Grant led the army of Tennessee with the goal of controlling the Mississippi river, and in doing so, cutting the south in half preventing Richmond and Lee's army from getting much needed supplies from Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas. For many historians this was the turning point of the war, or as Lincoln said "Vicksburg is The Key, the war can never be brought to a close until that Key is in our pocket."
Don't worry I'm not going to go into the whole history of the campaign. I could because I am so fascinated with this part of our nations history. And this is one impressive park. But I won't. If you're interested you will just have to go there yourself. It is well worth the trip.
The park itself is 1800 acres. That does not include all of the historic points of interest in the city itself. It's 2 tours actually. One of the park, which included most of the major battlefields, an Iron clad with it's own museum, and the National Cemetery. And then there was the city itself, which had mostly all confederate markers and defenses.
It took us 7 hours to go through the park using an audio CD tour that the campground let us use. I also found an unbelievable Web site, Civilwar.org. On there you can download "Battle Apps". These are detailed apps that show you the battlefield and has video and audio files that give more insight into the battle. It also shows you where you are on the battlefield using GPS. If you're a Civil War nut like we are then these are must haves. They have apps for both iOS and Android for about a dozen different battlefields. And they are free. What was nice about this app was that it also had the entire campaign as well as a tour of the city itself. You need to check it out.
Here are some of our photos. Enjoy.
The Illinois Monument which is the largest in the park. Built in 1906 and contains the names of more then 36,000 Illinois soldiers who served in the Vicksburg campaign. 
These two Bronze's flank either side of the Wisconsin monument. 
This was a siege that lasted 47 days. The defenses at Vicksburg could not be broken by Grants troops. 
The Union Ironclad USS Cairo has the distinction of being the first warship sunk by an electronically detonated torpedo. After being struck the captain tried to beach the ship on the banks of the Mississippi but didn't make it. It sank in 6 fathoms of water and rested there until it was discovered again in 1956, 94 years later. Salvage operations started in 1959 and were completed in 1964.
As you can see you can walk inside of the structure. Very cool.
A model of the USS Cairo.
The gates to the National Cemetery.
This is the largest Civil War Cemetery in the country containing the graves of 17,000 Union Soldiers. One thing that I learned back in Shiloh is that National Cemeteries are reserved exclusively for United States personnel. The Confederate soldiers are buried in cemeteries around the city.
The Old Depot Museum had a fabulous diorama of the siege of Vicksburg. It gives you a great overview of the terrain and who was where.
Now Vicksburg isn't just about the Civil War. There is a good museum about the Mississippi and the role it played in the developing the area. And we met the Bird lady and her bird.
And what would a river city be if it didn't have murals painted on the flood wall protecting the city. This was the best so far and these are just a few of the murals.
So to sum up. There is plenty to do in Vicksburg even if your not into the Civil War. They also had several antebellum houses. (that means pre-civil war which I did not know) We passed on those and are visiting the ones in Natchez MS. instead.
Well that's it for now. Next Natchez for a week and then on to New Orleans for Thanksgiving. See you down the road.
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