troops defended the city during
the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou,
December 26-29. But Union Gen.
William T. Sherman’s campaign
against Vicksburg had begun.
At Vicksburg National Military Park,
an interpretive center details the
47-day siege of the city in 1863.
A driving tour leads past battle
lines and monuments. The USS
Cairo Museum features a restored
Union ironclad raised from the
Yazoo River. And downtown, the
Old Court House Museum exhibits
artifacts from the siege and items
related to Jefferson Davis, the only
president of the Confederacy.
In 2005, 140 years after the
war ended, Hurricane Katrina
ravaged Beauvoir, the state’s
most beloved reminder of Davis
and the place where he wrote
the book The Rise and Fall of
the Confederate Government.
The Biloxi mansion reopened
in 2008 after extensive
restoration. The rebuilt
Jefferson Davis Presidential
Library and Museum
opened last fall. No visit to
the state’s Civil War sites is
complete without a trip here.
More Battle Sites
• The Union victory at the Battle of
Booneville led to the promotion
of Col. Phil Sheridan to the rank
of brigadier general. The Rails
and Trails Museum in the historic
train depot downtown tells the
story of the battle.
• Near Brice's Cross Roads
National Battlefield Site, north of
Tupelo, a driving tour along Highway 370 explains troop movements. Plans for the
150th anniversary of the battle, on June 10, 2014, include a major reenactment.
• The area of Port Gibson, described by Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant as “too beautiful to
burn,” includes Port Gibson Battlefield, site of the historic Shaifer House Interpretive
Center; Grand Gulf Military Park, with its battlefield site and cemetery; and the Ruins
of Windsor, the remains of a plantation home spared during the Civil War only to burn
in 1890.
• Natchez National Historical Park operates two historic homes: Melrose mansion and the
William Johnson House, the latter built in downtown Natchez in 1840 by a free black man.
Events
D February 18-19: 47th Annual South Civil War and Antique Military Show,
The Arena, Southaven
D March 3-4: Civil War Relic Show, Crossroads Arena, Corinth
D March 10-April 14: Natchez Spring Pilgrimage of antebellum homes, Natchez
D March 28-29: March to Shiloh reenactment, Civil War Interpretive
Center, Corinth
D April 13-14: On Shiloh Hill musical performance, Corinth Theatre-
Arts, Corinth
D April 23: Confederate Memorial Day, statewide holiday
D June-July: Living History Programs, Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg
D October 13-14: 26th Annual Fall Muster, Beauvoir, Biloxi
D October 19-21: Vicksburg Campaign Reenactment (commemorating the
Battle of Raymond, the Battle of
Champion Hill and the assault on the
works of Vicksburg), Raymond
Vicksburg National Military Park 1)
Civil War Interpretive Center, Corinth 2)
Beauvoir, Biloxi 3)
Brice's Cross Roads, Baldwyn 4)
Living-history artillery reenactment 5)
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Civil War Sesquicentennial in Mississippi
Feature