Tweet
Many might know of this already, but for those who don't...
The following article is from the:
Southern Preservation News
A Newsletter of the National Trust Southern Office & Southern Field Office
pgs. 1-2
A Plan for Vicksburg
The Southern Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation has worked with the Friends of the VicksburgCampaign to complete a Plan for the Vicksburg Campaign, a planning document to establish a heritage corridor for historic Civil War resources associated with the Campaign and Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
The campaign’s battlefields are divided by the Mississippi River, and lie along the river’s banks in the states of Louisiana and Mississippi. The challenge was to devise a tourism strategy that addressed the preservation, management, and the interpretation of related Civil War resources while developing a bi-state corridor that presented the campaign as an integrated event rather than as individual pieces of a much larger puzzle.
The Vicksburg Campaign was arguably the most decisive military event of the American Civil War. The campaign was critical to Major General Ulysses S. Grant’s career, ensuring his reputation as one of the great generals in US military history. His capture of the Mississippi River at Vicksburg required 98 days to accomplish, reopening the river to commercial traffic and effectively cutting the Confederacy in two. While the Civil War struggled on another two years, the outcome was effectively decided in 1863 with the taking of Vicksburg and the Mississippi River.
Partners in Mississippi and Louisiana understood that the campaign had to be interpreted through the regional stories associated with the towns, plantations, and battlefields located along the trail. These stories are not limited to military history, but interpret the era’s folklore, music, and cultural experience as well. The intent is to create a 200 mile corridor which provides the tourist with a comprehensive and accurate picture of regional life as it was lived between 1860 and 1870. Only by actually seeing a Louisiana bayou as it was in 1863 can one fully appreciate the difficulties of moving men and supplies across the floodplain of the Mississippi River. Only by seeing the stead of a yeoman farmer, can one fully understand the tragic impact of an invading army on the inhabitants of the Mississippi countryside. In this view, the lives of the women and men who stayed on the region’s farms and villages are as important as those of the soldiers who carried the rifles. Slave, planter, sailor, and soldier all played their parts, and their stories are given equal attention.
The final product has a diversified approach, with the landscape itself relaying much of the tale. The places at which critical decisions were made by commanders of either side are perhaps more important to an understanding of the campaign than the places where powder was burned. Dillon’s plantation where Major General Grant made the decision to turn his army eastward toward Jackson rather than continue the movement towards the village of Edwards, is just as important as the battle of Raymond; the Shaifer House, the site marking the battle of Port Gibson and reached by the canopied Bruinsburg Road, is as important as the Battle of Jackson.
Project recommendations include: seeking National Heritage Area designation and funding from Congress; establishing a Trail Management Authority who will administer the corridor’s day-to-day operation; and obtaining Scenic Byways legislation from the Mississippi and Louisiana legislatures.
The various sites chosen to illustrate the era and this campaign will be marked by information markers, panels, or shelters and provided with adequate vehicle parking and access trails.
The story of the Vicksburg Campaign is multi-faceted and the Plan for the Vicksburg Campaign reflects that. Tourists attracted by insights into farm life can be accommodated, as can the military expert who is concerned only with the decisions of military leaders and troop movements. The person interested in the flash of battle will be satisfied as will the traveler concerned with the transformation of slave to soldier and free man.
Southern Office
456 King Street
Charleston, SC 29403
843/722-8552
843/722-8652 (fax)
soro@nthp.org (e-mail)
Serving: AL, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC,
PR, SC, TN, USVI
Southern Field Office
1785 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
202/588-6107
202/588-6223 (fax)
sfo@nthp.org (e-mail)
Serving: DC, MD, VA, WV,
The following article is from the:
Southern Preservation News
A Newsletter of the National Trust Southern Office & Southern Field Office
pgs. 1-2
A Plan for Vicksburg
The Southern Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation has worked with the Friends of the VicksburgCampaign to complete a Plan for the Vicksburg Campaign, a planning document to establish a heritage corridor for historic Civil War resources associated with the Campaign and Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
The campaign’s battlefields are divided by the Mississippi River, and lie along the river’s banks in the states of Louisiana and Mississippi. The challenge was to devise a tourism strategy that addressed the preservation, management, and the interpretation of related Civil War resources while developing a bi-state corridor that presented the campaign as an integrated event rather than as individual pieces of a much larger puzzle.
The Vicksburg Campaign was arguably the most decisive military event of the American Civil War. The campaign was critical to Major General Ulysses S. Grant’s career, ensuring his reputation as one of the great generals in US military history. His capture of the Mississippi River at Vicksburg required 98 days to accomplish, reopening the river to commercial traffic and effectively cutting the Confederacy in two. While the Civil War struggled on another two years, the outcome was effectively decided in 1863 with the taking of Vicksburg and the Mississippi River.
Partners in Mississippi and Louisiana understood that the campaign had to be interpreted through the regional stories associated with the towns, plantations, and battlefields located along the trail. These stories are not limited to military history, but interpret the era’s folklore, music, and cultural experience as well. The intent is to create a 200 mile corridor which provides the tourist with a comprehensive and accurate picture of regional life as it was lived between 1860 and 1870. Only by actually seeing a Louisiana bayou as it was in 1863 can one fully appreciate the difficulties of moving men and supplies across the floodplain of the Mississippi River. Only by seeing the stead of a yeoman farmer, can one fully understand the tragic impact of an invading army on the inhabitants of the Mississippi countryside. In this view, the lives of the women and men who stayed on the region’s farms and villages are as important as those of the soldiers who carried the rifles. Slave, planter, sailor, and soldier all played their parts, and their stories are given equal attention.
The final product has a diversified approach, with the landscape itself relaying much of the tale. The places at which critical decisions were made by commanders of either side are perhaps more important to an understanding of the campaign than the places where powder was burned. Dillon’s plantation where Major General Grant made the decision to turn his army eastward toward Jackson rather than continue the movement towards the village of Edwards, is just as important as the battle of Raymond; the Shaifer House, the site marking the battle of Port Gibson and reached by the canopied Bruinsburg Road, is as important as the Battle of Jackson.
Project recommendations include: seeking National Heritage Area designation and funding from Congress; establishing a Trail Management Authority who will administer the corridor’s day-to-day operation; and obtaining Scenic Byways legislation from the Mississippi and Louisiana legislatures.
The various sites chosen to illustrate the era and this campaign will be marked by information markers, panels, or shelters and provided with adequate vehicle parking and access trails.
The story of the Vicksburg Campaign is multi-faceted and the Plan for the Vicksburg Campaign reflects that. Tourists attracted by insights into farm life can be accommodated, as can the military expert who is concerned only with the decisions of military leaders and troop movements. The person interested in the flash of battle will be satisfied as will the traveler concerned with the transformation of slave to soldier and free man.
Southern Office
456 King Street
Charleston, SC 29403
843/722-8552
843/722-8652 (fax)
soro@nthp.org (e-mail)
Serving: AL, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC,
PR, SC, TN, USVI
Southern Field Office
1785 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
202/588-6107
202/588-6223 (fax)
sfo@nthp.org (e-mail)
Serving: DC, MD, VA, WV,