly free up his army for active operations again, and having to guard, feed, and find transportation for 30,000 enemy troops wouldn't allow that. And so, despite his initial reluctance, Grant acceded to parolling the southern troops, rather than sending them to northern POW camps. (A parole was simply a piece of paper signed by each soldier, promising not to return to fighting the war until an official prisoner exchange had taken place that included them. It's a separate subject, but the parole system was, in essence, a dam with a number of leakes. It eventually failed.) Realizing these were the best terms he could expect from Grant - along with understanding that rejecting them meant more fighting for his worn down army - Pemberton accepted the terms after midnight on July 4th. The surrender would become official at 10 that morning. One of the longest campaigns of the war, and one of the most consequential campaigns in American military history, was at an end. Vicksburg had surrendered.