The weekend before Christmas, we faced a dilemma as a large winter storm was set to make its way across the Midwest, bringing negative temperatures and potentially feet of snow. As our departure neared the storm was closing in and we made the executive decision to get an early start to try and beat the incoming wind and snow. Leaving the house shortly after 5 am, we hit the road heading south, seeking the warmer winter safe haven that southern Mississippi can regularly provide. Reaching Memphis, Tennessee after about eight hours of driving we had successfully managed to beat the worst of the weather. Even though the Mid-South weather was deteriorating, it was warm enough to bring only rain.
Having long enjoyed the smokey goodness that is Memphis BBQ, the five hundred miles of separation between Chicago and Memphis had kept the fulfillment of our cravings at bay for nearly a year. On our trip last Christmas, we had swung by the Rendezvous and enjoyed ribs, but we decided to give another place a shot this go around. Since our initial planning, which began well before Thanksgiving, we had set our sights on Germantown Commissary, a well-known local BBQ joint set in a small former country store. Having not been here in over fifteen years, it was nice to see the place still thriving. Lucking up and getting one of the few, coveted parking spots we popped inside just as a cold drizzle began to fall. We were quickly seated and sipping on our first southern sweet tea in a number of months. Our pulled pork and brisket sandwiches arrived shortly after sitting down and we were soon enjoying smokey sandwiches covered in the Commissary's incredible hot BBQ sauce and served with some delicious beans, slaw, and deviled eggs.
Trying not to take all day to get home, we made lunch a relatively quick stop. A few hours' drive later found us winding down the road to my parent's rural Mississippi home. After arriving at home and rounding all the rest of the family up, we set off to everyone's favorite restaurants in Central Mississippi, Berry's Seafood.
Some may ask if Berry's is good for you. It's not by a long shot, but it is good for your soul. Serving up delicious fried catfish, a variety of shrimp, hushpuppies, and all the southern fixin's, few people will not find something they like in this country style buffet. They also have an excellent salad bar, complete with gumbo and boiled shrimp as well as traditional southern dessert, our favorite being banana pudding. Top that all off with a cold sweet tea in one of their frozen metal mugs and the only thing that will be disappointed is your waistline.
On Christmas Eve, we enjoyed our traditional family get together and finished the night off watching the Hawaii Bowl. Christmas Day was a little more laid back with an early morning church service and the opportunity to see my grandma and some other family we have not seen since last year. The following day we got to visit with the rest of my family and enjoyed telling stories about years gone by, our collective past sports prowess, and most interestingly, some research my aunt had been doing on our family history and arrival in Colonial America. Some leads indicated we had family members that came from Europe into the Maryland area, and we may have had a relative that fought for a Maryland militia unit in the American Revolution per pension documents my aunt uncovered. We also discussed my great-great-great grandfather who was at the siege of Vicksburg. A family story passed down through the years indicated that upon the surrender of Confederate forces, he turned in his rifle to a Yankee who gave him a plug of tobacco and made him promise not to pick up arms again. Upon doing so, he was released and walked barefoot approximately 80 miles to what is present day Franklin County, MS.
On the 27th, we set out for Vicksburg. We arrived at the Vicksburg National Military Park after taking a few stops on the way to visit historical markers for unit movements prior to the battle. We had not been to the battlefield in years, and I'll be the first to admit that I had forgotten most of what I learned as a younger man about one of the most decisive battles of the Civil War. Sometimes, overshadowed by the Battle of Gettysburg, the South lost this crucial river fortification on the same day General Robert E. Lee and his forces were defeated in southern Pennsylvania. It was nice to refresh my memory of the landscape and unit locations as well as other actions in the Vicksburg Campaign. I always appreciate being somewhere and trying to imagine what someone standing in the same place at a different time would have seen.
After crossing into Mississippi on April 30th, 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant's forces fought several actions that are now included in the Vicksburg Campaign: the Battle of Port Gibson on May 1st, the Battle of Raymond on May 12th, the Battle of Jackson on May 14th, the Battle of Champion Hill on May 16th, and the battle of Big Black River Bridge on May 17th. Between the 18-19th, Grant ordered an attack on the defenses surrounding Vicksburg at Stockade Redan; however, Union forces met strong Confederate opposition from General John C. Pemberton's men and the attack failed. After regrouping, Grant again pressed the attack on May 22nd, this time on a wide three-mile front between Stockade Redan and Fort Garrott, but his forces were once again pushed back by fierce resistance.
Facing difficult terrain and hesitant to continue the attack again strong defensive fortifications, Grant decided to suspend the attack and put Vicksburg under siege. The Union army's artillery began pounding Confederate strong points while a naval flotilla under Admiral David D. Porter bombarded the city from the Mississippi River. After nearly a month of being cut off from supplies and reinforcement, the soldiers and residents in Vicksburg were slowly starving. In late June, Pemberton realized that the city would fall, and he must surrender under the most favorable terms he could attain. On July 3rd, after 46 days under siege, Pemberton met with Grant to discuss the terms of his surrender. On July 4th, Vicksburg officially surrendered effectively splitting the Confederacy in two and opening a majority of the Mississippi River to the Union Navy. Following the surrender of Port Hudson less than a week later on July 9th, the Federals once again had freedom of navigation along the entirety of the river. As for the residents of Vicksburg, they would be subjugated to Union occupation until 1877 and interestingly, the city would not celebrate the 4th of July again until 1945 after victory in Europe against the Germans was achieved.
