Vicksburg National Military Park

One of our first stops was in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Here we had a chance to visit the National Military Park. During the Civil War, ‘the Mississippi River was the single most important economic feature of the continent — the very lifeblood of America. Upon the secession of the southern states, Confederate forces closed the river to navigation, which threatened to strangle northern commercial interests.’¹ For this reason, both sides agreed that Vicksburg was the key to success in the war.

‘The Vicksburg Campaign began in 1862 and finished with the Confederate surrender on July 4th, 1863. For over 18 months, various armies would maneuver throughout the western theater, and occasionally face each other on the battlefield. Both Union and Confederate armies realized the importance of Vicksburg, but it would take over a year and a half and over 48,000 casualties before the fate of Vicksburg and the Mississippi River would be determined.’² Union forces attempted to cross the Mississippi numerous times, but failed or were pushed back by Confederate soldiers. The battle at Vicksburg began on May 18th, 1863 and ended 47 days later on July 4th, 1863. The most striking thing to us about this battleground was the terrain. There are so many trenches, hills and cliffs that the soldiers had to navigate.

Similar to the Gettysburg Battlefield, many of the states erected monuments to honor the fallen soldiers from their states. Some were very small, but a number of them were very ornate.

Also at this battlefield is the USS Cairo Memorial. This was one of the Ironclad River Gunboats that assisted General Grant with his efforts to cross the Mississippi River and confront General Pemberton’s forces at Vicksburg.

We really enjoyed this stop. It was very informative and well worth our time.

1. nps.gov ↩︎
2. battlefields.org ↩︎