In my elementary school years, I was fascinated with the history of the civil war. I was too young at the time to understand the politics behind the war and my focus was on the battlefield leaders and strategies. I would pour through all available library books on the major civil war battles. One of those battles was the battle for Vicksburg.

Vicksburg is a city in state of Mississippi that overlooks a bend in the Mississippi River. President Jefferson Davis described the city as ” the nail head the holds the South’s two halves together”. Control of the river provided a lifeline for the South. As such, it was well fortified with artillery batteries guarding the river and a series of forts protecting all land approaches.

The Union knew that complete control of the Mississippi River was key to ending the war. In May of 1863, the battle for Vicksburg started. Three months later, Vicksburg surrendered.

The Park was established in 1899 and included the entire extent of the siege and defense lines. As the city and associated infrastructure grew, the Park reduced in size and four Park sites are now detached from the main area. A Visitor Center sits at the main entrance to the main Park and is well worth the stop. A 16 mile road loops through the Park with parking areas and trails available for observing various sites. I spent a half a day at the park but one could easily spend a whole day.

The area of the Park that impacted me the most was the National Cemetery. If a walk through this area of the park does not heavily weigh on you, I dare say you are not human.

As I toured the battlefield area and the associated monuments (which highlight / memorialize battles / soldiers), one of my takeaway’s was that there were very few monuments focused on the Southern perspective. I later read that when the Park was established 30 years after the battle, States were allowed to establish monuments highlighting the involvement of their soldiers. However, the Southern states did not have / or had very limited monetary resources for such.

Some monument / battle field pics:

An extremely interesting exhibit within the main Park boundaries is the gunboat USS Cairo. The USS Cairo was one of America’s first ironclad warships. It was sunk in 1862 by an electrically detonated torpedo / mine while traveling on the Yazoo river north of Vicksburg. In 1956, it was discovered . Silt, sand and mud had encapsulated the ship and help preserve it in fairly good condition. The boat was salvaged in the 1960’s and set up for exhibit within the Park as the USS Cairo Museum. Pretty cool set up.

When crossing the river from Louisiana, there are signs for the Vicksburg Visitor Center (different than the Military Park visitor center). It is worth a stop for information and a view over the river. It is also next to one of the detached Military Park areas.

Now, off to the Gulf!