| Deep South Tour: Vicksburg | |
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Wednesday June 5th Vicksburg Battlefield |
In Vicksburg we stayed at the very amusing
Battlefield Inn for two nights.
When you check in you pull the arm on a tiny little slot machine for
the chance to win free nights at the hotel or (extra) free drinks.
(Did I mention the two parrots in the lobby?)
Our two nights there allowed us to see the
Vicksburg National Military Park
(history)
and then retire poolside to enjoy
our free drink tokens and take a brake from days of hard driving. Oh,
and we also found time to watch the
Lakers stomp the Nets in game 1 of the
NBA Finals. Here's Chris surveying the battlefield
from Union lines:
We crouched down to try to imagine what the good guys saw as they fired cannon at the rebel lines: 
Chris walked out along Logan's approach where Union troops dug a trench toward rebel lines and set off an explosion that ultimately failed to create an exploitable breach in the enemy's lines: 
This monument commemorates the site of Ulysses S. Grant's headquarters. 
This barren hill commemorates the site of William Tecumseh Sherman's headquarters. I guess it always pays to be the big boss: 
Although naval power played only a small role in the siege of Vicksburg, Admiral Farragut still gets a monument here. Hey, why not? This place is monument central. I'm suprised Guam doesn't have a monument here. Anyhow, we can't begrudge the admiral another monument. He was a very tough dude. 
We paused for a view west across the Mississippi from the raised terrain of Vicksburg (at which point we also caught sight of more southern industry): 
The USS Cairo was one of many Union iron-clads that helped kick confederate butt and enforce the blockade. Unfortunately this particular iron-clad was the first (or just about) boat sunk by an electrically detonated "torpedo" (which at that time was the word used for "mines"). 
We paused to honor the 17,000 heroes of the Union army who are buried here. Rebels are buried elsewhere. 
We're not really from Texas, but we felt it right to take a snap of the Texas monument in honor of our Texan relatives: 
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Copyright 2002