Vicksburg Bluffs

Forrest

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Sep 25, 2015
Does anyone have any photos or drawings of the bluffs in front of Vicksburg when the Mississippi was low? At the risk of sounding dumb, was it possible for supplies to get into Vicksburg via the Mississippi when the bluffs were exposed to their full heights? All the photos and drawings I've found have shown the buildings at water level, except one poor engraving that seems to show them at about 20 feet - still, even in that one there is a steam boat at the landing. Thanks.
 
Also, I would like to see a photo of modern-day Vicksburg that shows the old bluffs exposed. I am doing some research that will require a trip to Vicksburg, at which point I will be able (I hope) to figure out some of this stuff....but I'm itching to get started :smile:
 
Today, to a degree, Vicksburg is bypassed by the Mississippi. The bluffs are different today in that they don't have the commanding presence they did in 1863. I've read a reference, circa 1855, that speaks of dozens of riverboats drawn up to the shore with storage sheds all but touching the water. It also speaks of knee deep muck that was bridged by wooden walkways.

There are detailed maps in existance showing most buildings present at the time as well as some detailed maps showing the works around Vicksburg. I'm not sure where you would go online to see them. I know the MN historical society has a selection of detailed maps of the works occupied by Minnesota units during the seige.

As to the depth at the time of the seige I don't know but I believe it was less than 30' deep at the time.

During the seige a young black man who had run away swam the Mississippi just below Vicksburg and attached himself to the 4th MN VI, he had no idea how old he was and the men of the Regiment who adopted him guessed he was at best 12-13. So it was possible to swim the river. Getting supplies into the city taht way would not have provided much assistance.

As a note one veteran of the Crimea who had been in the works before Svestapol thought those of Vicksburg every bit as formidable but with smaller guns not so well served as the Russian guns.
 
I think I didn't communicate my question correctly - it had nothing to do with anyone potentially swimming the river. I have seen many detailed maps that show the locations of buildings, batteries and rifle pits. I've also read accounts of river battery cannons being below the level of the river when it was very high (meaning no bluff exposure at the river battery level and less exposure below the higher batteries) and also accounts of Union boats navigating very close to the bluffs when the river was very low, such that the battery guns could not shoot at them.

Given the above, I would like to be able to get a visual of what the bluffs looked like when the river was low, and what they looked like when the river was high. So far, the only pictures and engravings I've found show the city when the river was apparently very high (buildings right at water level). My thinking is that the steamboat landing would look quite different at the two extremes, but I can't visualize it and I'm not able to find any aids to help me do so.
 
On the outside curve of the river, the banks drop off almost vertically ... so I don't think it would look much different.

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Those bluffs were over 200' in height, so a photo from the front of the city, when the river was low, should have displayed 200' of sheer bluff face before any buildings. All known pics show the structures at water level. Since the city was considered impregnable because of the bluffs, it only makes sense that there was no way to attack unless the water was high. There is one image that shows the high bluffs, but this is all I've been able to find - it doesn't depict the batteries accurately, as it shows them set up on the bluff face. But maybe I'm looking at this all wrong, which is why I started this thread.

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I am no expert on Vicksburg, having only toured it on vacations, but I never have been able to see the sheer bluffs, like what is portrayed in the old lithograph. I thought it was more of a gradual rise. There were some tall hills (like Sky parlor Hill, which was levelled in the 1880's or whatever), but some of these have been razed over time to make the streets easier to drive, etc. But I would be interested in what anyone else has to say.
 
There are no sheer bluffs in front of the city. The high bluffs were and are on the north and south side of the old city block layout. High water and low water is only a matter of a few feet so it basically didn't make much difference what the water level was. The original city was almost certainly planned where it was exactly because it was a gradual drop from high to low land ...not like a cliff or the exaggerated lithographs of the period.

In fact the anti-shipping batteries were probably no more than 50 to 60 feet above the water level...some being maybe 20 feet.....yet that still provides the dreaded plunging fire most feared by ships on the river. The guns placed on the high bluffs such as Fort Hill to the north and South Fort at the other end were not placed there to fire on shipping in the river, they were placed there to fire on the opposing Federal batteries and works opposite them.
 
USS Choctaw off Vicksburg...Battery Sherman and Railroad Depot visible in the background...
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In this photo of the Choctaw you can see the what I believe is the Marine Hospital at far right...

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I have never seen these pictures, very interesting. What is "now" located at what "was" Battery Sherman?
 

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it appears to be some sort of communications tower...
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OK it looks like maybe this is where the "Castle" house was razed by the Yankees and a fort built on it. Actually I never knew it had a name "Battery Sherman," although I had seen pictures (close up) of the guns in Battery Sherman, I never really thought about where it was located. Next trip to Vicksburg I'm checking it out.
Have you ever photographed any of the property outside the NMP located along the old Confederate siege lines? ( Confederate Avenue, Iowa Avenue, Wisconsin Avenue, etc.?)
 
OK it looks like maybe this is where the "Castle" house was razed by the Yankees and a fort built on it. Actually I never knew it had a name "Battery Sherman," although I had seen pictures (close up) of the guns in Battery Sherman, I never really thought about where it was located. Next trip to Vicksburg I'm checking it out.
Have you ever photographed any of the property outside the NMP located along the old Confederate siege lines? ( Confederate Avenue, Iowa Avenue, Wisconsin Avenue, etc.?)
Yes that is where the 'Castle' house was located....notice the street to the west of the hill is called 'Castle Alley'.

Yes i have photographed some of the places outside the park boundries...those photos BTW of the current Castle site are just screen grabs from google street view.
 
That's not the location of Battery Sherman. The battery located on the location of the razed castle was called "The Castle Battery."
Ah....correct. Apparently Battery Sherman was guarding the Jackson Road approach to the city....but where was it exactly?
http://oldcourthouse.org/photos/civil-war-tour/
And I wonder if there are any maps of the post siege Federal lines and forts...haven't ever seen one.
 
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