Today we visited the Vicksburg National Military Park. It was a very well done memorial park
located on the grounds of the Vicksburg siege during the American Civil
War.
During the time of this war Vicksburg was a prisoner of war
exchange point. On April 24, 1865 over
2,300 union soldiers left on a steamer boat upriver to home. Vicksburg citizens lived in an occupied
city.
This is where part of the Civil war took place. On July 4, 1863 the confederates surrendered Vicksburg to the Union.
Many of the states have put up Memorial statues in honor of
their dead. Illinois is the larges one
with the signatures of each soldier inscribed on the inside walls.’
Indiana Memorial
The beautiful Illinois Memorial
with the state seal on the floor of the Rotunda
Wisconsin
Memorial to the Black Missippians who joined the war
Arkansas
another Indiana
a field of cannons
The Shirley house (referred to as their White House
CAIRO
The ironclad ship called the Cairo was part of the Military
Park tour. The builder was told to
“Build 7 Ironclads in 100 days or pay $200 a day penalty The seven boats were
delivered 100 days later.
On an October afternoon in 1861 the first ironclad ship
built in the Western Hemisphere was lowered into the Mississippi River. The USS Cairo and here six sister boats
were all named for towns along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Unlike wooden sailing ships used at the beginning of the Civil War, these new
ironclads had Steam Driven engines, Armor plating, 13 Cannons and a top speed
of nine miles per our.
It was completed in January 1862 the seven impressive creations
were lined up along the river in Cairo, Illinois. The ironclads would plan an integral role during the American
Civil War.
The Iron sides that covered the entire ship
The paddle wheels and pistons beside them
Torpedoed & Sunk!
On December 12, 1862, Cairo was part of a mine-clearing
expedition on Yazoo River. Her
commander hearing small arms fire coming from of ahead, steamed around the ret
of the boats and into unexplored waters.
Suddenly, explosions tore holes in the Cairo. It sank quickly in 36 feet of water. No lives were lost and the crew was recovered by nearby
vessels.
Nothing of the Cairo could be seen 12 minutes after the
first explosion except the smoke stacks and the flagstaff from which still
floated the flag above the troubled water. These words were spoken by George Yost, a 15-year-old crew member
From there we headed to the National cemetery on the
property
We entered these gates.
As we looked over the massive number of tombstones, it was sobering to see and realize that of the nearly 17,000
union soldiers buried here,, about 13,000 are unknown. Many confederates who died during the
siege are buried in Vicksburg Cedar Hill Cemetery. --
It was shocking to see the number of short stone markers located
with taller ones. We were told the short ones are for the unknown.
An eye awaking day that brought tears to our eyes when we remembered
this was Americans fighting Americans and so many lost.
