Shortly after the outbreak
of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln assembled his civil and military
leaders to discuss strategy for opening the Mississippi
River and for ending what he termed a
“rebellion” in the Southern states. “See what a lot of land these fellows
hold,” he said, “of which Vicksburg is the key.
Let us get Vicksburg and all that land will be ours.” He stated
emphatically, “that the war can never be brought to a close until that key is
in our pocket.” A city of unparalleled significance, Vicksburg was
nestled on the east bank of the Mississippi
River on bluffs that towered 200’ above
the muddy water. Protected by a line of earthworks that consisted of nine major
forts connected by a continuous line of trenches and rifle pits, Vicksburg’s
defenses were manned by 30,000 troops and mounted 172 big guns that proved the
major obstacle to Union dominance of the Mississippi.
Over a period of 18
months, Union land and naval forces operated along the line of the Mississippi River with the objective of capturing Vicksburg. Finally in the spring of 1863, Ulysses S. Grant launched his Army of the Tennessee on a bold march down the west side of the river and
hurled his army onto Mississippi soil below Vicksburg. Over a 17 day period his army pushed deep into Mississippi,
captured the capital of Jackson, defeated Confederate forces in five battles, and
drove them back into the Vicksburg defenses. There, following the failure of two
assaults, Grant laid siege to the city for 47 days. The combined Army/Navy
operations that focused on Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two, severed vital Southern
supply and communications routes, achieved a major objective of the Anaconda
Plan, and effectively sealed the doom of Richmond. The surrender of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, to Grant enabled President Lincoln to pocket the
“key” to victory.
We will tour the many
battlefields of the Vicksburg campaign and examine the operational art of war as
practiced by Grant and John C. Pemberton during the struggle for control
of the Mississippi. After an overview on Wednesday, we will begin on Thursday
with an examination of the Confederate batteries that were trained on the Mississippi River at Vicksburg. We will then drive north to the Chickasaw Bayou battlefield. Here, Southern soldiers thwarted attempts by William T. Sherman to capture Vicksburg on December 29,
1862. We will cross the Mississippi River for a stop in Madison Parish, Louisiana, where Federal soldiers
attempted to cut a canal across the base of De Soto Point and render the
fortress city useless without firing a shot. At the Williams-Grant Canal we will also discuss the opening phase of the final
campaign that resulted in the fall of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863.
Then
we will travel to the Grand Gulf State Military Monument. After
lunch we will visit Grant’s desired landing site and see the powerful
Confederate fortifications that on April 29, 1863 stood defiant in the face of
a bombardment by Admiral David Dixon Porter’s gunboats, forcing
Grant to search elsewhere for a crossing point. Crossing the river below Grand Gulf on April
30-May 1, Grant’s army pushed inland until it encountered Confederate forces
under Brig. Gen. John S. Bowen near Port Gibson. In a furious
struggle that lasted throughout the day, Bowen’s Confederates fought with grim
determination to drive the invaders back into the river while Grant’s forces
fought with equal determination to secure their beachhead on Mississippi soil. By day’s end the Confederate forces were compelled to retire from the
field and abandon their Grand Gulf bastion. We will tour the battlefield at Port Gibson
and see the magnificent ruins of Windsor Plantation that were
immortalized in the movie “Raintree County.”
On
Friday, we will spend the morning at Champion
Hill – scene of the largest, bloodiest, most significant action of the
campaign. We will stop at the historic Coker House and on the crest of
Champion Hill from which we will discuss the bloody action in which Pemberton’s
army was routed and driven from the field. We will follow the route of the
retreating army back to Big Black River where on May 17, 1863,
Confederate soldiers attempted to hold the bridges long enough for Pemberton’s
army to make good its escape to Vicksburg. After touring the battlefield at Big Black River we will return to Vicksburg for lunch at Goldie’s Trail Bar-B-Q.
After
lunch we will visit Vicksburg National Military Park and drive along the
Union siege lines around Vicksburg, seeing many of the magnificent monuments that
collectively make Vicksburg, in the words of one Civil War veteran, “the art
park of the world.” We will stop at several areas to examine the unique
terrain that made Vicksburg a natural fortress and detail the assaults launched
by Grant on May 19 and 22, 1863, that failed to take the city by storm,
resulting in his decision to lay siege to the city. We will follow along in the
path of Union sappers who worked their way with pick and shovel toward the
Confederate works for the purpose of digging underneath the fortifications to
plant mines.
On
Saturday, we will continue our explorations of the battlefield park and the
siege of Vicksburg and then visit the U.S.S. Cairo Museum and
walk on the gun deck of the restored ironclad gunboat Cairo that was sunk by an electronically detonated torpedo on December 12, 1862. We
will view hundreds of artifacts recovered from the gunboat and then drive along
the Confederate defense line and see many of the forts that helped make Vicksburg the “Gibraltar of the Confederacy.” Join us in
November for this in-depth examination and field tour of the Vicksburg Campaign!
About Our Tour Leaders
Terrence J. Winschel is a 32-year veteran of the National Park Service and
is historian at Vicksburg National Military Park. His books include: Triumph & Defeat: The Vicksburg Campaign; Vicksburg: Fall of the Confederate Gibraltar;
and Vicksburg is the Key: The Struggle for the Mississippi River.
Dale K. Phillips is superintendent of George Rogers Clark National Historical Park in Vincennes, Indiana. He
has also served at Gettysburg National Military Park, Chickamauga/Chattanoga National Military Park, and
at Fort Sumter National
Monument, assignments that have helped
to make him one of the National Park Service’s premier historian/interpreters.
Program
Schedule
Wednesday, November 12
8:00 PM-8:45 PM Overview – Battlefield Inn, Vicksburg, MS
Thursday,
November 13
8:00 AM Depart by Bus from Battlefield Inn
12:00 N Lunch
5:00 PM Arrive
Back at Battlefield Inn
Friday,
November 14
8:00 AM Depart
by Bus from Battlefield Inn
12:00 N Lunch
5:00 PM Arrive
back at Battlefield Inn
6:30 PM Dinner
and discussion
Saturday, November 15
8:00 AM Depart
by Bus from Battlefield Inn
12:00 N Lunch
4:30 PM Arrive
back at Battlefield Inn
Registration Fees (Lodging not Included): $ 495 Under Age 23: $195
You can reserve a space on this tour
by making a $50 Deposit per Person.
If You Must Cancel we will refund 100% of your fees paid. However, to
receive a 100% refund, you must allow 30 days from the date of our
receipt of your notice of cancellation
What is Included in your Registration Fee:
· the services of expert historians
chosen for their knowledge and experience
· transportation to sites as
indicated
· Thursday, Friday & Saturday
lunches
· Friday buffet dinner
· refreshments and snacks during the
tour
· map package
Base Location & Lodging: We will be based at the Battlefield Inn, 4137 I-20 N. Frontage Road, Vicksburg, MS 39183-3498, where we have reserved a block of rooms at the rate of $66.00 Single or Double. Hotel guests will enjoy a complimentary full breakfast each morning, and complimentary cocktails each evening of their stay. Call (800) 359-9363 and identify yourself as a registrant for the CWEA tour to reserve a room under our block. Directions: From I-20, use Exit 4-B. travel west on Clay Street, then right onto Frontage Road. The hotel website is www.battlefieldinn.org
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