I travelled to Vicksburg, Mississippi for the Columbus Day '96. Since it's been a decade since my first visit to Vicksburg, I did a familiarization drive on the morning of the first day. I hiked the 12-mile auto tour on the morning of the second day. Vicksburg is most remarkable for its terrain. It was certainly ideally suited for defense and luring Grant's army into a siege. The Confederate defender, General Pemberton, underestimated Grant's determination to finally subdue this city. The pic above and below show some of the trenches still marking the battlefield's landscape. At one point, you come up to the Confederate line and the Union line and the distance between them is the length of my arm.
General Grant watching over the battlefield from his Headquarters.
This is not one of the more famous Confederate Generals, but I liked the statue for its uniqueness. Most generals are posed on their horses. One horse leg off the ground indicates an injury, both legs off the ground indicates they died in battle. This general died shortly after the battle had concluded.
The final two pics are taken at a site called the Windsor Ruins. It's about 20 miles north of Vicksburg, off the Natchez Trace and is truly in the middle of nowhere. I would have given up if I wasn't so determined to see this in person. The house burned shortly after its completion in 1863, but from walking the site and viewing drawings, this was a remarkable southern plantation home. Eerily, only the columns stand in the middle of a heavily wooded area.
