Helen and Annie are in a constant altercation up until the last 5 min of the movie. Helen only listens to Annie when she was forced forced to (when her family is not around to spoil her). During the breakfast scene the "Battle of Vicksburg" is similar to Annie not willing to give up on getting through to Helen. Captain Keller makes that reference of the battle in an effort to convince Anne that she should give up on trying to teach Helen anything and just administer defeat. The struggle shows that Helen is spoiled and focused on having her way, resistant to change. It also shows that Annie is not going to give up on Helen and that she is going to put in the hard work to get her to learn.