The battlefield itself is easy to drive through and there are sixteen miles of well-maintained roadway that loop through both Union and Confederate lines. The battlefield is a popular place for walking and there is even a yearly 5k & 10k called "Run Thru History"; however, most will choose to stick to a vehicle due to plentiful hills and hollers. On your drive you will see numerous unit location markers and state memorials for those that fought there, the most popular being the impressive Illinois Memorial.
Another must stop location in the USS Cairo, a Union City Class River Gunboat that was sunk nearby in the Yazoo River on December 12th, 1862. Nearly one hundred years later, the state of Mississippi recovered the remnants of the Cairo and reconstructed it for proper viewing, including the ability to walk through the gunboat's interior.
Visit our post on the USS Cairo: USS Cairo (roundweroam.com)
Additionally, see below for follow-on reading for the Vicksburg Campaign.
Vicksburg | May 19, 1863 | American Battlefield Trust (battlefields.org) - Link contains maps throughout the campaign.
After touring the USS Cairo, we explored the remainder of the park and then made our way downtown for some lunch. We decided on Rusty's Riverfront Grill, located at the corner of Washington and Main St. Serving up a variety of southern dishes, this busy restaurant has lots of delicious choices to pick from. We settled on fried catfish with cheese grits, gumbo, and a fried shrimp po-boy, and you can't go wrong with their mouthwatering fried pickles. After eating way too much, we decided to walk off our lunch by exploring the downtown area.
The first stop on our walking tour was the Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum, a small museum with an entrance fee for adults of only $3.50. There was a lot of Coca-Cola memorabilia and advertising from the last hundred years as well as a history of the refreshing drink and how it first came to be bottled in Vicksburg. The museum is well worth the small entrance fee and about 30-45 minutes of exploring. After buying a magnet for our travel wall, we made our way a block south to a nearby Civil War Museum.
Next, we visited the Vicksburg Civil War Museum, owned and operated by Charles Pendleton. The museum has an amazing collection of Civil War artifacts from the Vicksburg Campaign as well as other Civil War battles. The firearms collection here is the largest we have ever seen from this period in history. The owner has painstakingly gone to great lengths to track down authentic pieces, many being incredibly rare. Charles was very nice and knowledgeable giving us the detailed back story for a number of museum's items. There is also an impressive collection of day-to-day equipment soldiers carried and used. The museum also provides a valuable history lesson into slavery, the causes leading to southern succession and the beginning of the Civil War as well as the contributions of African American soldiers who participated in the bloody conflict.
Before heading back home, we continued our exploring in the downtown area, some of which required us to go back and get the car. As a reminder, Vicksburg is a bluff city and has very steep streets. We wandered around looking at the wonderful architecture including stops at the Old Depot Museum, several churches, including First Presbyterian (built in 1910) and Holy Trinity Episcopal (built in 1870), and Pemberton's Vicksburg headquarters in the Willis-Cowan house, which was built in 1835 and is currently being renovated by the National Park Service. We also visited the Balfour House which was built in the mid-1830s and home to Emma Balfour, a noted diarist of the Vicksburg Siege, and site of a famous Christmas ball in 1862 that was interrupted by the arrival of a Union fleet.
Afterwards we walked the grounds of the historic courthouse, first established by Reverend Newet Vick as a public square in 1819. Vicksburg was incorporate in 1820 and five years later the courthouse was built. It burned in 1856 and was re-built in its present form. It was at this location on July 4th, 1863, that Federal soldiers lowered the Confederate flag and raised the Stars and Stripes after the fall of Vicksburg.
Next, we stopped at a Vicksburg Garden Club house built in 1906 by New York architect W.W. Knowles.
We ended the day with a quick stop at the McRaven House, built in 1797 and said to be the most haunted house in Mississippi. If you are feeling brave, consider swinging by for one of their ghost tours. McRaven House | United States | McRaven Tour Home
On the morning of the 28th, we got up early to tour the Raymond Military Park, the location of the Battle of Raymond, a prelude to the Siege of Vicksburg.
Visit our post on the Battle of Raymond: The Battle of Raymond (roundweroam.com)
We rounded out our tour of the battlefield by heading back into Jackson to grab some lunch at Keifer's, a popular restaurant famous for their gyros.
The rest of the afternoon was relatively uneventful, with the exception of a stop to grab some southern groceries that are unavailable in the Chicago area, including some of our favorite sausage from Country Meat Packers in Florence, MS. Every time we are in Mississippi, we bring a cooler and fill it to the brim to take back and stock our freezer. If you aren't from the area, I highly recommend stopping by and grabbing some of their delicious Country Pleasin' sausage, available in a variety of flavors, our favorite being the jalapeño and cheese.
From there we proceeded home to watch the beatdown of Ole Miss in the Texas Bowl. After some late-night football, the morning of the 29th came early and our departure called. We finished packing the car and started the long drive back north having had a wonderful visit to the place where old times are not forgotten, a place we always think fondly of, and a place we will forever call home.
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