Park Tour
We started the 16-mile tour at the visitor center. They presented a great audio-visual program that explained the campaign and siege of Vicksburg. The driving tour took us along the Union lines, then along Confederate lines.
President Abraham Lincoln called Vicksburg "the key". He believed "the war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket". It's sobering to think this Civil War campaign alone took more than 20,000 lives.
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| The tour route begins at the Memorial Arch |
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| The tour takes us along the battle lines |
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| The Union's Battery De Golyer position hammered the Confederate Great Redoubt |
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| Battery De Golyer cannons marked for painting |
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| Memorials of all sizes and shapes line the route |
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| Shirley House is the only surviving wartime structure in the park |
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| Illinois Memorial |
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| Battlefield from the Illinois Memorial (white building is the Surrender Interview Site) |
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| Thayer's Approach Union troops stormed up this hill, but were stopped by geography and enemy fire |
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| Battery Selfridge Consisted entirely of naval cannon and was manned by sailors |
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| Vicksburg National Cemetery (only Union soldiers are buried here) |
The U.S.S. Cairo Museum
The Cairo was raised 102 years (to the day) after it was sunk. Thousands of artifacts were recovered, restored and are on display here.
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| U.S.S. Cairo |
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| Stick 'em up! |
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| View from Fort Hill This Confederate fort anchored the northern flank. No Union attack was ever made against it. |
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| Memorials grace the Confederate lines also. |
Confederate soldiers are buried in the Cedar Hill Cemetery ... located to the right of the scene above.
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| Fort Garrott Union soldiers got so close they could talk to the Confederate soldiers here |
The drive south was uneventful.
We arrived at the Cajun Country Campground by a little after 7 and finished setting-up before dark. We're a few miles west of Baton Rouge.
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