Natchez,MS

[bdtex]

Continuing south down the tour road you come to this on the left hand side. You can actually see this marker if you zoom real good on the picture in post #179. I assume this is part of the line of rifle pits on the east side of the cemetery.

 

[bdtex]

Gun Emplacements: I don't know why,but the next 2 tour stops were just awesome and I took a lot of pictures. Can't put my finger on the words I'm really trying to say. I even stood in the bed of my truck to get a few pictures. The weather and the solitude probably had something to do with it. I know I've said it before,but that's why I like taking the spur of the moment trips on weekdays in January-March. I can work around inclement weather and I generally have the places where I go to myself.

 

[bdtex]

"...ditch fronting the parapet."

 

[bdtex]

And then,there was another one down the road.

 

[rebel brit]

Very informative thread and great pics. Yet another site to add to my wish list.

 

[bdtex]

Shots from the park road as it winds it's way first west,then north,back to the Museum.

 

[alan polk]

Shots from the park road as it winds it's way first west,then north,back to the Museum.

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More nice photos! It would be neat if you could somehow superimpose gunboats into the flood water!
Also, The first picture in the above post is a very good example of the loess soil which so defined the Campaign!

 

[bdtex]

GGMP Museum:

Before I left,I did a pretty thorough walkthrough of the Museum. Pretty nice collection of artifacts and other exhibits. Not all of the artifacts came from Grand Gulf either. Some are from other battlefields. I've already posted pics of the flags on display. Didn't take a lotta pics of the relics/artifacts,so not a lot to post.

 

[James N.]

...That was back in 2003.

I remember it well. I was living in Natchez at the time and had planned to drive up to the ceremony. However, it was some pretty nasty weather that day.

The reinterment of the USCT soldiers was a project of the local Sons of Confederate Veterans Camps.

... Although no descendants of Gilbert or Ross could be found, re-enactors from Mississippi Alabama, Tennessee and surrounding states crowded to pay their respects. The crowd came despite the weather, many slid and had mud from head to toe, but this did not stop them from staying to the end. Comments were made about how moving this ceremony was. Yes, it was just another funeral, but was it? This was to honor two soldiers that died during a time in our history when our country was divided, a time then brother fought brother, North fought South. Then this funeral of these two men that fought with the U.S. Colored Troops took place around 140 years after they were placed in the ground the first time, giving honor to them by the descendants of those that fought each other.
Just another funeral? You decide...

Were Gilbert and Ross in fact wartime casualties, or (as I would think more likely) veterans who happened to be postwar residents of the area? Other than right in long-established communities such as Port Gibson the surrounding countryside appears to be populated by descendants of the former slaves, and of course nearby Alcorn College is/was an all-black institution. If they were wartime fatalities, it must've been relatively late in the war because it was only them that formerly state-designated units were re-designated as numbered USCT regiments.

 

[James N.]

So yeah...Grand Gulf Cemetery is the next stop on the tour of GGMP. I never would've guessed that prior to my visit. It's a pretty good sized old cemetery too.

If you haven't been - or don't go there on your current trip - the one at Rodney is HUGE and probably the creepiest I've ever seen, completely engulfed by the over-abundant vegetation!

 

[James N.]

GGMP Museum:

Before I left,I did a pretty thorough walkthrough of the Museum. Pretty nice collection of artifacts and other exhibits. Not all of the artifacts came from Grand Gulf either. Some are from other battlefields. I've already posted pics of the flags on display. Didn't take a lotta pics of the relics/artifacts,so not a lot to post.

Since it corresponds with one of my principal interests, I particularly remember seeing a very nice Confederate-manufactured (Boyle & Gamble?) foot officer's sword and scabbard in one case.

 

[bdtex]

Turns out that the Captain of the Union ironclad Lafayette was a pretty good artist and made some good drawings of the Naval attack on Grand Gulf. The last pic is not a drawing. It's a pic of the Confederate officer for whom Fort Wade was named. Had to take some angled pics because of the glare. I hate that but it is what it is.

 

[bdtex]

Since it corresponds with one of my principal interests, I particularly remember seeing a very nice Confederate-manufactured (Boyle & Gamble?) foot officer's sword and scabbard in one case.

Is it in the first pic in the post directly below yours? I can't zoom on it enough to tell. It's the only pic I have of a sword there.

 

[James N.]

Is it in the first pic in the post directly below yours? I can't zoom on it enough to tell. It's the only pic I have of a sword there.

It well could be - it looks like they have made some desperately-needed revisions and improvements to the displays there since my past visits! As I remember, everything was just thrown into a lot of poorly-lit store cabinets from the 1920's or '30's with very little in the way of identifying signage and almost no interpretation of the battle.

 

[bdtex]

Lastly,there is another good display regarding the Naval vs. shore batteries engagements at Grand Gulf. I took an individual picture of each of the maps in the first picture,for later study. Good stuff.

 

[bdtex]

I say "lastly",but as I was leaving on Grand Gulf Rd.,not sure where I was headed next,I spied a marker that I had missed on the park road as it cuts between the 2 camping areas winding back to the Museum. Parked my truck on the side of the road and charged up the hill.

 

[alan polk]

I say "lastly",but as I was leaving on Grand Gulf Rd.,not sure where I was headed next,I spied a marker that I had missed on the park road as it cuts between the 2 camping areas winding back to the Museum. Parked my truck on the side of the road and charged up the hill.

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I really like that picture with the floodwater beyond the marker!!

 

[bdtex]

I really like that picture with the floodwater beyond the marker!!

Yeah... kinda shows the cannoneers' view of their field of fire.

 

[bdtex]

Your welcome, says Report 13. Would be nice to see the others as well.

Here is Report No. 8. It's on the ammunition magazine at Fort Wade.:

http://www.mdah.ms.gov/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/AR-8.pdf

 

[captaindrew]

Thanks for the tour and great photos @bdtex