The Key in the Pocket

Steamboat on the river at Vicksburg

As we drove across the Mississippi River from Louisiana into Vicksburg, I could practically hear "Old Man River" playing. Vicksburg was seen by President Lincoln as crucial to  winning the war through controlling the Mississippi--the key that he needed "in his pocket": Vicksburg  has a dramatic history from the Civil War to the ever-changing course of the Mississippi. Today it's a gracious city populated by some of the friendliest people I've ever met.

It's impossible to visit Vicksburg without running up against the Civil War. We quickly learned that General Grant's campaign to seize Vicksburg involved  a series of battles before the siege including clashes at  the cities of Grand Gulf and Port Gibson, both just south of Vicksburg.

Grand Gulf is a now-deserted spot that was once a booming port town on the Mississippi until the river  changed course, literally washing away 55 city blocks in a five year period.Now about the only thing left are a few trailers on stilts and a nice small state park showing the history of the area. 

At Port Gibson a Union victory gave Grant an entry point that led to the eventual fall of Vicksburg. Local legend has it that Grant said Port Gibson was too beautiful to burn.  One of the best-known landmarks in Port Gibson is the church topped by a gold hand pointing up into the sky. 

Another famous landmark near Port Gibson is the Windsor Ruins. Grant's army marched in front of the mansion on their way to Vicksburg. Ironically, the mansion survived the Civil War, only to burn as a result of an accident in the 1890s.. 

The Windsor Ruins

The artillery is placed where it was during the battle

The terrain of the Vicksburg battlefield, as with most battlefields, is very different today than it was at the time of the battle. What were open fields and ravines then are now mostly filled with trees and brush. Luckily Russ discovered a diorama in a city museum making sense of the battle by showing how the landscape  was in 1864.

Many ironclads like the Cairo were used during the Civi War

Despite the ferocity and length of the Battle of Vicksburg, the city proved impossible to defeat on the field. It was only after a forty-seven day siege that the city fell on July 4, 1864. Incidentally, we were told that after the surrender on that date Vicksburg didn't celebrate the 4th of July again until the early 1940s.

Some of the actual battlefield lies outside the park so you see markers in unexpected places.

One of the perks of traveling like we do is that we have time to check out places that are off the beaten path. We drove an hour east of Vicksburg to Raymond, an almost forgotten town critical to the fall of Vicksburg, There are no state or national parks there, yet some of the fiercest fighting outside of Vicksburg took place at the battle just outside Raymond . The Episcopal Church on one corner was used as the hospital for the Union wounded and the county courthouse right across the street was the hospital for the Confederate wounded.

Notice the steps over the courthouse gate alongside the fence opening

The courthouse, built 1857-1859, was designed with an ingenious "fire extinguisher" system. It was constructed with a layer of sand between the ceiling and the roof. The thinking was that if there were a fire, when the ceiling burned through the sand would fall and extinguish the fire below. The sand is still there today. Much of the battleground is on private land today but we were lucky enough to visit on a day when there was a diorama of the battle on display along with three local history buffs were happy to tell us all about how the battle took place.

I liked The Attic Gallery so much I went there twice.

Our visit to Vicksburg wasn't all about the Civil War. When I explored the downtown area I found a wonderful art gallery, The Attic Gallery, which was filled with gorgeous art and has been in business on the same street for 42 years (an amazing lifespan for an art gallery!).

We also started the "Eating Our Way Across the South" part of our trip. At Walnut Hill in Vicksburg Russ had what was billed as the world's best fried chicken. He gave it a big thumbs up but said it wasn't as good as my Aunt Jeweldean's. I had my first fried green tomatoes of the trip. 

Next up was Bob's Place in Raymond, a cafe so popular that they had already sold out of many of the dishes when we went there at noon for lunch. Russ had a delicious rib dinner (for just 9 bucks!)  and we both had what our waitress  told us was the best fried okra in the world. It was cooked just right but, again, not quite as good as my Aunt Jeweldean's fried okra. (I'm sure you've figured out by now that that nobody beats my Aunt Jeweldean's home cooking.) Finally we ate at The Tomato Place on the outskirts of Vicksburg. We both had big juicy fried green tomato sandwiches (with a layer of bacon on Russ')

Russ and Sheri's Believe It or Not from Vicksburg:

• Some of the troop units at Vicksburg had animal mascots. Union troops had an eagle named Abe and Sally, a bull terrier who ran into battle alongside the men. The Confederates had Douglas, a camel.
• Vicksburg is no longer on the banks of the Mississippi. It now overlooks the Yazoo River, which the Corps of Engineers diverted when the course of the Mississippi changed away from Vicksburg.
• Edwards, Mississippi is where the final scene from the movie O Brother Where Art Thou? was filmed. We took a great photo of  that spot but the  photo is not available due to technical difficulties during downloading from our camera that caused much profanity

More photos from our stay in Vicksburg:

View from the bluff overlooking the bridge into Vicksburg

Russ by the tree where Generals Grant and Pemberton discussed the Vicksburg's surrender

The tractor in the distance gives you a sense of the scale of the battlefield

Grant's view from the Shirley House during the battle

Church with the hand in Port Gibson