23 January –Vicksburg

We spent the day at Vicksburg National Military Park. The park is the site of the Civil War battle for Vicksburg, which was one of the key sites during the war, due to its control over the Mississippi River. The movement of goods from the North was prevented by confederate blockades of the river, thus cutting a vital supply line.

The battle took place in 1863 and the 47 day siege resulted in the surrender of the city to the Union.

The park has a 16 mile tour road, and big red (Confederate) and blue (Union) markers to show the locations of the troops. The tour road is lined with elaborate monuments to the battalions and to the states that served on both sides. Overall, it was easy to see how strategic Vicksburg was in the war. On the banks of the Mississippi, it is surrounded by high bluffs, which the Confederate soldiers defended from forts. After several horrific losses from attempts to storm the forts, the Union sensibly decided to lay siege and starve the city out.

One of the stops on the tour route was the USS Cairo, one of 7 ironclad gunboats used by the Union in the war. In 1862, Cairo was hit mines in the Yazoo River, and sunk in 36 foot of water. There she remained until she was discovered in 1956 by local historians. In 1965 she was raised and the restoration effort began. Now Cairo rests under a permanent cover, with her missing pieces replaced by laminated timbers. A good deal of her iron work is intact, and there is a museum of the artifacts from the wreck.