Deep South US Tour - Fall 2011 - Day 9

Jackson was one of our shortest stops after breakfast we headed on for Natchez knowing that we intended to break our journey at Vicksburg.
The basics of Vicksburg are:
In May and June of 1863, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s armies converged on Vicksburg, investing the city and entrapping a Confederate army under Lt. Gen. John Pemberton. On July 4, Vicksburg surrendered after prolonged siege operations. This was the culmination of one of the most brilliant military campaigns of the war. With the loss of Pemberton’s army and this vital stronghold on the Mississippi, the Confederacy was effectively split in half. Grant's successes in the West boosted his reputation, leading ultimately to his appointment as General-in-Chief of the Union armies.
Dates - May 18 - July 4, 1863
Union Commander - Ulysses S. Grant
Confederate Commander - John C. Pemberton
Forces Engaged - 77,000 Union v 33,000 Confederate
Estimated Casualties - 10,142 Union v 9,091 Confederate
Result - Union Victory
We arrived at the Vicksburg National Military Park by lunch time. By the time we got to Natchez we had traveled the other two sides of a rectangle than we would have if we had taken the route given by our computer. It must have been a similar distance overall but perhaps on slower roads.
The Mississippi River was important in the Civil War because whoever controlled the river controlled the nation, and Vicksburg built atop a 300-foot-high bluff overlooking a bend in the river, occupied perhaps the most strategic location. President Abraham Lincoln called Vicksburg "the key" and believed that "the war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket."
The defenders were very well dug in and had the advantage of the higher ground. The strength of the defense meant that Grant settled in for a siege during which the town of Vicksburg suffered from the regular shelling and starvation as supplies were cut off from them. The rebels capitulated on July the 4th and this has meant that the date, Independence Day, was never celebrated in the area until 1945.
We watched a video presentation in the visitors’ centre which made clear how the events had progressed and from there we drove round the marked route of the battlefield tour with a better idea of what we were seeing.
The battlefield tour is impressive, at all the numbered stops we found the markers that we had grown accustomed to, field artillery to indicate the positions of batteries and many monuments to troops from both sides. Notable amongst the monuments is one to African American troops, mainly freed slaves, fighting on the Union side. The level of prejudice against blacks even amongst the Northern population was such that initially black troops were only given supporting duties away from the front line. At Vicksburg they struck a blow for their respect when such a group were attacked by greater numbers of a Confederate raiding party and drove them off using their discharged rifles as clubs. On occasions where Northern troops in the front line were overrun by Southern forces the white soldiers were captured and the black troops were killed.
About halfway round the tour we had a great view of the Mississippi from the defenders position atop the cliffs and here we saw a unique exhibit. The Ironclad Gunboat Cairo, which was sunk by a mine, though confusingly at the time such mines were called torpedoes, in December 1862, has been raised from the riverbed where the mud and silt had preserved it remarkably.
By studying contemporary documents and maps, Edwin C. Bearss, Historian at Vicksburg National Military Park, was able to plot the approximate site of the wreck. With the help of a pocket compass and iron bar probes, Bearss and two companions, Don Jacks and Warren Grabau, set out to discover the grave of the Cairo in 1956. The three searchers were reasonably convinced they had found the Cairo, but three years lapsed before divers brought up armored port covers to positively confirm the find. A heavy accumulation of silt, swift current, and the ever-muddy river deterred the divers as they explored the gunboat. Local enthusiasm and interest began to grow in 1960 with the recovery of the pilothouse, an 8-inch smoothbore cannon, its white oak carriage and other artifacts well preserved by the Yazoo mud. With financial support from the State of Mississippi, the Warren County Board of Supervisors and funds raised locally, efforts to salvage the gunboat began in earnest.
Hopes of lifting the ironclad and her cargo of artifacts intact were crushed in October of 1964 when the three inch cables being used to lift the Cairo cut deeply into its wooden hull. It then became a question of saving as much of the vessel as possible. A decision was made to cut the Cairo into three sections. By the end of December the battered remains were put on barges and towed to Vicksburg. In the summer of 1965 the barges carrying the Cairo were towed to Ingalls Shipyard on the Gulf Coast in Pascagula, Mississippi. There the armor was removed, cleaned and stored. The two engines were taken apart, cleaned and reassembled. Sections of the hull were braced internally and a sprinkler system was operated continually to keep the white oak structural timbers from warping and checking.
In 1972, the U.S. Congress enacted legislation authorizing the National Park Service to accept title to the Cairo and restore the gunboat for display in Vicksburg National Military Park. Delays in funding the project halted progress until June of 1977, when the vessel was transported to the park and partially reconstructed on a concrete foundation near the Vicksburg National Cemetery. The recovery of artifacts from the Cairo revealed a treasure trove of weapons, munitions, naval stores and personal gear of the sailors who served on board. The gunboat and its artifacts can now be seen along the tour road at the U.S.S. Cairo Museum.
Those reconstructing the ship have struck an elegant balance between rebuilding it and leaving it a skeleton, they have only added new structure where it is vital to convey the design and purpose of the ship.
It must have been 3.00pm when we left the VNMP and continued on to Natchez. The final part of the trip being on the Natchez Trace Parkway, which is a 444-mile drive through exceptional scenery and 10000 years of North American history. We travelled much less than 400 miles on it but it was pleasant to drive at 50mph with few cars in sight and no pressure on our time. As we drove we noticed a round object by the edge of the road, slowing down we saw it was an armadillo about the size of a softball, it was walking briskly alongside the road and as we progressed we saw quite a few more.
We successfully checked into the Bays Inn of Natchez which along with a free buffet breakfast it advertised a free dinner from 5.30pm. Our timing was great we had time to settle into our room and wander back to the foyer to check out dinner. Unfortunately for me the one pot, first come, first served, meal was Chili Con Carne which I dislike so Julia had a small portion and I ate some cornbread. On these holidays we rarely bother with lunch often waiting until we reach that day’s hotel to have a mug of tea and some cookies before we go out to eat properly in the evening.
This night we drove into Natchez but to all intents and purposes, apart from the casino, it was shut. We navigated back to the hotel and ate at Pizza hut across the road from the motel. It was noisy and not great but any port in a storm.
One of our friends had recommended editing a day from Natchez and, had we done so, we would have set off in the morning with no good feelings about the place.