Day 25-26, Friday-Saturday, April 12/13, 2024 - Goodbyes and onto Vicksburg.

Friday we were in no hurry to get going but it was time to move on. Randy arranged some pickle ball for the guys around 9:30.  So Fred got some more lessons, we played with Randy's friends, Glenn and Greg.  We switched up teams and it did not take long to identify the weak link...yeah it was Fred. They were good sports about it and we got a little exercise. 

After packing and showers we said good bye to Randy, Sue, Joe and Reba and set off a bit before 12N in the direction of Vicksburg, Mississippi.  

We drove until around 6PM and stopped at the Cracker Barrel in Shreveport, Louisiana.  Of course we had dinner but they were slammed and it took forever. It was not our best CB experience but it was a free place to park for the night. 

We still had a 3+ hour drive left to get to Vicksburg, so I got in the drivers seat around 6:30 while June was still sleeping. I was hoping I20 would be smooth, but I quickly hit construction and she was out of bed...she will get over it. We arrived at Vicksburg around 9:45AM. 

We have been to Gettysburg a few times but never Vicksburg. Vicksburg was probably a more strategic battle than Gettysburg, but does not get near the publicity. Taking Vicksburg gave the Union complete control of the Mississippi and divided the confederacy in half.

The strategy employed by Grant is fascinating, he was very deceptive and creative with his assault.  Despite his superior numbers, the taking of Vicksburg took Grant over six months, after several unsuccessful assaults he did an old school siege that took 47 days before they surrendered. This was a turning point in the war since the south was now cut in half and they lost the Mississippi as a supply line. 

We spent about 5 hours, but you could easily spend all day, there are over 2000 monuments. 

Today it is difficult to visualize the battlefield. It is not nearly as well preserved as Gettysburg, but the story is told in the placards. 

The Union lines are identified by blue markers and the confederate with red markers. Ohio and Illinois have huge monuments here, this is Illinois. 

Some significant parts of the park are closed, we had to hike to see the statue of Grant.

On the way to Grant's statue, there are plaques that detail the siege of Vicksburg, but this area is clearly being neglected a bit. 

It appears the Union kept better records than the Confederates. 

Unlike Gettysburg, we could not find a Vermont Monument, but we did find the New York Monument. 

It is pretty clear why Vicksburg controlled the Mississippi, 

We stopped at the 'Surrender Interview Site', where Pemberton and Grant negotiated the terms of surrender. 

There were so many monuments we did not stop at them all, but we did make our way to the Cairo, the last remaining iron clad river boat in existence today. 

It was sunk by a mine in 1862 and forgotten. In the 1960's it was found and raised. Today it is a museum. 

It is an impressive ship and makes what you read about the old iron clads real. 

We toured the museum which contains many, many artifacts that were recovered with the Cairo, including the ships bell. 

We are glad we stopped in Vicksburg. Although more strategic than Gettysburg, it clearly is neglected in comparison, probably because Lincoln did not give a speech here, it still deserves a visit.

We departed Vicksburg a little after 3PM and drove to Tuscaloosa, Alabama and stopped at another Cracker Barrel for the night. Tomorrow we are visiting friends we met on our Germany trip, they live near Birmingham, Al.