Chickasaw Bayou ?

[davepi2]

Good morning everyone, I am visiting Vicksburg next week (my third trip but this time with my grandson) and have a question about the Chickasaw Bayou Battlefield. I realize all there is now on the site is the one sign on Business 61 but where is the best place to get a good view of Walnut Hills and get a good idea of the attacks? I don't plan on driving onto the side dirt roads but stay on either Business 61 or current route 61(I have had bad experiences on Mississippi Roads around Champion Hill and don't want a repeat). I have noticed at least one youtube video (A tour conducted by Timothy Smith) that a stop was made at a church to see the hills. Is this the Solid Rock Church on 61 or the Northside Baptist on Business 61 I see on maps and is it better than where the marker is at? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[huskerblitz]

As long as there's no flooding the roads around the disembarkment and march to the hills aren't all that bad (but then again I've driven on gravel all my life and 14 miles every day). Being further north you do tend to get a sense of what the Union men were viewing as they marched towards the hills. I think it's worth the short drive to get that view.

 

[alan polk]

If skittish about backroads, you should be able to turn off 61 and take Chickasaw Road for a half mile or so, then turn around to get a view of the Walnut Hills looming in the east. As you can see, the road is paved.

Here is my thread on Chickasaw Bayou in which the above picture is located:

Thread 'Pictures of Battle of Chickasaw Bayou'

Dec 5, 2024

All pictures below taken December 5, 2024

View looking east— extreme Confederate left flank held by 61st Tennessee. Chickasaw Bluffs (or Walnut Hills) in the background. 61st held position just beyond the bridge, facing west (toward camera). Naval monument visible in picture above the bluff. It was along this road where Landram's Union brigade attacked on December 29 to gain the bluffs beyond. The abatis and enemy fire proved too great in this location. The attack failed.

Above: Picture of McNutt Lake.

Above: Pictures of...

• alan polk
• Replies: 53
• Forum: Siege of Vicksburg

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[tony_gunter]

Good morning everyone, I am visiting Vicksburg next week (my third trip but this time with my grandson) and have a question about the Chickasaw Bayou Battlefield. I realize all there is now on the site is the one sign on Business 61 but where is the best place to get a good view of Walnut Hills and get a good idea of the attacks? I don't plan on driving onto the side dirt roads but stay on either Business 61 or current route 61(I have had bad experiences on Mississippi Roads around Champion Hill and don't want a repeat). I have noticed at least one youtube video (A tour conducted by Timothy Smith) that a stop was made at a church to see the hills. Is this the Solid Rock Church on 61 or the Northside Baptist on Business 61 I see on maps and is it better than where the marker is at? Any help would be appreciated.

It's really hard to get a view of the hills from below because the trees mask the nature of the topology, which was part of the problem for assaulting there. Nobody really knew what was across the bayou until they crossed.

I think there's a small space visible from King's Street where a power line goes up the hill, but that's over a mile from where most of the fighting took place.

 

[davepi2]

It's really hard to get a view of the hills from below because the trees mask the nature of the topology, which was part of the problem for assaulting there. Nobody really knew what was across the bayou until they crossed.

I think there's a small space visible from King's Street where a power line goes up the hill, but that's over a mile from where most of the fighting took place.

I was watching the Smith tour video again and I'm pretty sure the church I was wondering about is the Northside Baptist Church. It seemed like from the parking lot there was at least one area you could see the hills. It is just a short distance up the road from the battlefield marker on Washington. I found King's Street on the map and it looks like it is down near the cemetery where in the Smith video they start the tour in a parking lot and you can see the hills. What street today would be where the racetrack was located back in those days?

 

[1SGDan]

Thread 'Chickasaw Bayou - A 150th Year Retrospective'

Dec 28, 2012

Chickasaw Bayou – A Retrospective.

Introduction

As the 150th anniversary of the 1862 battles of the Civil War passes into history there are some that have received little or no attention. In my recent reading of Edwin C. Bearrs three volume history of the Vicksburg Campaign I found just such an example in the fight for Chickasaw Bayou. The excellent description of this fight contained in Volume I made me realize just how badly I had misinterpreted this fight in the soggy lowlands of upper Mississippi. Most Civil War enthusiasts have...

• 1SGDan
• Replies: 77
• Forum: South & Western Theaters

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[davepi2]

 

[davepi2]

View attachment 582078
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Found what I was looking for. One good one and one not so good as was described. The good picture is taken from the parking lot at the Northside Baptist Church on Washington. The other is across from the one and only battlefield marker.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

(I have had bad experiences on Mississippi Roads around Champion Hill and don't want a repeat).

