On this day July 4, 1863

[Crucifictorious]

OTD July 4 1863 Gen. US Grant accepted Gen. Pemberton's surrender of the city of Vicksburg, MS
"A most glorious 4th."-Orville Babcock, Grant's aide-de-camp
Thus ended Rebel control of the Mississippi River at the Gibraltar of the South. Hooray for the good guys! Oh and don't believe the nonsense about Vicksburg not celebrating Independence Day again. That's some 20th century Jim Crow, Lost Cause ********.

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[PineGroveBully]

My grandfathers grandfather was captured at Vicksburg. He was captured also the year before at Ft Donaldson on the TN River.

 

[bulldognation]

Sounds like he wasn't very good at avoiding capture.

 

[KeyserSoze1999]

I had 2 relatives in the 7th Mississippi that got captured at the Battle of Chickamauga...yeah a battle that the Confederates won? What are the odds?!!

They both were sent to a Union prison camp called Rock Island Illinois---temperatures below zero that Winter with no heat, no sewer system, and severe over crowding---you'll never hear about it in a History book. Only 1 relative came home from that prison, the other died from Tuberculosis.

 

[PineGroveBully]

Yea, Trump wouldn't care for him. He didn't like McCain and he was only captured once. US Grant got him twice

 

[EngDawg]

Been to VNMP a couple of times. I can't imagine trying to fight in the middle of July in the cotton uniforms those guys wore. It must have been complete hell.

 

[Crucifictorious]

A quick Google search shows a number of books articles or websites about Rock Island. But yeah, Andersonville and Douglas rightly get the most mentions. All prison camps were awful.

 

[dawgstudent]

Vicksburg didn't recognize Independence Day until 1945 according to a lot of people.

 

[KurtRambis4]

Yesterday,

was also the 153rd anniversary of the last day of the battle at Gettysburg.

 

[Shmuley]

Pickett's Charge. And Pettigrew's too. 6,000 confederate dead.

 

[Shmuley]

It's fascinating to read about how much trouble Stephen D. Lee had getting the Mississippi legislature to support VNMP, and especially the placement of the Mississippi Memorial. Took him years of lobbying and pushing. In large measure our first president was instrumental in bringing VNMP into existence. I love the place. I especially love the Mississippi Memorial. Not one single word (at least not in English) appears on the monument. Without Dept of Interior signage, one cannot discern which state memorial it represents, proclaiming loudly through its silence that we have nothing to say about this ill-conceived war. The placement at "the end of the road" is so poignant, as if to proclaim a subtle and final act of defiance and denial. The gravity of what occurred there is palpable. VNMP is a treasure.

 

[Crucifictorious]

They're wrong. VNMPark Historian Terry Winschel did a great presentation at the Starkville Civil War Roundtable that debunked that myth. He had newspaper articles on July 4th celebrations all throughout the 1870s-1900s.

 

[Crucifictorious]

Including a size able number of Ole Miss students.

 

[jwbigcreek]

My great, great grandpappy took a bullet at Gettysburg. Came home to convalesce & went AWOL getting a crop out. He went back though. Think he was at Appomattox.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

The high water mark of the Confederacy.

I had relatives that fought at Shiloh and some that were captured by Sherman in Georgia.

 

[DerHntr]

It's fascinating to read about how much trouble Stephen D. Lee had getting the Mississippi legislature to support VNMP, and especially the placement of the Mississippi Memorial. Took him years of lobbying and pushing. In large measure our first president was instrumental in bringing VNMP into existence. I love the place. I especially love the Mississippi Memorial. Not one single word (at least not in English) appears on the monument. Without Dept of Interior signage, one cannot discern which state memorial it represents, proclaiming loudly through its silence that we have nothing to say about this ill-conceived war. The placement at "the end of the road" is so poignant, as if to proclaim a subtle and final act of defiance and denial. The gravity of what occurred there is palpable. VNMP is a treasure.

Went for a long run this morning in the park. It's a tradition that I haven't been able to do in a very long time. It is indeed one hell of a treasure. Those poor bastards on both sides fighting in the hills in May/June/July lived through hell.

 

[HammerOfTheDogs]

A great and glorious victory for America against rebels who loathed being part of the Greatest Nation In History.

 

[PineGroveBully]

I'm sure they were rocking the red skinny pants

 

[MaxwellSmart]

The high water mark of the Confederacy.

I had relatives that fought at Shiloh and some that were captured by Sherman in Georgia.

I had relatives at Shiloh and Chickamauga. One joined at 16 and finished a Sgt. in the 41st Ms.

 

[Bullycon]

My grandfathers grandfather was captured at Vicksburg. He was captured also the year before at Ft Donaldson on the TN River.

Do we share the same ancestor? Because I know mine got captured at those same two battles.

 

[amcdan2000]

All mine died at Stones River TN. I know from someone from Vicksburg who explained the animosity between Vicksburg and Natchez. Natches just gave in while Vicksburg was besieged

 

[BiscuitEater]

A great and glorious victory for America against rebels who loathed being part of the Greatest Nation In History.

Had to laugh. Am currently reading 1776 by David McCullough (for the 3rd or 4th time) .. about those colonial rebels "who loathed being part of the Greatest Nation in History"

 

[mcdawg22]

The thing about VNMP that even us River Rats forget is how massive it is. We used to walk into the "back" entrances of the park when we were kids. And then I think about all the areas that you can get into the park. On the frontage road near Indiana Ave. Culkin Rd by 61. Then Ft Hill and the Cairo are by Anderson Tully. I never really looked at maps of VBurg growing up but when I google map it now I'm amazed at how the park basically encircled the fairly large populated area around sky farm avenue.
2 favorite things to do in VNMP, cardboard slide down the hills, and by a bunch of 25¢ bouncy balls with your friends and throw them inside the Illinois.

 

[was21]

And a lot of those folks are still stuck in the mire of that date and never moved on

 

[was21]

True that Natchez surrendered without much of a fight. They had many sympathizers with the northern army and Natchez was not as militarily strategic as Vicksburg.

 

[was21]

I've done the Run Thru History in March numerous times. It's sometimes hell even then. It may be cold and rainy or hot as hell. As far as I know, it's never been cancelled. As a native Vicksburger it's always good to go back, run that race, indulge in Goldie's barbeque, buy about four dozen tamales from The Tamale Place or Solly's and get the hell back out of there.

 

[HammerOfTheDogs]

My great, great grandpappy took a bullet at Gettysburg. Came home to convalesce & went AWOL getting a crop out. He went back though. Think he was at Appomattox.

My great great grandpappy probably shot him.

 

[ShrubDog]

All our relatives sacraficed everything. Its what we stand for today. Its usa

 

[Hail State]

I can attest to this.