Vicksburg, MS

May 24, 2010

We arrived in Vicksburg and almost immediately went to the battlefield. I knew that one of my distant relatives had been here, Russell thinks some of his may be as well. It is amazing how many monuments you can read when you are looking for specific names! We would move on much faster without this scavenger hunt type of motivation.

Our first stop was a wonderful visitor center on the Mississippi River, which was also part of the battlefield, it seems most of the city was at some point. The building was hosting a string orchestra at that point on a Sunday afternoon and we completely enjoyed the 1800's tunes like "Turkey in the Straw." It set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. A wonderful park ranger at the actual battlefield ran a list of family names from the Civil War and provided us valuable info for securing more detailed info.

Today we set out in earnest and did spend the whole day understanding the dire circumstances of this 47 day siege in the summer of 1862. The RV park loaned us a DVD to play during the tour and we started a the Battlefield Museum, a private business, to have a much clearer understanding of the battle, siege, and town. We drove through the 16 mile battlefield thinking more globally than yesterday. It is hard to imagine what these folks endured. The park is dominated by Union monuments and movements because the Confederates were dug in, literally, in embankments that form a crescent around the city. They literally held the high ground and bombed and mined the river to protect the west side of Vicksburg. None of the Federal attempts to breach the line were successful, only starvation and disease weakened the resolve of the Rebel soldiers and citizens. Grant marched July 4, fully appreciating the irony and significance of the day.

We had not known the significance of the naval battle that took place here. A dozen or so paddle boats had been converted to "ironsides" to wage the naval battle. The USS Cairo had been sunk in the Yazoo River by a hand detonated mine - imagine guys hiding on shore to set off previously placed bombs with wires running from mid-river! Astounding! Anyway, in the 1960's this first-ever-mined boat was recovered and placed on shore with a roof and supports to mimic the parts that are rotted and washed away. The relics recovered fill an on-site museum that provides the life on board. No lives were lost in the sinking, and the Yanks went back to cut off the smokestacks that alerted any passerby of the location. So this was a pristine archaeological find, except of course for the part about being under water for 100 years.

We are sort of collapsed for the rest of the day. Soaking up the history of the place. With the help of several family members, we are also working at the personal ancestry this landmark has motivated. Monte, Ginger and Kyle have each given us a jump start to the wade back through time. We really appreciate their help and encouragement on the undertaking.