April 8, 2024 - Vicksburg National Military Park
During the U.S. Civil War, Vicksburg was the key to control of the Mississippi. By December, 1862, Union forces controlled all cities on the Mississippi except for the fortress city of Vicksburg. For the next seven months, U.S. Grant conducted a masterful combined arms campaign of maneuver -- using by land and naval forces -- culminating in a seige of Vicksburg, eventually forcing the surrender of Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton's forces stationed there on July 4, 1863. The loss of Vicksburg and the loss at Gettysburg the previous day, July 3, pretty much ended all hopes of a Confederate victory in the Civil War. Texas and Arkansas were effectively cut off from the Confederacy, and the Mississippi River was once again open for northern commerce to reach the Gulf of Mexico, and as a supply line for the Union Army.
I drove from Jackson over to Vicksburg, about an hour's drive, to check out the battlefield, which basically was a perimeter around the town. I started at the Vicksburg National Military Park Visitor Center, which is east of the town on the banks of the Mississippi River.
This map shows the Vicksburg area as it was back in 1863.
There were a lot of people milling about, including the local news, to see the big solar eclipse. The Visitor Center was giving away special sunglasses so that you could look at it without burning your eyes out. But as you can see, the sky is very overcasty and no one saw anything.
The solar eclipse of April 8, 2024, also known as the Great North American Eclipse, was a total solar eclipse visible across a band covering parts of North America, from Mexico to Canada and crossing the contiguous United States. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the Sun.
Looking northwest, in the distance, across No Man's Land is the Surrender Interview Site, where that house now stands.
By the end of June, General Pemberton realized his situation was desperate. The hope of relief by General Johnston's army had quickly disappeared. Over 10,000 soldiers in Pemberton's Army of Vicksburg were incapacitated due to illness, wounds, and malnutrition. His supplies and munitions were at critically low levels. He learned that Grant was preparing for another massive assault on the Confederate works in early July.
After a meeting with his division commanders, Pemberton concluded that surrender was inevitable. On the morning of July 3, 1863, he gave orders to display a white flag of truce, and sent representatives to deliver a message to General Grant proposing a meeting to discuss surrender terms. Grant agreed and at 3:00 p.m., Generals Grant and Pemberton met under the shade of an oak tree midway between the opposing lines.
The commanders could not reach an agreement, but discussions among subordinate officers, and an exchange of notes between Grant and Pemberton late in the day, brought about agreement for final terms of surrender. The next morning, July 4, the Confederate defenders marched out of their trenches, stacked their arms, and were paroled. After 47 days, the siege of Vicksburg was over.
Stone Mountain (GA) granite forms the base and stairway. Above the base is Georgia white marble. There are forty-seven steps in the long stairway, one for each day of the Siege of Vicksburg. Modeled after the Roman Pantheon, the monument has sixty unique bronze tablets lining its interior walls, naming all 36,325 Illinois soldiers who participated in the Vicksburg Campaign. Atop the memorial sits a bronze bald eagle sculpted by Frederick C. Hibbard of Chicago, who would also sculpt the statue of General Ulysses S. Grant in the park.
The monument stands sixty-two feet in height and originally cost $194,423, paid by the state of Illinois. It was dedicated on October 26, 1906.
The driving tour turned due west to the bluffs overlooking the river.
In 1863, you would have been overlooking the Mississippi River from here. Now the water you see is the Yazoo River Diversion Canal.
The Tennessee Memorial.
In 1992 Mrs. Evelyn P'Pool, chairman of the Monument Committee for the Tennessee Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy expressed an interest to initiate a project to honor the Confederate soldiers from Tennessee who served in the defense of Vicksburg. The memorial was erected in June 1996 and dedicated June 29, 1996.
Its design consists of a slab of unpolished granite shaped in the outline of the State of Tennessee, measuring 13 feet, 10 inches by 3 feet, 2 inches by 9 inches. It rests on a granite base measuring 4 feet by 3 feet, 10 inches. The front is inscribed, with the following text: "TENNESSEE, Dedicated To the Tennessee Confederate Soldiers Who Served In the Defense of Vicksburg."
The back of the memorial reads, "Honor to those who never sought it; Fame to those who never wished it; Glory to those who never dreamed it; Immortality, for they earned it - The Confederate Soldiers of Tennessee."
The Missouri Memorial.
The familiar phrase “brother vs. brother” as is so often spoken in discussion of the Civil War rings true here at the Missouri Monument. This red granite, Roman Composite design stands atop Green’s Redan, a site where soldiers from Missouri serving in both armies truly personified this fratricidal Civil War. This moment in history is forever immortalized within the two bronze relief plaques seen on the monument’s façade. Sculpted by artist Victor S. Holm, the scene at left titled “The Attack,” depicts Union soldiers in a ferocious charge, and at right is the aptly named, “The Defense,” which depicts Confederate soldiers defending against the attack.
Seen at center, perched atop the bow of a ship, representative of the ship of state as it successfully plies its way through the troubled waters of the Civil War, is “The Spirit of the Republic.” This figure is based on Nike, the Hellenistic Greek goddess of victory who was closely associated with the Grecian goddess Athena. This version of Nike was heavily inspired by the famous 190 B.C. work “Nike of Samothrace” now on display at the Louvre in Paris. The monument features many other artistic motifs synonymous with the American Renaissance. As you get out a take a closer look, see if you can spot the ram’s head and dolphins.
The Missouri Monument was dedicated during the 1917 Peace Jubilee which was held here at Vicksburg National Military Park, making it a true artistic representation of reconciliation. At its dedication, Colonel Leo Raisseur noted the monument’s purpose, “to commemorate and perpetuate the heroic services, the unselfish devotion to duty, and the exalted patriotism of the Missouri Soldiers, Union and Confederate, who were engaged in the campaign, siege, and defense of Vicksburg.”
The Mississippi Memorial.
The memorial was erected at a cost of $32,000 and dedicated on November 13, 1909. The bronze work represents various actions of the Mississippi troops during the Siege of Vicksburg and was fabricated in Rome. At the monument's front is a statue of Clio, Muse of History. The memorial is constructed of Mount Airy, North Carolina granite and is 76 feet high.
The eleven steps leading to the main portion of the memorial honor Texas' sister states in the Confederacy. A live Yucca plant, native to Texas and the southwestern United States, is a unique addition to the monument. The bronze statuary symbolizes all who served from Texas at Vicksburg and captures the spirit of the men who sealed the breach in the Confederate lines. The sculptor was Herring Coe, Lundgren and Maurer were the architects, and the Texas Granite Corporation was the contractor. The memorial lists all Texas units on the defensive line, in Johnston's Army, and in Walker's Texas Division.
