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Welcome to the Vicksburg National Military Park website. Please click
the "In Depth" link at right for detailed information about the
park, including on-line tours, photographs, historical records, battles,
state and regimental monuments, maps, educator's guide, and a variety of
reference materials.
Vicksburg National Military Park was established by Congress on February
21, 1899, to commemorate one of the most decisive battles of the American
Civil War, the campaign, siege and defense of Vicksburg.
The Vicksburg campaign was waged from March 29 to July 4, 1863. It included
battles in west-central Mississippi at Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson,
Champion Hill, Big Black River and 47 days of Union siege operations against
Confederate forces defending the city of Vicksburg. Located high on the
bluffs, Vicksburg was a fortress guarding the Mississippi River. It was
known as "The Gibraltar of the Confederacy." Its surrender on
July 4, 1863, coupled with the fall of Port Hudson, Louisiana, divided
the South, and gave the North undisputed control of the Mississippi River.
Today, the battlefield at Vicksburg is in an excellent state of preservation.
It includes 1,325 historic monuments and markers, 20 miles of reconstructed
trenches and earthworks, a 16 mile tour road, antebellum home, 144 emplaced
cannon, restored Union gunboat-USS Cairo, and the Vicksburg National Cemetery.
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