Trust me, many native Mississippians would agree with you!
However, I must say there are much worse roads around Rodney and Port Gibson.

I've gotten lost more than a few times on those "roads/trails" that Grant used when he crossed the river from the Louisiana "side".
But I will say, it's always a great adventure each time I've tried to follow Grant's route.

The landscape is remote, isolated, and unchanged since 1863.

Should you wish to explore,
make sure you have a full tank of gas and an old fashioned paper map.
GPS and phone service are not guaranteed on those secluded "roads".

BTW, I enjoyed your photos of the bluff at Chickasaw Bayou.

 

[davepi2]

Trust me, many native Mississippians would agree with you!
However, I must say there are much worse roads around Rodney and Port Gibson.

I've gotten lost more than a few times on those "roads/trails" that Grant used when he crossed the river from the Louisiana "side".
But I will say, it's always a great adventure each time I've tried to follow Grant's route.

The landscape is remote, isolated, and unchanged since 1863.

Should you wish to explore,
make sure you have a full tank of gas and an old fashioned paper map.
GPS and phone service are not guaranteed on those secluded "roads".

BTW, I enjoyed your photos of the bluff at Chickasaw Bayou.

I didn't have the balls to try going to the Shaifer House or Rodney. I did make it to The Windsor Ruins, The Bethel Presbyterian Church, Alcorn State University and Grand Gulf though. Oh and thanks for the compliment.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

I did make it to The Windsor Ruins, The Bethel Presbyterian Church

I would say your trip was a success!

The Windsor ruins alone are worth that back-roads tour.
I'm also glad you made it to the Grand Gulf Military Park , that site is very cool and relatively easy to find (paved roads even).

But yeah, you are correct. Finding the Shaifer House is definitely an adventure.
Rodney is an even more difficult quest ...

 

[davepi2]

I would say your trip was a success!

The Windsor ruins alone are worth that back-roads tour.
I'm also glad you made it to the Grand Gulf Military Park , that site is very cool and relatively easy to find (paved roads even).

But yeah, you are correct. Finding the Shaifer House is definitely an adventure.
Rodney is an even more difficult quest ...

Still didn't have the balls to drive to the Crossroads at Champion Hill. Too many people said those roads were still questionable and after my last experience 4 years ago I wasn't going to doubt them. Got to the Coker House and the Lower Crossing though.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Still didn't have the balls to drive to the Crossroads at Champion Hill. Too many people said those roads were still questionable and after my last experience 4 years ago I wasn't going to doubt them. Got to the Coker House and the Lower Crossing though.

I'm sad to say I've only been to Champion Hill once (to watch a reenactment), but that was many years ago.

As I wasn't driving, I didn't pay too much attention to the roads ... but I knew we would be going "off the beaten path" to find that site.
Other spectators creating traffic jams on those back roads didn't help matters.

I have no idea about the road conditions today, but I'm sure our members that live close by will update us.

However, within the same general area, the Raymond Battlefield is very easy to find and well worth a visit.

 

[davepi2]

I'm sad to say I've only been to Champion Hill once (to watch a reenactment), but that was many years ago.

As I wasn't driving, I didn't pay too much attention to the roads ... but I knew we would be going "off the beaten path" to find that site.
Other spectators creating traffic jams on those back roads didn't help matters.

I have no idea about the road conditions today, but I'm sure our members that live close by will update us.

However, within the same general area, the Raymond Battlefield is very easy to find and well worth a visit.

I made it to Raymond, it was interesting to see this time with the corn crop. I wonder if this was what the site was like during the battle?

 

[davepi2]

I would say your trip was a success!

The Windsor ruins alone are worth that back-roads tour.
I'm also glad you made it to the Grand Gulf Military Park , that site is very cool and relatively easy to find (paved roads even).

But yeah, you are correct. Finding the Shaifer House is definitely an adventure.
Rodney is an even more difficult quest ...

Last time I was to Windsor Ruins in 2022 it was having work done on it. Really looking good now. Also when visiting in 2022 The Mississippi was flooding at Grand Gulf so it was great to be able to visit again there. Of course one must stop in Port Gibson. I also made it to The Bethel Presbyterian Church and the Old Rodney Road and to Alcorn State to see the stairs. Would liked to have seen the Bayou Pierre Presbyterian Church but you couldn't get to it.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Fantastic photos !

 

[davepi2]

Fantastic photos !

Thank you very much. Thank you and too all of Mississippi for once again making Vicksburg my favorite Civil War vacation spot. This time my grandson came with me so it made it extra special.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Thanks for the kind words.

And what a great and everlasting gift you gave to your Grandson!
Any trip with one's Grandfather will be a cherished memory he never forgets.