Day 30 Wednesday17th September, Vicksburg on the Mississippi

Alone again for breakfast although Dale was awake this morning.  The scrabbled eggs are great - still cannot get grilled tomato with melted cheese but they are trying!!

Today we visited Vicksburg, the site of one of the last major battles in the US Civil War. Over six hundred thousand men lost their lives.  Apparently this is the more than the total number of American lives lost in all other wars they have been involved in.  

What a place, it is hard to imagine how the number of soldiers involved could fit into such a small space.  North and South troops within 20 to 30 feet from one another in some spots.  In some instances it was brother against brother.

Pictures don’t really do the terrain justice as most of it was planted with trees in the 1930’s to protect the fragile loose type soil. Some areas have been deliberately cleared in recent years to try and provide a better picture of the conditions. At the time of the battle the majority of the area would have been treeless as they used the timber (sorry that's "lumber" over here) for building or mainly fuel for camp fires. Most of the cannons now face the trees because beyond the tree line is a steep gully then another ridge with the opposing force with their cannons facing back.

View of the cleared area which is typical of what the battlefield would have looked like

Looking at the Confederate lines from the Union lines, with a steep sided gully between

The area around Vicksburg is quite hilly and at the time the river ran beside the town. The river has since moved away. The Mississippi has a tendency to move its course quite regularly.  With its high banks this part of the river was easy to blockade with cannon emplacements and it was therefore vital that the union forces take it so they could maintain their supply lines.

With Confederate troops on the tall ridges and steep sided gullies between them and the union lines, several attempts by the Union forces failed until eventually after 46 days of siege the Confederate General Pemberton met with General Grant to discuss terms.

Ironclad battleship, USS Cairo, which was located after many years underwater near Vicksburg, superstructure is new and shows what it looked like.

Artifacts found on the USS Cairo

Although the war continued for a further 21 months, the fall of Vicksburg along with Gettysburg marked a major turning point in the war.

Around 17,000 Union troops are buried at Vicksburg, the sad thing is that 13,000 are unknown.  Confederate soldiers are buried in the city cemetery.

The majority of states have erected memorials in the park to pay respect to their fighting men.  It is a moving experience - whether from the North or South forces memorials are represented.

One of the many State Memorials

The wide variety of Cannon used in the battle -
Dale in deep discussion on the pros and cons of each cannons abilities with new friend Chuck.