Country Vacations & Resorts

A Tale of Two Presidents – and a Sesquicentennial Anniversary

The year 2011 will mark the Sesquicentennial or 150th Anniversary of the American Civil War. This historic anniversary offers current generation Americans a chance to understand and commemorate one of this country’s greatest national events.

What better place to be than Vicksburg, Mississippi?

Abraham Lincoln

Vicksburg, Mississippi is 234 miles northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. The area which is now Vicksburg was originally part of the Natchez Native Americans’ territory.

Vicksburg’s Past

Vicksburg, a location under seige for 47 days during the Civil War, and site of a critical battle to control the Mississippi River is today, a vacation spot sure to please history buffs and travelers alike. The surrender of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, along with the capture of Port Hudson, Louisiana four days later, split the South and gave control of the Mississippi River to the Union. To gain an understanding of America during the hardships of the Civil War, Vicksburg provides a time machine to the past.

Jefferson Davis

It is hard to imagine now, but during this time in American history, the country actually had two Presidents: Abraham Lincoln was the President of the United States, but Jefferson Davis was the President of the Confederate States of America from 1861 to 1865.

Vicksburg, due to its prime historic location – both geographic and political, provides a glimpse back to this troubled time in America. The Vicksburg National Military Park has a fantastic virtual tour of the museum.

The Vicksburg National Military Park, with over 1,330 monuments, is America’s most monumented national military park, and the largest National Military Cemetery of Union dead in the United States. Soldier’s Rest, at City Cemetery is the final resting place for over 5,000 Confederates. The USS Cairo (Union) Gunboat and Museum gives visitors a rare opportunity to view a vessel that hit two sunken torpedoes and then sank, December 1862, but was lifted in 1956 and fully restored by 1964. Mud and silt at the bottom of the Yazoo River preserved many of the ship’s artifacts.

Vicksburg Today…

Visitors to Vicksburg will discover an inviting downtown district with unique shops and quaint restaurants, numerous historical landmarks, and gambling at venues such as land-based Riverwalk and AmeriStar casinos. Take an hour’s scenic drive up the Natchez Trace Parkway to view the antebellum mansions.

Summers in Vicksburg are sunny, hot, and humid – with occasional and sudden thunderstorms. Winters are mild though sometimes rainy. Fall would be my pick for the best time to visit. View the color, beat the worst of the heat and crowds, and enjoy a quiet and peaceful commemorative stroll through the National Park.

Interesting facts about Vicksburg (map)

~ On March 12, 1894, the popular soft drink Coca-Cola was bottled for the first time in Vicksburg by Joseph Biedenharn, a local confectioner. Today, surviving nineteenth-century Biedenharn soda bottles are prized by collectors of Coca-Cola memorabilia. His original candy store has been renovated as the Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum.

~ Believe it or not, shoes were first sold in pairs in Vicksburg at Phil Gilbert’s Shoe Parlor.

~ Dock side gaming was legalized in Mississippi in 1990 and today the Vicksburg waterfront is home to five world-class casinos offering table games, slot machines, video poker and a variety of other attractions.

By the way…who won the Battle of Vicksburg?

General John C. Pemberton and the Confederate Army surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant’s Union forces on July 4, 1863.