My first and only prior visit to Vicksburg, Mississippi had been early in January 1980 – a gap of just under 36 years.
However in making our way from the Shell Houston Open to the Masters we found ourselves spending not just one night but two nights in the town that lies on the eastern bank of the mighty Mississippi River and across the river from Louisiana.
Crossing the Mississippi at Vicksburg into the State of Mississippi.
Vicksburg is famous for two things.
Firstly, the Battle or the Siege at Vicksburg during the American Civil War when the Union Army gained control of the entire Mississippi River.
The 47-day siege was intended to starve the city into submission. Its location atop a high bluff overlooking the Mississippi River proved otherwise impregnable to assault by federal troops. The surrender of Vicksburg by Confederate General John C. Pemberton on July 4, 1863, together with the defeat of General Robert E. Lee at Gettsburg the day before, has historically marked the turning point in the Civil War in the Union’s favour.
Vicksburg National Military Park.
Bernie in Vicksburg, Mississippi and nearly 36 years after a prior visit.
Vicksburg Military Park lies just to the north of Vicksburg and contains 1,325 historic monuments and markers, 20 miles (32 km) of historic trenches and earthworks, a 16-mile (26 km) tour road, a 12.5-mile (20.1 km) walking trail, two antebellum homes, 144 emplaced cannons, the restored gunboat USS Cairo (sunk on December 12, 1862, on the Yazoo River), and the Grant’s Canal site, where the Union Army attempted to build a canal to let their ships bypass Confederate artillery fire.
Of note, the Cairo was the first U.S. ship in history to be sunk by a torpedo/mine. It was recovered from the Yazoo River in 1964.
The Illinois State Memorial has 47 steps, one for every day Vicksburg was besieged.
The I-20 on the left and the rail bridge to the right crossing the Mississippi River at Vicksburg
On the banks of the mighty Mississippi River.
Vicksburg has the only crossing over the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and Memphis and is the only highway crossing of the river between Greenville and Natchez.
Interstate 20 or I-20, that also runs east all the way to Augusta and beyond, bridged the river after 1973. Freight rail traffic still crosses via the old bridge.
Secondly, Vicksburg is the birthplace of Coca-Cola.
On March 12, 1894, the popular soft drink was bottled for the first time in Vicksburg by Joseph A. Biedenharn, a local confectioner.
Today, surviving 19th-century Biedenharn sode bottles are prized by collectors of Coca-Cola memorabilia. His original candy store has been renovated as the Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum.
Looking into the par 3 10th green at Vicksburg Country Club.
Vicksburg also boasts a couple of golf courses including the Vicksburg Country Club and where I was fortunate to play a round, and only adding to a wonderful stop-over ahead of reporting on the Masters.
