The Battle of Vicksburg

I drove through the Vicksburg National Military Park today.  The Battle of Vicksburg, also called the Siege of Vicksburg, was the culmination of a long land and naval campaign by Union forces to capture a key strategic position during the Civil War.  Capturing Vicksburg would sever the Trans-Mississippi Confederacy from that east of the Mississippi River and open the river to Northern traffic along its entire length.  The battle started on May 18, 1863 when  Ulysses S. Grant and his army crossed the Mississippi River and drove the Confederate Army, led by General John C. Pemberton, into the defensive lines surrounding Vicksburg.  Grant tried several times to penetrate the Confederate Army, but Vicksburg was a fortress and impossible to penetrate.  He lost many soldiers trying.  In the end, General Grant basically surrounded the city.  After holding out for more than forty days, with no reinforcement and supplies nearly gone, General Pemberton finally surrendered on July 4.  The full campaign claimed 10,142 Union and 9,091 Confederate killed and wounded.

The Vicksburg National Military Park has a similarity to Gettysburg Park.  The park includes 1,325 historic monuments and markers, 20 miles of historic trenches and earthworks, and a 16-mile tour road.

Union Cannons 

The battlefield between the Union and Confederate soldiers

A monument dedicated to the Illinois soldiers

A monument dedicated to the Wisconsin soldiers

Ulysses S. Grant on horseback

A monument dedicated to the Ohio soldiers

Another monument dedicated to the Ohio soldiers

The USS Cairo.  It was one of the "Ironclad" ships that had a steam engine, armor plating and 13 cannons.  It was sunk in the river by "mines".  In the mid 1960's it was salvaged and is now on display in the park.

A few of the many graves at the Vicksburg National Cemetery