Where Were The Disappearing Gun Of Vicksburg?

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Where exactly was Ellis Cliffs located and what type guns did the CS have there?
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As to the location of Ellis Cliffs this article mentions it as "20 miles South of Natchez"* where Laurel Mansion was once located. St. Mary's Chapel^ is located where Laurel Hill was and is sited below.

Don't know about the artillery but perhaps @7th Mississippi Infantry might have some information as he lives down in that area?
Regards
David

*Lost Mansions of Mississippi, Volume II, Volume 2


^St. Mary’s Chapel
 
@Championhilz who works at the state archives in Jackson might have access to Patti Carr Black's Art in Mississippi, 1720-1980, which contains Two Narrow Escapes on the Mississippi Civil War Daily Gazette as cited in Wikipedia of all places!
Regards
David
 
As to the location of Ellis Cliffs this article mentions it as "20 miles South of Natchez"* where Laurel Mansion was once located. St. Mary's Chapel^ is located where Laurel Hill was and is sited below.

Don't know about the artillery but perhaps @7th Mississippi Infantry might have some information as he lives down in that area?
Regards
David

*Lost Mansions of Mississippi, Volume II, Volume 2


^St. Mary’s Chapel
Wiki has it 14 miles south
 
As to the location of Ellis Cliffs this article mentions it as "20 miles South of Natchez"* where Laurel Mansion was once located. St. Mary's Chapel^ is located where Laurel Hill was and is sited below.

Don't know about the artillery but perhaps @7th Mississippi Infantry might have some information as he lives down in that area?
Regards
David

*Lost Mansions of Mississippi, Volume II, Volume 2


^St. Mary’s Chapel
That's a very cool area.
Time has "stood still " down there.

It's also named "White Cliffs" in some documents, (and the site of one of the few American Revolution actions in
what is now Mississippi - back then the province British West Florida) . Those bluffs were also considered a strategic point on the Mississippi by the French when d'Iberville . . . along with his little brother Bienville were exploring the area and establishing Natchez & New Orleans. The river has changed course since the early 1700's, so now the "cliffs" are about two miles from the river. However, it's still impressive.

Regarding St. Mary's chapel, your link is a great summary !

I'm pretty sure Walt Grayson has produced about three video segments about this chapel over the last few years.
 
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Sorry I forgot to answer UCV's original question.

Ellis Cliffs is no where near Vicksburg. (The Media were confused back then . . . as they are today). :giggle:

I know the CSA did not construct any earthworks down there. However, various irregular units harassed Union shipping along the Mississippi River until the end.

It's also well documented that Confederate cavalry would routinely move and fire howitzers all along the river to keep the United States
boat crews nervous 24/7.

They would fire a few rounds and then move to a different location.

That may be where the "disappearing guns" memories started.
 
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Sorry I forgot to answer UCV's original question.

Ellis Cliffs is no where near Vicksburg. (The Media were confused back then . . . as they are today). :giggle:

I know the CSA did not construct any earthworks down there. However, various irregular units harassed Union shipping along the Mississippi River until the end.

It's also well documented that Confederate cavalry would routinely move and fire howitzers all along the river to keep the United States
boat crews nervous 24/7.

They would fire a few rounds and then move to a different location.

That may be where the "disappearing guns" memories started.
From the way Gen William's makes it sound, there were fortifications. I have never seen any that far south.
 
From the way Gen William's makes it sound, there were fortifications. I have never seen any that far south.

There are zero WBTS fortifications down there.
I lived in that area for almost twenty years and spent a lot of time deer hunting around the Ellis/White "cliffs".

The only fortifications south of Vicksburg were at Grand Gulf.
 
I just remembered the ruins of Fort Adams at the southern land border between Louisiana and Mississippi (also at the Mississippi River).
Yet another strategic area known as Loftus Heights during the American Revolution days.

( Fort Adams was actually an official port of entry into the adolescent United States after the revolution)
That fort was a substantial facility from 1798 to 1803. However, the site was overgrown and in ruins by the time of The War Between the States.

And it's a long way from Vicksburg.
Vicksburg is about 50 or 60 miles north .

Again, there were no Confederate fortifications constructed, but it would be a perfect location to set up a temporary howitzer position.

If there had been such a threat on that section of the Mississippi River, I think Halleck and Banks would have taken care of it before starting the Red River Campaign.

Just my armchair quarterback thoughts.
 
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I know the Confederates had at least one large cannon on the bluffs at Fort Adams, MS on the Mississippi River.
That's interesting!
I would love to hear more about this.

I do know the Union ironclad USS Chillicothe was anchored down there from 1864 until the end.


Another great article about the history of Fort Adams Here:

 
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That's interesting!
I would love to hear more about this.

I do know the Union ironclad USS Chillicothe was anchored down there from 1864 until the end.


Another great article about the history of Fort Adams Here:

My grandfather used to take us fishing on Lake Mary (at Fort Adams). He would always drive by a steep bluff and tell us about the Confederate cannon that had been up there. Supposedly, the Confederates spiked it.
 
fishing on Lake Mary (at Fort Adams).

I have many fond memories of Lake Mary.

Unfortunately, over the last 15 to 20 years that area floods worse than it ever has before. Hunting and fishing camps down there used to sell for a high price. Now many can be bought for "pennies on the dollar".

I've always been intrigued by the actual fort, but I have never been aware of a heavy Confederate artillery battery.

I'm not saying there was never a heavy gun up there, only that I would like to see some official documentation.

Off topic, but back in the late 90's I talked to some "old timers" at the little store at Fort Adams.
They all said a few remnants of the original 1798 Fort could still be seen as late as the 1950s and 60's.
I even tracked down the owner, who gave me permission to go up to the site. He kind of smiled and said . . .
"good luck getting up there"

He was right.

I never came close.

Anyway, CSA heavy gun or not . . . that area remains an extremely fascinating (and remote) part of the Deep South.
 
I have many fond memories of Lake Mary.

Unfortunately, over the last 15 to 20 years that area floods worse than it ever has before. Hunting and fishing camps down there used to sell for a high price. Now many can be bought for "pennies on the dollar".

I've always been intrigued by the actual fort, but I have never been aware of a heavy Confederate artillery battery.

I'm not saying there was never a heavy gun up there, only that I would like to see some official documentation.

Off topic, but back in the late 90's I talked to some "old timers" at the little store at Fort Adams.
They all said a few remnants of the original 1798 Fort could still be seen as late as the 1950s and 60's.
I even tracked down the owner, who gave me permission to go up to the site. He kind of smiled and said . . .
"good luck getting up there"

He was right.

I never came close.

Anyway, CSA heavy gun or not . . . that area remains an extremely fascinating (and remote) part of the Deep South.
Yes, lots of intrigue and mystery. I haven’t been there in years. Id love to go back some day.
 
They all said a few remnants of the original 1798 Fort could still be seen as late as the 1950s and 60's.
I even tracked down the owner, who gave me permission to go up to the site. He kind of smiled and said . . .
"good luck getting up there"

He was right.

I never came close.

Why? I'm trying to picture the terrain and can't from a New England perspective. Why and how was it impenetrable?
 
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