Vicksburg on the Mississippi

Viewpoint explaining the Confederate attempt
to destroy Union supply ships. The fires
were intense but the ships made it through.
(The actual siege begins later.)

Tuesday, March 14…

Thirty-nine degrees and cloudy. Are we back in Seattle? Good news – no rain. By mid-morning we’re off to the Vicksburg National Military Park, which is huge and loaded (some might say overloaded) with information. We did most of the battlefield tour (by car), which includes markers indicating the location of each company (Union & Confederate) during the final siege. Topographically, the South had a definite advantage, but the Union army had more/better supplies and perhaps more tenacity and innovation (literally tunneling under some of the Confederate posts and blowing them up from below). Total casualties over 20,000.

On first glance, the driving tour looks
like yesterday's Natchez Trace, but...

with a monument to honor Navy
officers & sailors who served,

a Memorial Arch (built with
$35,000 in leftover funds),

& dozens of informative markers--

over 1,340 monuments, markers,
tablets & plaques in all.

(even a few trees here and there 😃)

USS Cairo, 6-8 feet draft
(Pics of the partial reconstruction don't tell much)

Also in the park was the USS Cairo (properly pronounced Karo, like the syrup), one of the early ironclad gunboats. It was commissioned in Jan 1862, sank in Dec of ‘62, forgotten for 102 years, then raised and partially reconstructed. “The recovery of artifacts from Cairo revealed a treasure trove of weapons, ammunition, naval stores, and personal gear of the sailors who served on board.” We viewed that treasure trove – it was amazing what good condition things were in (apparently preserved by the silt).

Back on the main drag, we visited a small Coca Cola Museum, where I picked up a used copy of The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd. I’ve included the opening sentence below. Could you possibly not buy the book after reading that? Then we spent some time in The Old Depot Museum and finally followed the official Scenic Route back to the RV park. 

      "In the middle of my marriage, when I was above all Hugh's wife and Dee's mother, one of those unambiguous women with no desire to disturb the universe, I fell in love with a Benedictine monk."

BlogThoughts… We may not be seeing the Mississippi for quite a while (though I know we’ll go through St Louis at some point). I’ve grown quite fond of this river – finally getting a true understanding of its importance and beginning to feel some of its true spirit.

"In the mid-19th century, rivers were America's
highways. And the Mississippi was the greatest
of them all - the nation's main artery for commerce."