FAIRHOPE, Ala. — One could easily characterize Winston Groom as a history teacher. With 14 books to his credit, his focus of late has been authoring epic stories of military conflicts that were each significant in their own right.

Now Groom has turned his attention to a battle both he and many historians consider the turning point of the War Between the States.

In “Vicksburg, 1863,” due April 7 from Knoph, the Point Clear resident, who has an extensive Civil War library, takes on the Mississippi Valley campaign from 1861-1863, and details how the final push at Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two.

The volume follows the life of Ulysses S. Grant as he rises from relative obscurity and a reputation for being a lush to the pinnacle of military greatness. It chronicles his steps through the battles at Fort Henry, Fort Dickson and Shiloh, and then traces his path on to Vicksburg.

Also profiled by the author are other Union notables such as William Tecumseh Sherman, along with Confederate leaders, including Jefferson Davis and Gen. John C. Pemberton (who commanded at Vicksburg).

Groom will discuss the book as well as sign copies April 9, from 6-8 p.m., at Page & Palette in Fairhope.

His interest in the battle is more than casual. Groom’s great-great-grandfather was in a military company situated near the action, and many of those men were involved. He said, “When I started the book, I had no idea. I have no proof he was fighting at Vicksburg, however.”

But, everyone living in the South at the time had a lot riding on the outcome. Groom said, “This is where the war should have stopped. It wiped out the Confederate army, and they lost the entire Mississippi Valley. It cut off supplies from Texas and Louisiana and lost the Confederates control of the river.”

He added, “Union troops and commerce could go up the Mississippi as it pleased. It was the most important fight there was.”

Groom pointed out that the Confederates “performed admirably” on July 4, 1863, but it was too late. The Union forces had already sealed the deal.

“The war went on two more years, but there was no way to win militarily,” he said. “They could have won politically, if they had gone to Lincoln and made a deal after the war. It set the South back 100 years.”

There were food shortages across the South after the war, Groom said, and the entire region was unstable for years after the war ended.

Groom believes there is still a healthy interest in the conflict between the North and South. He said, “It’s not what it was right after the Ken Burns thing (Civil War documentary) came out, but there’s still a fairly salacious appetite for it.”

The author of the 1986 bestseller “Forrest Gump,” which was made into a hit movie starring Tom Hanks, dispelled the notion that history is a tough subject, compared to writing pure fiction.

“Novels are hard work. This is fun,” Groom said. “When you’re writing a novel, you’re staring at a blank piece of paper. History has a beginning, middle and end.”

Although certainly labor intensive, he said he approaches history with a keen interest, and then sets out to “tell the best story I can.”

He went on to say, “I’m going to see where it’s going to take me, but the plot’s laid out already. It’s like being an actor. You’ve already got a script. It’s what you do with it as an actor.”

His latest performance includes many props. “Vicksburg, 1863” contains several maps and a rich photo section, courtesy of a number of museums and archives.

Groom was born in 1943, and grew up across the bay in Mobile, where he attended University Military School. He graduated from the University of Alabama in 1965 with a degree in English, then served more than a year in Vietnam with the Fourth Infantry Division before being honorably discharged with the rank of captain.

Groom spent the next eight years working as a reporter and columnist for the Washington Star before he became an author. He lives with his wife, Anne-Clinton, and their daughter, Carolina.