Mississippi battlefield trip

Jackson'sArm

Corporal
Joined
Apr 21, 2017
Location
just south of the Red River
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View of the Mississippi from the heights of downtown Vicksburg... but actually it's the Yazoo Diversion Canal, not the Mississippi since 1876, when the Great River changed course and left Vicksburg stranded. The new canal, built by the Corps of Engineers over the course of a quarter-century, was dedicated in 1903 and made Vicksburg a riverfront city again. When the work was complete, the Corps had moved about 5,750, ooo cubic yards of earth. The total cost of the project at the time was $1,250,000.

(Pardon the photo manipulation... I'm enamored of this Artisto app.)
 
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A row of columns at the site of ruined Windsor Plantation house, just east of Bruinsburg, where Grant crossed his army. Parts of McPherson's XVII Corps passed by the house in 1863, on their way to Port Gibson, where they would force Bowen's Confederates to retreat across the Bayou Pierre. Windsor was the largest antebellum house in Mississippi, perched on high ground overlooking the river. Mark Twain wrote of its splendor in "Life on the Mississippi". It burned in 1890 from a carelessly dropped cigar, and now only its beautiful Corinthian columns remain.
 
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Reproduction cannon from a line of guns along Highway 18, north of Raymond. The small battle of Raymond on May 12, 1863 kept Confederate General Pemberton from his appointment with General Joseph Johnston, and thus had heavy repercussions for the later defense of Vicksburg. Once a Top Ten Endangered Battlefield, a proposed strip mall development on the battlefield spurred local residents to purchase the acreage, place the guns and interpretive markers, and build a walking trail. Yay, battlefield preservation!
 
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The writing desk from the Shirley house, the only remaining wartime residence in the national park. On May 18, 1863, as the Confederate rear guard fell back into the Vicksburg defenses, soldiers were ordered to burn all the houses in front of their works. The Shirley barns and outbuildings were quickly burned to the ground, but the soldier assigned to destroy the house was shot before he could apply the torch. The house has been beautifully preserved.
 
View attachment 144125The writing desk from the Shirley house, the only remaining wartime residence in the national park. On May 18, 1863, as the Confederate rear guard fell back into the Vicksburg defenses, soldiers were ordered to burn all the houses in front of their works. The Shirley barns and outbuildings were quickly burned to the ground, but the soldier assigned to destroy the house was shot before he could apply the torch. The house has been beautifully preserved.
Great pictures.
 
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The equestrian statue of General Grant at Vicksburg at the site of his headquarters. Sculptor Frederick Hibbard commented on the construction of Grant's statue, saying, "I was commissioned by the State of Illinois to make the General U. S. Grant equestrian statue. The only requirements of the State Commissioners were that General Grant be mounted upon a quiet, gentle, horse, and be depicted as he was during the Siege of Vicksburg. I could not fulfill the latter requirement because the General wore a blouse and his pants were over his boots, Had he been made in sculpture during the siege, he would have looked like a rooster with its tail feathers pulled out and spurs cut off."
 
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The ghosted USS Cairo must be one of the most photographically seductive subjects in the whole Civil War universe. Cairo was sunk in front of Vicksburg on December 12, 1862, by a remotely-detonated mine. In one of the greatest treasure-hunter stories ever, Ed Bearss and friends went searching for it in 1956, armed with a vintage map and a simple magnetic compass. Eureka, they found it! The salvage and restoration took about 20 years. It is absolutely gorgeous.
 
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Great images !

The photo manipulation adds a new layer.

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Highlight of the trip was touring the Cairo with the man who found it and spearheaded its recovery. Ed Bearss was 33 when the Cairo was located; now he is 93. (In Ed's honor, I declined to photo-manipulate him.)

I'm glad to see that Ed's looking good. :thumbsup:
 
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The ghosted USS Cairo must be one of the most photographically seductive subjects in the whole Civil War universe. Cairo was sunk in front of Vicksburg on December 12, 1862, by a remotely-detonated mine. In one of the greatest treasure-hunter stories ever, Ed Bearss and friends went searching for it in 1956, armed with a vintage map and a simple magnetic compass. Eureka, they found it! The salvage and restoration took about 20 years. It is absolutely gorgeous.
Your photo manipulations really show off the Cairo to good effect. In a way, it's kind of neat that so much of the boat is skeletal, since this way we get to see those fascinating inner workings. The Cairo is cool enough to turn us all into gear heads!
 
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