Vicksburg: Melancholy MIssissippi

On October 15th after more than a month visiting family in Alabama, I packed up the RV and headed north. My first stop on my RV "southern states loop" road trip was Vicksburg, Mississippi. When I say Mississippi, what comes to mind? (Besides remembering it was one of the first "big words" you learned to spell M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I).  Antebellum homes, the big muddy river, cotton fields or one of the most significant battles of the Civil War? I had done a little online research before I left and all four of these things were on my wish list for sightseeing when I went to Mississippi. But, before I started my sightseeing on Monday morning I headed to the local tourism office to see if there were any special events. (The office is located across the street from the entrance to the Vicksburg National Military Park. Unfortunately for me, I discovered that Mondays are a slow day in Vicksburg, with the all of the businesses on the main downtown street (Washington) closed. So, if you want to shop when you travel don't plan to do it on Mondays in Vicksburg. There is still plenty to do in Vicksburg and the agent in the office can give you information on what to do and when. The office itself was also interesting with different photos and art objects. The one in the photo shown here, was created by a tourist to highlight all that he had seen while he was visiting. Kind of cool, right?

Next, I headed to the McRaven House. In 1963, National Geographic magazine called this home a "time capsule of the South" since it has three sections built at different times reflecting the architecture and furniture of that era. The first section, in the back of the house, was built in 1797 and has only a small kitchen downstairs and a bedroom upstairs. Originally the home was used by a notorious highwayman as a hideout. The second section was built in 1836 and reflects the Empire style of that time. The third section was built in the front of the house in 1849 and is Greek Revival. Since I visited the home in October, the tours were set up for Halloween and this brought up a lot of stories during the tour about the house being considered the most haunted in Mississippi.

Lastly, I headed over to tour the Vicksburg National Military Park. The park is a memorial to the dead from one of the most significant battles of the Civil War. Some historians say that it was even more important than the one that took place at Gettysburg as it demoralized the southern troops. After the war, in the early 1900's, the federal government established the park and allowed each of the states to build a memorial to honor their deceased. If you are interested in touring the park, you can take a self-guided tour using your phone. The tour explains how difficult the battle was and why President Lincoln felt that it was essential for General Grant to take control of the city of Vicksburg and with it control of the entire Mississippi River. The tall monument shown here is the Mississippi memorial. I wish I was a better photographer or had a better camera. This memorial was one of the saddest I have ever seen. The contrast of the dark figures on the bottom showing the dead and dying and the bright white of the memorial was almost shocking. It made me realize that there really are no winners in wars no matter how we might "celebrate" the end of the war.

Many of the northern states built their memorials right away. These reflect the art and architecture of that time. The one shown here is for Illinois. The memorial is located at the very top of the park and looks out over the battlefield. The park also has a museum with artifacts from the salvaged remains of the Cairo, an ironside battleship and a Union cemetery. By the end of the day's sightseeing, I was feeling very melancholy. Partly because I had just left my family the day before, but I think that there was more to these feelings. Vicksburg seems to be an entire city that is sad. The tour guide said the place was "haunted" but I think it is just a place that hasn't forgotten or gotten over the wounds of war.