Port Gibson May 1, 1863

I’ll never forget the tour @alanpolk and I went on several years back where our tour bus went down the Rodney Road after a hard rain and we were very lucky to get off that road without the bus full of people getting stuck in the middle of the wilderness. What a crazy adventure.
Indeed. I have that entire tour on video tape!! The whole tour group got lost walking the plantation road. I think we ended up walking that dirt road for about 4 or 5 miles!! The tour guide was in hot water after that!!!
 
I'll never forget - as a young teenager, my friend and I were off in those hills playing around and making all sorts of hooting and hollering sounds...having fun.
After a while of doing that we were walking back up that road and encountered a terrified looking black man walking his mule up the road. He had heard us in the woods and thought "haints" were out to get him! We all had a good laugh over it and he was relieved that it was just us.
That area is so rural and isolated he didn't expect some kids to be playing out there.
 
As usual, stunning photography @mt155 !

Earlier this week I ordered a stretched canvas print of one these roads from another photographer. He's not as good as you, but I couldn't find your works for sale.





"Well preserved" is not the correct description.

Untouched is a better way to describe these ancient roads.

Finding the Shaifer House is relatively easy as compared to trying to discover the "ghost town" of Rodney, Mississippi.

Either way, one would do well to hire a guide, or at least start the adventure with a full tank of gas and a four-wheel drive vehicle.

I think @bdtex might have something to say about traveling those roads around Port Gibson.

:smile coffee:
If you ever like a print of any of my photos just send me a message and we can make it happen.
 
When I went there in February 2017,it was on a Saturday late in the afternoon and it had apparently rained some there earlier in the week. I was by myself in my 2WD Toyota Tacoma. At one point,part of the road had washed out and there was an orange traffic cone on the edge. I had to get out and walk that spot in the road and make sure the road was solid and wide enough to get through. My chest was justa thumpin' the whole time I was on that road.

I’ll never forget the tour @alanpolk and I went on several years back where our tour bus went down the Rodney Road after a hard rain and we were very lucky to get off that road without the bus full of people getting stuck in the middle of the wilderness. What a crazy adventure.

The whole tour group got lost walking the plantation road.

It's very easy to get lost back in there.

But it is indeed an adventure !
 
Thanks for these pics. I was in the area in the spring of 2018 but there was flooding that day (Grand Gulf was inaccessible) and, being alone and driving a two-wheel drive rental car, thought the better of navigating those roads. I hope to get back soon!
 
Here is a picture I took of the road going into the Schafer house when I took @huskerblitz. As you can see, there is little room for error if one has to turn around, for example, when a tree has fallen across the road; but its near original condition always makes the trip in there an adventure!

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Here is a picture I took of the road going into the Schafer house when I took @huskerblitz. As you can see, there is little room for error if one has to turn around, for example, when a tree has fallen across the road; but its near original condition always makes the trip in there an adventure!

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were the roads originally excavated that deep (I'm guessing the banks are 12 feet or more?) or is this depth the result of erosion?
 
were the roads originally excavated that deep (I'm guessing the banks are 12 feet or more?) or is this depth the result of erosion?
This is a perfect example of Loess - the type of soil on which Vicksburg, Natchez, Port Hudson, and most of the rest of the eastern side of the Mississippi is built. In prehistoric times, thousands of years of wind depositing loose, blown soil from the plains and prairies collected on the eastern shore, forming bluffs/cliffs of this loosely-packed stuff that is especially prone to wear and erosion. The famous Natchez Trace is similarly worn through in places exactly like this. And it explains the many caves and tunnels that were dig during the siege.
 
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were the roads originally excavated that deep (I'm guessing the banks are 12 feet or more?) or is this depth the result of erosion?
I’ve asked a couple historians the same thing. From my perspective, it would stand to reason that erosion by weather and road skids used to correct wagon ruts would have added to the roadbed’s depth, at least until the arrival of automobiles and gravel was added.

Nevertheless, I’ve been told they are near the same depth as during the war. I’ve read a couple accounts where Union troops describe the roads in places as deep.

If one ever goes to Bethel Church near the battlefield, part of the original road can be seen in the tree line on the north end of that little property. I don’t believe automobiles ever used it - just wide enough for a wagon or carriage - and gives a great example of what it looked like at the time. Those road banks are at least 6-8 feet deep.

I think @huskerblitz took pictures of it when I took him and his wife in June. Maybe he can post them.
 
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… If one ever goes to Bethel Church near the battlefield, part of the original road can be seen in the tree line on the north end of that little property. I don’t believe automobiles ever used it - just wide enough for a wagon or carriage - and gives a great example of what it looked like at the time. Those road banks are at least 6-8 feet deep.
Unfortunately I was only looking at the now-steeple-less church when I visited there. (The steeple was supposedly blown down by a tornado in the 1940's.) Note the historical tablet like those at Vicksburg NMP that describes Grant's army marching down this road.
 
I understand that in Port Gibson, there was a skirmish that happened in 1864? Does anyone have any detailed information about it?
 
Sounds like you would have a first hand perspective of the area due to being a youngster in the area. So I have a question for you.
The Book "Claiborne Co Mississippi, The Promise Land" on pg 81 says there was a town that grew up after the building of the "Little J" Railroad , it's name was Martin. Martin was named for a Natchez man, who was one of the projectors of the Little J Railroad. In 1912 the name of the town was changed to Pattison.
The book gives no more information on the first name of Martin or more details about him.
Do you or anyone know more on the subject?


I'll never forget - as a young teenager, my friend and I were off in those hills playing around and making all sorts of hooting and hollering sounds...having fun.
 
Sounds like you would have a first hand perspective of the area due to being a youngster in the area. So I have a question for you.
The Book "Claiborne Co Mississippi, The Promise Land" on pg 81 says there was a town that grew up after the building of the "Little J" Railroad , it's name was Martin. Martin was named for a Natchez man, who was one of the projectors of the Little J Railroad. In 1912 the name of the town was changed to Pattison.
The book gives no more information on the first name of Martin or more details about him.
Do you or anyone know more on the subject?
No. Don’t know anything about that. I’m a 56 year old man now. I was running around on those hills when I was 15. Many years ago. 😂😀
 
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I understand that in Port Gibson, there was a skirmish that happened in 1864? Does anyone have any detailed information about it?
This doesn't really answer your question, but may serve as an example of something similar. Above is Rosswood Plantation House near Port Gibson, but to the east of it several miles on the opposite side of U.S. 61. We stayed there in 2007 when it was a B&B - it may still be, but I don't know - and the owner told us it was the site of its own little "battle" which occurred when foraging Yanks were driven off by Rebel cavalry about where the long drive meets the road from Port Gibson. He didn't say when this occurred or exactly how big it may have been, but perhaps your 1864 "battle" was something like this?
 
That is worth looking into. Thanks for the picture along with the description!


I
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This doesn't really answer your question, but may serve as an example of something similar. Above is Rosswood Plantation House near Port Gibson, but to the east of it several miles on the opposite side of U.S. 61. We stayed there in 2007 when it was a B&B - it may still be, but I don't know - and the owner told us it was the site of its own little "battle" which occurred when foraging Yanks were driven off by Rebel cavalry about where the long drive meets the road from Port Gibson. He didn't say when this occurred or exactly how big it may have been, but perhaps your 1864 "battle" was something like this?
 
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