The North in the South

cannon at Vicksburg

getting ready to explore the battlefield on a mighty chilly day

good display of what the soldiers had to fight with and protect themselves with

1-15-15:  David, Rocky, and I took the one hour or so drive over to Vicksburg, MS today to tour the battlefield.  It is a very cold, damp day, but we decided to get r done anyway, while we have some time off.  It is a full day's tour......and could easily be more. The monuments are outstanding and the terrain is beautiful!

David's Rocky impression on the Illinois Monument steps

We started with the visitor center which houses a small museum, gift shop and a 20 minute movie.  Then we headed out, beginning with the Union lines. The pix above are at the Illinois Monument.

I'm shooting back -- with my iphone

not a cell phone tower

Thayer area

Mississippi River in background

Kansas monument just didn't fit the mold, but interesting

Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana has a huge presence in monuments!

Shirley House

soldiers would hunker down here 

the "shebangs" behind this sign made for a beautiful terrain.... or visa versa 

As I've previously said, the Civil War wasn't one of the south's proudest moments. I sometimes wonder what life would be like in the southern USA had there not been the Civil War, if the south would've simply complied and ended slavery.  Would there still be so much poverty in the south?  Would the education systems be better?  What else would be different than it is today? I love being from the south: the natural beauty, the friendliness, hospitality, and the great food!  But I sure wish the history during this time had been different. If I'd been around during this era I might've been a Union sympathizer. Who knows?

Vicksburg was a bustling town back in the day.  Lots of plantations and a vital landing on the Mississippi River. Vicksburg Landing (known as Kangaroos for a gambling establishment by that name) was quite the wicked place. It was so full of gambling and prostitution (as were most landings along the river), that eventually the "good folks" of Vicksburg decided it was time to clean it up.
They gave the rascals below the hill 24 hours to get out of town or face the consequences. Vicksburg Landing became the first town to do this, followed closely by Natchez on the Hill clearing out Natchez-Under-the-Hill. It worked......for awhile.

The aristocrats of Vicksburg would sometimes watch the volleying from atop a hill known as the Star Parlor.  There were tables there and the plantation folk would head up there with their slaves carrying their picnic supplies and whatever else they wanted (for the rich society people would never carry their own stuff) up the steps of the hill. When the fighting came closer, many of the residents dug out cave homes for protection in the sides of the surrounding hills. Some were pretty elaborate with several rooms and many of their belongings.  Their slaves would cook and wash clothes for them outside the cave entrance. Eventually, the aristocrats could be seen frantically carrying their own belongings thru the streets of Vicksburg.

Vicksburg was a very important battle, and a hard one for the Union to win .  The Confederates were pretty confident in the beginning and protected their town and landing quite well.  But in the end, after many lives lost, the Union had it surrounded and the soldiers and residents were pretty much starved out. Winning the Vicksburg battle gave the Union full control of the Mississippi River and that was that.

 National Cemetery on the Battlefield

The National Cemetery on the battlefield is the final resting place for thousands of Union soldiers. It is truly a beautiful, hallowed ground. Because national cemeteries didn't originally allow confederates to be buried in them, the southern soldiers were just buried where they fell. Later many were moved to cemeteries a bit more honorable.

the city cemetery has many CSA soldiers 

CSA Monument

Confederate Soldiers & Officers

a small Arkansas section

quite a few unknown

 In Vicksburg, the Soldier's Rest, also known as Cedar Hill or the City Cemetery, is home to about 3000 confederate soldiers' and officers' graves.

The USS Cairo was fascinating.  Maybe my fave part of the battlefield. We knew it was there and we planned on visiting it.  But when we rounded that bend in the road and saw it for the first time, we were astounded!  It was so much bigger than we expected.  It was on display under a tent to protect it from the elements.

pilot house

We were allowed to walk through it and to see some of the parts of it that were on display in the museum.  The Cairo sank in the Yazoo River with no fatalities.  It's chimneys were so tall that they could be seen after it sank.  The Union soldiers on the USS Pittsburg knocked the chimneys down so the confederates wouldn't see it.

The ironclad gunboats were designed James B. Eads who also designed the first bridge over the Mississippi River....at St. Louis.  Eads also created a diving bell used to search for sunken steamboats in the mighty river.

