Vicksburg_National_Military_Park

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Vicksburg National Military Park Vicksburg National Military Park Vicksburg National Military Park Location Coordinates Vicksburg, Mississippi & Delta, Louisiana, USA Illinois Memorial, dedicated in 1906. River, recovered successfully in 1964), and 32°20′39″N 90°51′06″W / 32.34417°N the Grant’s Canal site, where the Union army 90.85167°W / 32.34417; -90.85167Coordinates: 32°20′39″N attempted to build a canal to let their ships 90°51′06″W / 32.34417°N 90.85167°W / bypass Confederate artillery fire. The Cairo, 32.34417; -90.85167 also known as the "Hardluck Ironclad," was 1,852.75 acres (7.4978 km2) February 21, 1899 Established: February 21, 1899 703,484 (in 2005) National Park Service Area Established Visitors Governing body the first U.S. ship in history to be sunk by a torpedo/mine. It was raised in 1964. The Illinois State Memorial has 47 steps, one for every day Vicksburg was besieged. Cemetery The 116.28-acre (0.4706 km2) Vicksburg National Cemetery, is within the park. It has 18,244 interments (12,954 unidentified); grave space is not available. Date of Civil War interments: 1866-1874. Vicksburg National Military Park preserves the site of the American Civil War Battle of Vicksburg, waged from May 18 to July 4, 1863. The park, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Delta, Louisiana, also commemorates the greater Vicksburg Campaign, which preceded the battle. Reconstructed forts and trenches evoke memories of the 47-day siege that ended in the surrender of the city. Victory here and at Port Hudson gave the United States control of the Mississippi River. Grant’s Canal The remnants of Grant’s Canal, a detached section of the military park, are located across from Vicksburg near Delta, Louisiana. Union Army Major General Ulysses S. Grant ordered the project, started on June 27, 1862, as part of his Vicksburg Campaign with two goals in mind. The first was to alter the course of the Mississippi River in order to bypass the Confederate guns at Vicksburg. For various technical reasons the project failed to meet this goal. The river did change course by itself on April 26, 1876. The project met its second goal, keeping troops occupied Battlefield The park includes 1,325 historic monuments and markers, 20 miles (32 km) of historic trenches and earthworks, a 16-mile (26 km) tour road, two antebellum homes, 144 emplaced cannons, restored gunboat USS Cairo (sunk on December 12, 1862, on the Yazoo 1 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Vicksburg National Military Park The national military park was established on February 21, 1899, to commemorate the siege and defense of Vicksburg. The park sprawls over 1,800 acres (7.3 km2) of land. The park and cemetery were transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service (NPS) on August 10, 1933. Of the park’s 1,736.47 acres (not including the cemetery), 1,729.63 acres (6.9996 km2) are federally owned. In the late 1950s, a portion of the park was transferred to the city as a local park in exchange for closing local roads running through the remainder of the park. It also allowed for the construction of Interstate 20. The monuments in land transferred to the city are still maintained by the NPS. As with all historic areas administered by the NPS, the park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. Over a million visitors visit the park every year. Statues of Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis at the Kentucky Memorial. during the laborious maneuvering required to begin the Battle of Vicksburg. References Administrative history USS Cairo • The National Parks: Index 2001-2003. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior. External links • Official NPS website: Vicksburg National Military Park • Main park map links: 32°20′39″N 90°51′6″W / 32.34417°N 90.85167°W / 32.34417; -90.85167 • Grant’s Canal map links: 32°19′14″N 90°56′0″W / 32.32056°N 90.93333°W / 32.32056; -90.93333 Monument to U.S. Colored Troops at the park Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicksburg_National_Military_Park" 2 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Vicksburg National Military Park Categories: 1899 establishments, American Civil War battlefields, Madison Parish, Louisiana, National Battlefields and Military Parks of the United States, National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana, National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi, Warren County, Mississippi, Parks on the Mississippi River, Mississippi in the American Civil War, Protected areas of Mississippi, Protected areas of Louisiana This page was last modified on 25 April 2009, at 03:17 (UTC). All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) taxdeductible nonprofit charity. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers 3