Vicksburg - Tracing the Civil War

Early in the morning, we packed our things in Memphis and leisurely drove the slightly over 400km to Vicksburg.

In 1863, during the Civil War, the Confederate was besieged by the Union here. This was, along with the Battle of Gettysburg, a decisive victory for the Union.

Vicksburg initially withstood a siege for weeks under General Pemberton. All attacks were successfully repelled. However, he eventually felt compelled to surrender the city to the Union under the command of General Grant. Grant later became the 18th President of the United States.

Arriving in the small town of Vicksburg, we visited the National Military Park. Normally, an entrance fee of $8 is charged, but it was waived on this day as the cashier was ill.

We then drove through the park by car, covering 16 miles, passing by the Union troops' positions. Along the way, there were signboards explaining the positions of the various military units. A Union gunboat, which fired on Vicksburg from the Mississippi, was also on display.

After an interesting 2 hours, we left the park, even though we hadn't seen everything. But it was enough for us.

In the evening, we drove through Vicksburg in search of a bar, but had to give up our search without success. There was simply nothing going on here. A detour to the large local outlet saved the evening for Steffi, although the nearly empty outlet gave us a rather eerie impression.

Overall, the Military Park is worthwhile, which cannot be said about the town. At least we were able to catch a glimpse of the Mississippi River since we left Memphis.