Since the Vicksburg Military Museum opens early and because everything is about two miles away in Vicksburg, I was able to get there before work, so I could see the movie and exhibits. The movie concentrated more on the personal accounts by army officers and what women were experiencing during the siege, but I was more interested in the tactics. What was each general's strategy and where did they build fortifications and where did they use the natural hilly landscape to their advantage? I did learn how a lunette and redan differ from a redoubt. There was also a sample of what cave live might have been like during the bombardment and recognition of the African American units that fought.
In the exhibit room, they have video snippets that concentrate more on tactics and show how each army moved its forces around. Grant knew he had to go for the win because not only was Vicksburg key to controlling the Mississippi and cutting off the south form supplies, he had been trying for six months and failed on two previous attempts. This time he planned a complicated campaign with as much precision was possible at the time.
He took the long way around to the west and south, and crossed the river where his opposing general Pemberton would not suspect. Then he advanced from the the east and won two decisive battles Big Black River and Champion Hill that forced Pemberton to retreat to his fortress at Vicksburg. And Fortress it was. I did not realize the Confederate advantage in Vicksburg until I saw the diorama at the Old Depot Museum. While a much smaller force, the Confederates held hill top positions, so almost any time the Union advanced they were sitting ducks. Thus for them it was "lucky" they had more men because it took forces of men and lots of casualties to over take any of the Confederate strongholds.
One story that I also saw at the Depot Museum was about a camel that the Confederate army had. A Union sharpshooter specifically took out the camel, but his efforts were rewarded by a Confederate peer taking him out. I don't like senseless killing of animals! And no one has every really written much, that i know of, about the toll that the war took on the calvary horses. Even in the 1860s, they recognized horses burned out on the battlefield and they would have to let them rest or retired them from service.
Another advantage that Grant had was that several military ships had been able to through Vicksburg to bring him supplies as planned. Had they not arrived, he might not have had enough supplies to outlast Pemberton. The remains of the USS Cairo, which was not one of the ships, is housed at the military park. It is an example of the early iron clad war ships. It was sunk further north, but has been re-assembled here.
After the white flags went up on the Confederate side, Pemberton and Grant met near an oak tree to negotiate surrender. That tree is marked and is not far from the Shirley house which is the only house on the battlefield that survived the siege. Interestingly Pemberton was from Pennsylvania and eventually returned there after the war. He is buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.
While I love a good post mortem and analysis of events, this war caused so much bloodshed and monuments and markers are poor substitutes for lost loved ones. It is estimated that one in five southern soldiers never returned from the war. And many of those who did, were maimed in some way. Most limb injuries were treated with amputations, and doctors got so they could remove a limb in about five minutes. It would then be thrown on a pile of the other limbs. Stonewall Jackson, who was not at Vicksburg, was shot in the arm, and per protocol it was amputated. The Army chaplain insisted on burying it instead of having it thrown on the pile. After he died and his body was buried in Fredericksburg, VA, his wife was asked if his arm should be reunited with him. She said no, since it had had a Christian burial. No one knows for sure where it is now. Rumor had it that Union soldiers dug it up.
I also skimmed through the old courthouse museum. It has a variety of artifacts pertaining to southern living, culture, and the civil war. They have a nice collection of women's garments which were amazing to think of all that detail being sewn -- the sewing machine had only been invented in 1846, so its possible that some of this sewing was done by hand by very talented seamstresses. There is also an original Teddy bear that Teddy Roosevelt sent to a young man in Vicksburg after meeting him during a stay in town.
The court house was the scene of three important trials during the 1860s, including that of Frederic Speed that captain of the Sultana. The guilty verdict was overturned by a US Military judge and no one was held accountable for the disaster. Feminist firebrand Carrie Chapman Catt also spoke here. Jefferson Davis began his political career at the courthouse even though he lost his first political campaign. Last but not least is the only known confederate flag that was never surrendered.
It's a good thing Eva Whitaker Davis had the vision to save the courthouse from demolition when the new one was built.
Across the street from the colonial inspired old courthouse is the "new" courthouse build in 1939 in beautiful art deco style. It is still the operating courthouse. The old depot is also colonial style, probably the only depot I have seen in that style. It must have been considered quite grand back in the day because it is still a striking building. It is also near the river front, which is where I discovered the public water access.
And you know what that means! Yes, the kayak went in the muddy, smelly waters of the Yazoo river. The Mississippi used to flow here but it has rerouted itself since 1863, so it is now riverbed for the Yazoo, which i think was artificially send this way by a canal.
Last fun fact for the day about Vicksburg. It was here that Coca Cola was first bottled. When Coke was invented, you had to go to a soda fountain to buy it. Joseph A. Biedenhard, the son of a German immigrant, had a candy story and soda fountain. He was bottling soda water already, so he thought why not try to bottle Coke. He had several iterations including a rubber stopper on the bottle which marred the flavor, so he went back to cork. It is said that perhaps the cork popping off the bottles was the origin of the term soda pop. At any rate, i guess that gives me more understanding of why all sodas in the the south are called Cokes. they have a lot of history with it being invented in Atlanta and first bottled here. I have the same tray at home; it dates from the 1950s.
Dinner was at the 101 Cocktails bar and grill. They did indeed have a list of 101 cocktails, but I opted not to try any. I had chicken and sausage gumbo which was passable but the chicken was grizzly. Then it was an early night since "falling back" has messed up my internal clock.
Today it is on to Jackson.
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