Marathon Pundit: My Mississippi Manifest Destiny: Vicksburg Battlefield Part Five

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

My Mississippi Manifest Destiny: Vicksburg Battlefield Part Five

I thought I'd take one more look at the Vicksburg Battlefield National Historic Park. By 1863, the Civil War became greater than a battle between states and the right--or lack of--to secede from the United States. Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was issued on New Year's Day that year, so the struggle became a conflict to end slavery. On the left is what I believe is the newest memorial within the battlefield park, the African American Monument. The statue consists of two black soldiers and a common field hand, the base is African marble.

From the Vicksburg Battlefield site:

The field hand and one soldier support between them the second soldier, who is wounded and represents the sacrifice in blood made by black soldiers on the field of battle during the Civil War. The field hand looks behind at a past of slavery, while the first soldier gazes toward a future of freedom secured by force of arms on the field of battle.

Of the photographs of the city of Vicksburg at the time of the siege, one building stands out, what is now known at the Old Court House. Pictured on the right, it's now a museum.

Below is the view of the Yazoo River Diversion Canal from Fort Hill, the anchor of the northern end of the Confederate defenses. According to the National Park Service's Vicksburg brochure, Fort Hill "was so formidable that no Union attack was ever made against it. Confederate gunners posted here helped the river batteries sing the Federal gunboat Cincinnati on May 27, 1863." Fort Hill offers the most commanding view of the park, this was confirmed to me by an off-duty ranger, who was giving a private tour of the park to her husband.

As I mentioned in my previous post, the diversionary canal marks where the Mississippi River flowed at the time of the battle.