Pemberton surrendered to Grant at this courthouse in Vicksburg

After many months the battle of Vicksburg was wrapped up on July 4, 1863 with the surrender of the starving Confederates. Reports are that for decades after the surrender, Vicksburg didn't celebrate Independence Day.  After WWII celebrations began again although not enthusiastically. One account says that on the 150th anniversary Vicksburg finally replaced the Confederate flag with an American flag.

church in the ghost town of Rodney

Perhaps store or offices

Store & later a gas station

this old church in Rodney had a cannonball stuck in the front wall

old train car used as a hunting retreat now

1-16-15:  Today, David took Rocky and me along the route of Grant's campaign. We first drove out to the ghost-town of Rodney, MS. It's a little hard to find for most, but David did a great job of figuring out the best route and we went straight to it. Along with the remains of the old town, there are a couple of residents and some places that look like they are probably hunting retreats. An old store/gas station is still standing on the corner with its old gas tank, 2 deserted churches (one with a cannonball lodged in a front wall), and a couple of 2-story bldgs that look like they could've been hotels or boarding houses.

Bethel Church near Windsor Ruins

Windsor Ruins kinda blew us away when we approached

From there we went to Windsor Ruins. Amazing!! There is no documentation of what the plantation was originally called, but now it has the name Windsor due to the sounds of the wind through the columns from time to time.  We didn't hear wind, but we heard 2 barred owls asking who cooks for us!

Windsor was completed in 1859 by Smith Coffee Daniell, II. He only lived a few weeks after completion, dying at age 34. Of course, basic construction was done by slave labor, and the bricks kilned across the road. There were 29 columns with iron Corinthian capitals. Total cost was $175,000 which is over $4 million today.

Mark Twain stayed at the home and used the observatory for the view of the river. During the War Between the States, it was used asan observation point by the Confederates and later as a Union hospital. Though the mansion survived the Civil War, in 1890 a guest left a lighted cigar on a balcony and the home burned from top to bottom.

The only remnants today are the 23 haunting columns, a few pieces of china, a set of wrought iron stairs and portions of the balustrade. Alcorn State University uses the stairs and balustrade at their chapel down the road.  No info on the china.

Windsor Ruins was shown in the Elizabeth Taylor/Montgomery Clift movie, "Raintree County" and the 1996 movie, "Ghosts of Mississippi."

a lot of loess terrain around Windsor Ruins

Courthouse at Port Gibson

The next stop was Port Gibson.  This was the town that Grant labeled as "Too Beautiful to Burn".

historical Presbyterian Church in Port Gibson

the steeple has a Hand to Heaven rather than a cross on top

 Back in the day it was loaded with churches and cotton plantations.  History says most buildings survived due to Grant's declaration. Port Gibson was the site of many clashes. The Battle of Port Gibson on May 1, 1863 was a turning point for the Confederates' ability to hold Mississippi.

We continued on the campaign route to Grand Gulf Military Park outside Port Gibson.  This is a well-kept and restored military park (with a nice little rv park) that is practically right on the Mississippi River.  The scenery was beautiful and the sounds of the Pileated Woodpeckers intriguing.  The old town of Grand Gulf's heyday is remembered in the museum there includes a leg bone of a Mastedone.

The outside portion of the museum has an original keelboat and a pirogue like those used in transporting goods down the Big Muddy.

dog trot home

historical Catholic Church

civil war submarine

Mortar 

Spanish home

mill behind the dog trot home

cemetery that held soldiers, residents of Grand Gulf and 2 colored infantry men

The cemetery at the military park includes graves of Grand Gulf residents, soldiers, and 2 soldiers from the US Colored Infantry.  It is a beautiful, hilly cemetery. I could definately go back and spend some time walking around in the woods there.

overlook tower

David went to the top

I went toward the top

the Big River from the tower

Grand Gulf Nuclear Reactor from the tower

me from the tower

the hubs heading down

Around the bend was a lookout tower, which we walked up so we could soak in the view.  Well, I didn't walk all the way to the top, but David did.

We drove up the hill to Fort Cobun which provided another nice vantage point for the confederates keeping an eye on the river.

the homes here were on some serious stilts

As we traveled that mile from the military park, we passed several mobile homes on crazy high stilts, one with a sign about  surviving the flood of 2011.

Prob an old school in Grand Gulf

There are very few remains of the once thriving town of Grand Gulf, MS.

The size of this sign startled us

The info on it even more so 

the rapid river at Grand Gulf

Sundog

David catching the view

sky shot over the Mississippi

Grand Gulf point on the Big Muddy is right around the corner and we found it pretty and lonely. Kinda reminded me of the movie "Mud".

We are learning so much in this step back in history at some of the battlegrounds of the deep south.

Peace and Love from the Deep South,

Ulysses Grant, Mary Loughborough, and Cairo