We hit town and immediately checked into our 5 Star Accommodations. No running water (broken pump), but air conditioning (thank God). The campground had one very nice thing. Clean showers. And as someone who has showered at truck stops before, you really appreciate a clean public shower. The drawback at the campground was that it advertised Wi-fi access, and it did have it, but apparently a retro version. You got about 11 MBS out of it when it was working at it's optimal level. I've used dial-up that worked faster. Vicksburg is a nice little town. By little, I think 75% of it is the battlefield. I don't think it even has a Denny's. But it has a lot of hills. If you ever make the trip, don't drive a stick shift.Obviously, the most enjoyable part for me was the battlefield itself. While the July heat can get a 
wee bit uncomfortable, summer is when the national parks do stuff. By stuff, I mean historical demonstrations. We got lucky and hit the visitor's center just as they were getting ready to show us how to load and fire a Civil War cannon. They can only do these during summers because they don't have enough park staff throughout the rest of the year to do something like this. In the summer, they get local high school kids to volunteer as slave labor. They dressed those poor bastards up in very hot looking outfits 
and made them stand around baking in the sun until it was time to fire the gun again. I was a little disappointed they didn't use real cannonballs. It's a big park. I noticed that they wore earplugs which I don't think were regulation issue in the 1860s. It's pretty amazing how many Civil War cannon are still around. Granted it was a long war involving a lot of men and equipment, but I've been to several battlefields and they are chock full off old equipment, especially cannon. This field piece next to Dad was one of many at Vicksburg. It was also full of wasps which we discovered a short time after this picture was taken.
wee bit uncomfortable, summer is when the national parks do stuff. By stuff, I mean historical demonstrations. We got lucky and hit the visitor's center just as they were getting ready to show us how to load and fire a Civil War cannon. They can only do these during summers because they don't have enough park staff throughout the rest of the year to do something like this. In the summer, they get local high school kids to volunteer as slave labor. They dressed those poor bastards up in very hot looking outfits 
and made them stand around baking in the sun until it was time to fire the gun again. I was a little disappointed they didn't use real cannonballs. It's a big park. I noticed that they wore earplugs which I don't think were regulation issue in the 1860s. It's pretty amazing how many Civil War cannon are still around. Granted it was a long war involving a lot of men and equipment, but I've been to several battlefields and they are chock full off old equipment, especially cannon. This field piece next to Dad was one of many at Vicksburg. It was also full of wasps which we discovered a short time after this picture was taken.Another thing, the battlefield was full of monuments. Actually, it was the whole town. The 
park used to be just about the whole city so you can't drive down the street without seeing another monument. To begin with, there were tons of monuments dedicated to individuals. And most were paid for by the family members of those soldiers around 1900. Apparently someone figured out a pretty good fund raiser for the new park, because every park needs a plaque for a nondescript Lt. Colonel I've never heard of. Pretty much every state had a major monument to their participation at Vicksburg. And there were a lot of states. On day one, we really only got through the Union side. Even states as far away as Rhode Island and New Hampshire had units there. In addition, there were smaller unit monuments spread wherever they were positioned around the battlefield. 
So, if I want to know where an artillery battery that didn't do much, I can read about it on a giant concrete slab. The picture to the right is me in front of the Minnesota state monument. It's looks big and ostentatious, but it was pretty tame compared to Illinois and Wisconsin. However, what I liked about it was the statue that was a part of it. I'm not sure why. Oh, I know. Look at the rack on that woman. I thought she was holding cannonballs to her chest when I first saw it.
park used to be just about the whole city so you can't drive down the street without seeing another monument. To begin with, there were tons of monuments dedicated to individuals. And most were paid for by the family members of those soldiers around 1900. Apparently someone figured out a pretty good fund raiser for the new park, because every park needs a plaque for a nondescript Lt. Colonel I've never heard of. Pretty much every state had a major monument to their participation at Vicksburg. And there were a lot of states. On day one, we really only got through the Union side. Even states as far away as Rhode Island and New Hampshire had units there. In addition, there were smaller unit monuments spread wherever they were positioned around the battlefield. 
So, if I want to know where an artillery battery that didn't do much, I can read about it on a giant concrete slab. The picture to the right is me in front of the Minnesota state monument. It's looks big and ostentatious, but it was pretty tame compared to Illinois and Wisconsin. However, what I liked about it was the statue that was a part of it. I'm not sure why. Oh, I know. Look at the rack on that woman. I thought she was holding cannonballs to her chest when I first saw it.The last part of the battlefield that we made it to on day one was the USS Cairo. Interesting 
story about this ship. It was sunk by a mine while on the river off Vicksburg, and you can still see where the mine hit the side and destroyed a good chunk of it. They managed to raise and sort-of refurbish it for a display. Lot of interesting things about the display. You can actually see the insides of a Civil War era ironclad gunboat. Walking through the ship, it was amazing to think they could keep a crew of 175 on a boat that size. Easily the worst job 
had to be the poor saps who spent all day feeding the boilers. However, the best part of the Cairo display was that there was a bathroom there. Going from the visitor's center to the Cairo was quite a distance. Taking a leak was no problem as it was heavily wooded, but if you have to do something else, you really need a bathroom. Which was unfortunate for anyone who followed me in the museum bathroom. I really need to check out what I eat.
story about this ship. It was sunk by a mine while on the river off Vicksburg, and you can still see where the mine hit the side and destroyed a good chunk of it. They managed to raise and sort-of refurbish it for a display. Lot of interesting things about the display. You can actually see the insides of a Civil War era ironclad gunboat. Walking through the ship, it was amazing to think they could keep a crew of 175 on a boat that size. Easily the worst job 
had to be the poor saps who spent all day feeding the boilers. However, the best part of the Cairo display was that there was a bathroom there. Going from the visitor's center to the Cairo was quite a distance. Taking a leak was no problem as it was heavily wooded, but if you have to do something else, you really need a bathroom. Which was unfortunate for anyone who followed me in the museum bathroom. I really need to check out what I eat. 
No comments:
Post a Comment