All Topics  
Vicksburg National Military Park

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Vicksburg National Military Park
 
 
  Topics Vicksburg National Military Park Topic Home

Vicksburg National Military Park preserves the site of the American Civil War
American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
 Battle of Vicksburg
Battle of Vicksburg

The Siege of Vicksburg was the final major military action in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Army Major general Ulysses S....
, waged from May 18 to July 4, 1863. The park, in Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg, Mississippi

Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, Mississippi, United States. It is located 234 miles north by west of New Orleans, Louisiana on the Mississippi River and Yazoo River rivers, and 40 miles due west of Jackson, Mississippi, the state capital....
, and Delta, Louisiana
Delta, Louisiana

Delta is a village in Madison Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 239 at the 2000 United States Census. It is part of the Tallulah, Louisiana Micropolitan Statistical Area....
, also commemorates the greater Vicksburg Campaign
Vicksburg Campaign

The Vicksburg Campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate States of America-controlled section of the Mississippi River....
, which preceded the battle. Reconstructed forts and trenches evoke memories of the 47-day siege that ended in the surrender of the city. Victory here and at Port Hudson
Siege of Port Hudson

}|-||}The Siege of Port Hudson occurred from May 21 to July 9, 1863, when Union Army troops assaulted and then surrounded the Mississippi River town of Port Hudson, Louisiana, during the American Civil War....
 gave the United States control of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
.

park includes 1,325 historic monuments and markers, of historic trenches and earthworks, a tour road, two antebellum homes, 144 emplaced cannons, restored gunboat USS Cairo
USS Cairo (1861)

USS Cairo was a City class ironclad gunboat constructed for the Union Navy by James B. Eads during the American Civil War. She was the first vessel of the City class ironclads, also called the Cairo class....
 (sunk on December 12, 1862, on the Yazoo River), and the Grant's Canal site, where the Union army attempted to build a canal to let their ships bypass Confederate artillery
Artillery

Artillery is a military Combat Arms which employs any apparatus, machine, an assortment of tools or instruments, a system or systems used as weapons for the discharge of large projectiles in combat as a major contribution of fire power within the overall military capability of an armed force....
 fire.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Vicksburg National Military Park'
Start a new discussion about 'Vicksburg National Military Park'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Vicksburg National Military Park preserves the site of the American Civil War
American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
 Battle of Vicksburg
Battle of Vicksburg

The Siege of Vicksburg was the final major military action in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Army Major general Ulysses S....
, waged from May 18 to July 4, 1863. The park, in Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg, Mississippi

Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, Mississippi, United States. It is located 234 miles north by west of New Orleans, Louisiana on the Mississippi River and Yazoo River rivers, and 40 miles due west of Jackson, Mississippi, the state capital....
, and Delta, Louisiana
Delta, Louisiana

Delta is a village in Madison Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 239 at the 2000 United States Census. It is part of the Tallulah, Louisiana Micropolitan Statistical Area....
, also commemorates the greater Vicksburg Campaign
Vicksburg Campaign

The Vicksburg Campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate States of America-controlled section of the Mississippi River....
, which preceded the battle. Reconstructed forts and trenches evoke memories of the 47-day siege that ended in the surrender of the city. Victory here and at Port Hudson
Siege of Port Hudson

}|-||}The Siege of Port Hudson occurred from May 21 to July 9, 1863, when Union Army troops assaulted and then surrounded the Mississippi River town of Port Hudson, Louisiana, during the American Civil War....
 gave the United States control of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
.

Battlefield

Vicksburg Illinois Memorial
The park includes 1,325 historic monuments and markers, of historic trenches and earthworks, a tour road, two antebellum homes, 144 emplaced cannons, restored gunboat USS Cairo
USS Cairo (1861)

USS Cairo was a City class ironclad gunboat constructed for the Union Navy by James B. Eads during the American Civil War. She was the first vessel of the City class ironclads, also called the Cairo class....
 (sunk on December 12, 1862, on the Yazoo River), and the Grant's Canal site, where the Union army attempted to build a canal to let their ships bypass Confederate artillery
Artillery

Artillery is a military Combat Arms which employs any apparatus, machine, an assortment of tools or instruments, a system or systems used as weapons for the discharge of large projectiles in combat as a major contribution of fire power within the overall military capability of an armed force....
 fire. The Cairo, also known as the "Hardluck Ironclad," was the first U.S. ship in history to be sunk by a torpedo/mine. It was raised in 1964. The Illinois State Memorial has 47 steps, one for every day Vicksburg was besieged.

Cemetery

The Vicksburg National Cemetery, is within the park. It has 18,244 interments (12,954 unidentified); grave space is not available. Date of Civil War interments: 1866-1874.

Grant's Canal

Lincoln and Davis Statue
The remnants of Grant's Canal
Grant's Canal

Grant's Canal was located near Delta, Louisiana. Ulysses S. Grant ordered the project, started on June 27, 1862, with two goals in mind. The first was to alter the course of the Mississippi River in order to bypass the Confederate States of America guns at Vicksburg, Mississippi....
, a detached section of the military park, are located across from Vicksburg near Delta, Louisiana
Delta, Louisiana

Delta is a village in Madison Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 239 at the 2000 United States Census. It is part of the Tallulah, Louisiana Micropolitan Statistical Area....
. Union Army
Union Army

The Union Army was the army that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S....
 Major General
Major General

Major General or Major-General is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of Sergeant Major General. A Major General is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of Lieutenant General and senior to the ranks of Brigadier and Brigadier General....
 Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant, born Hiram Ulysses Grant , was an United States general and the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States ....
 ordered the project, started on June 27, 1862, as part of his Vicksburg Campaign with two goals in mind. The first was to alter the course of the Mississippi River in order to bypass the Confederate
Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America formed as the government set up from 1861 to 1865 by eleven Southern United States U.S. state of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S....
 guns at Vicksburg. For various technical reasons the project failed to meet this goal. The river did change course by itself on April 26, 1876. The project met its second goal, keeping troops occupied during the laborious maneuvering required to begin the Battle of Vicksburg.

Administrative history

The national military park
National Military Park

National Military Park, National Battlefield, National Battlefield Park, and National Battlefield Site are four designations for 24 battle sites preserved by the United States federal government of the United States because of their national importance....
 was established on February 21, 1899, to commemorate the siege and defense of Vicksburg. The park sprawls over of land. The park and cemetery were transferred from the War Department
United States Department of War

The United States Department of War, sometimes also called the War Office, was the department of the United States Federal government of the United States's Federal government of the United States#Executive branch responsible for the operation and maintenance of land Military of the United States from 1789 until September 18, 1947,...
 to the National Park Service
National Park Service

The National Park Service is the List of United States federal agencies that manages all List of areas in the United States National Park System, many U.S....
 (NPS) on August 10, 1933. Of the park's 1,736.47 acres (not including the cemetery), are federally owned.

In the late 1950s, a portion of the park was transferred to the city as a local park in exchange for closing local roads running through the remainder of the park. It also allowed for the construction of Interstate 20
Interstate 20

Interstate 20 is a major east-west Interstate Highway in the southeastern United States. I-20 runs 1,535 miles from near Kent, Texas, at Interstate 10 to Florence, South Carolina, at Interstate 95 in South Carolina....
. The monuments in land transferred to the city are still maintained by the NPS. As with all historic areas administered by the NPS, the park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation....
 on October 15, 1966. Over a million visitors visit the park every year.

External links

  • Official NPS website:
  • Main park map links:
  • Grant's Canal map links: