Vicksburg

Vicksburg Battlefield along the Mississippi River, like Promontory Point, Utah, is one of those places that doesn't reveal that people actually did something pretty important on that spot in the earth.  Vicksburg was a really important battle in the American Civil War and, along with ... some other battle that dad mentioned... Gettysburg, maybe? ... was probably the turning point in the war in favor of the North (I'm sure some Civil War buff will tell me I'm wrong on this.  That's fine, I'm more a fan of war of the Classical World).  But other than about 200 monuments added after the war, and a single paved road running through the park, there is really no sign that people were there, let alone fought a really major battle on the spot.  It's just a lot of grass and a lot of trees and some gently rolling hills overlooking the river.

A post-war memorial

Another post-war memorial

Had I known ahead of time that the visitors' center showed a movie about the battle, I would have stopped there first instead of last.  Because just driving through the battlefield, I found it nearly incomprehensible, at least at first.  While there are markers all over the park indicating where different groups of soldiers fought or gained ground or lost ground or planted a cannon, I didn't know anything about the overall flow of the battle, and so didn't know the significance of any one gain or loss or herioc stand.  Apparently the movie shows all of that.  /sighs at self for not watching the movie/  By the time I was about halfway through the park, though, I started to get a feel for things.  I'd seen enough markers and read enough of my brouchure that at least I could imagine where the major front was, and where the major forts and tactically useful locations were.

A tunnel built by Union soldiers -- one of the very few pieces of evidence that humans were around at the time of the battle.

Strangely, though, by the time I was through with my visit, I would have sworn that the South won the Battle of Vickburg, given how many signs and how many times my brouchure said something like "On this spot, the South pushed back a very weak Northern attack..." or "The North had 500 dead or wounded, the South had 8."  In the end, the battle became a siege and the South lost due to starvation rather than lack of military accomplishment, with the soldiers and civilians eating "mules, rats and even boiled shoe leather."  So the South won the skirmishes but lost the battle.

A Union gunboat that was sunk in the river during the war, and later salvaged and partially restored.

"Oh what a beautiful morning!  Oh what a beautiful day!"

Much to my delight, the Battlefield is home to one of the National Cemeteries.  It is the largest resting place of Union soldiers from the Civil War, although it is not the largest National Cemetery.  Interestingly, 75% of those interred in Vicksburg have never been identified, and are labelled with numbers only.  While this was not one of my favorite cemeteries on my trip, it was worth the stop since I was already at the Park.

Most of these are numbered, not named.