Part II - Grand Gulf Area
View attachment 103216
Ruins of
Windsor Plantation stand on a country road near Port Gibson, Mississippi.
Grand Gulf State Park
View attachment 103218
In 1863 Grand Gulf was both a town on the Mississippi River and a Confederate bastion, the site of Fort Cobun and Fort Wade which prevented Grant and his troops from crossing the river at this point. Today it is a quiet and little-visited state historic site which preserves the area once occupied by the town and the remains of the two forts. Long ago the Mississippi changed course, however, now leaving the spot a distance from the now-unseen river and isolated in dense woods. Above, near the visitor center is one of the huge 13-inch mortars used by the fleet of Union mortar boats commanded by Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter. Below, a beautifully restored ca. 1850's Gothic Revival-style church in the park. For more about Grand Gulf:
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/battle-of-grand-gulf.25930/
View attachment 103217
Bethel Presbyterian Church
View attachment 103219
This church, ca. 1843, stands along a road used by Grant's army moving inland after crossing the river at Bruinsburg Plantation south of Grand Gulf. it was severely damaged in 1947 by a tornado which toppled the tall steeple but was subsequently repaired, minus the steeple! Supposedly most of the structure is original.
Ruins of Windsor Plantation
View attachment 103220
This well-known landmark also stands below Port Gibson and Grand Gulf; it was used briefly as a setting in the 1950's Elizabeth Taylor - Montgomery Clift Civil War-era movie
Raintree County, no doubt because of its picturesque quality. Built in 1860, it was the largest mansion house in the region until in 1890 it was burned to the ground when a guest threw a lighted cigarette into a wastebasket! Originally, it was so tall - three stories, atop the bluffs - it was easily visible from the river and so served steamboat pilots as a landmark; unfortunately the stately ruins were as of 2007 engulfed by towering trees that dwarf its size. To get an idea of scale, note my friend Mike standing between two of the columns!
View attachment 103221
Rodney, a Mississippi River Ghost Town
View attachment 103223
This stately church is virtually all that remains of the once-thriving river town Rodney, Mississippi; note within the red circle a Union cannonball from the river fleet still lodged in the wall above the window! It was here that Grant planned to cross the river before learning from a contraband of the unopposed crossing place at nearby Bruinsburg. When the river changed course it withdrew from the town, leaving it stranded; soon inhabitants also left. Houses have disappeared leaving only the grid of streets where they once stood, their places taken by a few derelict house trailers, some apparently still occupied. The hill behind the church still contains the graves of the town founders and citizens in a huge overgrown and generally creepy cemetery.
View attachment 103222
Mount Locust Stand
View attachment 103224
This log structure is what was known as a
stand, or tavern/inn along the Natchez Trace. It is now a stop along Natchez Trace Parkway, a unit of the National Park Service near Natchez, Mississippi, and is typical of older structures in the area during the campaigns of 1862 and 1863.
Next, Part III - St. Francisville, Louisiana.