Vicksburg National Military Park

Vicksburg, MS

April 5 - 6, 2017

On his sojourn through Louisiana & Mississippi, Your Correspondent spent two days at Vicksburg National Military Park, an expansive arc of preserved land stretching from what was once the Mississippi River across the north part of town then south along the eastern border (the southern segment has long since returned to the town's control). Your Correspondent seriously underestimated the scale of the site and the near three-dimensional terrain of ridges, bluffs, & valleys that gives the place a unique, unnatural feel. For while Ulysses S. Grant did attempt (and fail) to take the town through battle, he then embarked upon a siege therefore resulting in the strangely rippling landscape that protected both sides from direct fire. On the premises is the salvaged and restored ironclad gunship, the U.S.S. Cairo, one of seven that played a key role in securing the Mississippi for the Union. In town, there is also the Old Court House that we have all seen in the old photos of the siege. Today, it houses a museum capturing what life was like the inhabitants at that time. Vicksburg may be off the beaten path for Northeasterners however if you find yourself in the area, make the time to visit.

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