Vicksburg National Military Park | |
 TheIllinois Memorial in Vicksburg National Military Park | |
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| Location | Vicksburg, Mississippi, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 32°21′55″N90°50′32″W / 32.36528°N 90.84222°W /32.36528; -90.84222 |
| Area | 2,524 acres (10.2 km2; 3.9 sq mi)[1] |
| Visitation | 532,444 (2015) |
| Website | Vicksburg National Military Park |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000100 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NMP | February 21, 1899 (1899-02-21)[2] |
Vicksburg National Military Park preserves the site of theAmerican Civil WarBattle of Vicksburg, waged from March 29 to July 4, 1863. The park, located inVicksburg, Mississippi, flanking theMississippi River, also commemorates the greaterVicksburg Campaign, which led up to the battle. Reconstructed forts and trenches evoke memories of the 47-day siege that ended in the surrender of the city. Victory here and atPort Hudson, farther south in Louisiana, gavethe Union control of the Mississippi River.
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The park includes 1,325 historic monuments and markers, 20 miles (32 km) of historic trenches and earthworks, a 16-mile (26 km) tour road, a 12.5-mile (20.1 km) walking trail, twoantebellum homes, 144 emplaced cannons, the restored gunboatUSSCairo (sunk on December 12, 1862, on theYazoo River), and theGrant's Canal site, where theUnion Army attempted to build a canal to let their ships bypass Confederateartillery fire.
TheCairo, also known as the "Hardluck Ironclad", was the first U.S. ship in history to be sunk by a torpedo/mine. It was recovered from the Yazoo in 1964.
The Illinois State Memorial has 47 steps, one for every day Vicksburg was besieged. It is also part of the NPS and is a national battle site.
The 116.28-acre (0.4706 km2)Vicksburg National Cemetery is within the park. It has 18,244 interments (12,954 unidentified). The Vicksburg National Cemetery is abutting theBeulah Cemetery.[3]
The time period for Civil War interments was 1866 to 1874. The cemetery is not open to new interments.The cemetery[4] has only oneCommonwealth war grave, of an airman ofRoyal Australian Air Force buried duringWorld War II.[5]
The remnants of Grant's Canal, a detached section of the military park, are located across from Vicksburg nearDelta, Louisiana. With the approval of PresidentAbraham Lincoln, the project was commenced byUnion ArmyMajor GeneralBenjamin Butler in June 1862, with the work assigned toBrigadier GeneralThomas Williams. The project was halted in July of that year due to massive amount of disease and sickness among the soldiers and former slaves doing the hard labor of constructing the ditch, and falling water levels on the river.
in January 1863,Union ArmyMajor GeneralUlysses S. Grant ordered the project restarted as part of his Vicksburg Campaign; the task was assigned to Brigadier GeneralWilliam T. Sherman. Neither Grant nor Sherman had any faith in the success of the canal, but the scheme was a favorite of Lincoln's.
The goal of the project was to alter the course of the Mississippi River to bypass theConfederate guns at Vicksburg. For various technical reasons, the project failed to meet this goal. Grant, however, used the canal project to keep his troops occupied during the laborious maneuvering required to begin the Battle of Vicksburg.
Thenational military park was established on February 21, 1899, to "commemorate the siege and defense of Vicksburg". The park and cemetery were transferred from theWar Department to theNational Park Service (NPS) on August 10, 1933.
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 ofInterstate 20. 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 theNational Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. Over half a million visitors come to the park every year.[6]
In 2000, theMississippi House of Representatives approved funding a monument to recognize African-American soldiers in the United States Civil War.[7]
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