Exploring Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Barry Pickard
Jan 5
7 min read

Updated: 7 days ago

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Regardless of this, please be advised that all opinions expressed in this blog post are genuine and authentically my own.

Author: Barry Pickard

Hi, I'm Barry, the owner of Tailor-Made Itineraries and I have been designing bespoke self-guided tours for adventurous and curious travellers since 2015. I am a history graduate with a passion for travel.

I created this blog to show, through my own adventures, how you can have an incredible travel experience as an independent traveller, giving you the information to navigate the world with confidence.

The Vicksburg National Military Park

The Illinois State Memorial

The U.S.S. Cairo Museum

The Vicksburg National Cemetery

The Vicksburg Riverfront Murals

The Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum

Conclusion

The Vicksburg National Military Park

Our first stop was the Vicksburg National Military Park. This sprawling park is actually almost as big at the city itself, and lets you appreciate the sheer size of the battleground. We would suggest driving around the park, but if you had time on your hands and a good pair of running shoes, it would make a great adventure on foot.

There is a small visitor centre at the entrance to the park, and it is a great place to start. We found that the film presentation especially, really explained the campaign well, helping you to understand the battlefield as you tour around it.

If you are enjoying this post, remember and subscribe to my mailing list to receive my latest blog posts.

The Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg, Mississippi.

As you drive around the extensive battlefield, the reconstructed forts and trenches evoke memories of this bloody siege, which resulted in the death of around 10,000 Union and 9,000 Confederacy soldiers. 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, a 12.5-mile (20.1 km) walking trail, two antebellum homes, 144 emplaced cannons, the restored gunboat U.S.S. Cairo, and the Grant's Canal site, where the Union Army attempted to build a canal to let their ships bypass Confederate artillery fire.

Get Your USA Visa Now

The Illinois State Memorial

Each State, both North and South, that was involved in the battle has its own memorial. They are placed throughout the park. The most impressive of them all was the Illinois State Memorial. The memorial was dedicated on October 26, 1906. As we found out, there are forty-seven steps in the long stairway, one for each day of the Siege of Vicksburg. If you are thinking that it looks like the Roman Pantheon, you wouldn’t be wrong, since architect W. L. B. Jenney based his design on this classic structure. The monument has sixty unique bronze tablets lining its interior walls, naming all 36,325 Illinois soldiers who participated in the Vicksburg Campaign. The monument stands sixty-two feet in height, and originally cost $194,423.92, paid by the state of Illinois.

The U.S.S. Cairo Museum

At the north western end of the Vicksburg National Military Park is the interesting U.S.S. Cairo Museum which displays the partially reconstructed remains of this large gunboat. The U.S.S. Cairo was one of seven ironclad gunboats named in honour of towns along the upper Mississippi and Ohio rivers, each mounting thirteen big guns. These gunboats were crucial in the Union’s control of the Mississippi River. The U.S.S. Cairo was constructed at Mound City, Illinois, and commissioned in January 1862. The Cairo's skipper, Lt. Commander Thomas O. Selfridge, Jr., was rash and ambitious, and on the cold morning of December 12, 1862, Selfridge led a small flotilla up the Yazoo River, north of Vicksburg, to destroy Confederate batteries and clear the channel of torpedoes (underwater mines). However, the Cairo was rocked by two explosions in quick succession which tore gaping holes in the ship's hull. Within twelve minutes the ironclad sank into six fathoms (36 feet) of water without any loss of life. The Cairo had become the first ship in history to be sunk by an electrically detonated torpedo.

If you are enjoying this post, remember and subscribe to my mailing list to receive my latest blog posts.

The U.S.S. Cairo Museum, The Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Over the years the gunboat was soon forgotten, as was the location of her watery grave. By the 1950s however, Edwin C. Bearss, Historian at Vicksburg National Military Park, researched accounts of the gunboats sinking and was able to plot the approximate site of the wreck, but it wasn't until 1965 that the ship was raised from its resting place. In June of 1977, the vessel was transported to the park and partially reconstructed on a concrete foundation near the Vicksburg National Cemetery. The recovery of artefacts from the Cairo revealed a treasure trove of weapons, munitions, naval stores and personal gear of the sailors who served on board. The gunboat and its artefacts can now be seen along the tour road at the U.S.S. Cairo Museum.

The Vicksburg National Cemetery

On the other side of the museum car park is the Vicksburg National Cemetery. It embraces 116 acres and holds the remains of 17,000 Civil War Union soldiers, a number unmatched by any other national cemetery. Covering ground once manned by the extreme right of Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's XV Army Corps during the siege of Vicksburg. A road winds around the cemetery, and we found that this was a good way to see the whole site.

If you are enjoying this post, remember and subscribe to my mailing list to receive my latest blog posts.

The Vicksburg National Cemetery, Vicksburg, Mississippi.

The Vicksburg Riverfront Murals

From the cemetery, we took a five-minute drive down to the Vicksburg riverfront so that we could walk through the historic centre of the city. The first thing to catch the eye is The Vicksburg Riverfront Murals. This project is a series of murals painted on the Mississippi River flood walls. The murals depict the city's historical significance, as well as its envisioned future role in the region's commerce and culture. Artist Robert Dafford was commissioned to complete the first series of 12'x 20' panels along the flood wall facing Levee Street. The first mural in the series was unveiled in 2002. In all, 32 panels completed the first phase of the project. They are certainly an entertaining way of showcasing the city’s history.

The Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum

A two-minute walk up to Washington Street, one of the main arteries of the city, takes you to the highly significant Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum. Coca-Cola had been invented in 1886, but it was in this building during the summer of 1894 that this soda fountain drink was first bottled by Joseph A. Biedenharn. Originally, Joseph ran his wholesale candy company from the building, but he had the profitable idea of bottling the drink so that he could sell Coca-Cola to the surrounding district and increase his customer base. Subsequently, he expanded this business, creating a model of bottling-distributor franchises and built his company through the state of Mississippi, as well as Louisiana and Texas.

Biedenharn was so successful he bought a crop-dusting business in 1925 with some other entrepreneurs, developing it into what would become Delta Air Lines, the world’s largest carrier! The museum itself is dedicated to the Coca-Cola brand and industry, using historic photographs and various exhibits to interpret the drinks heritage. We thought the museum was well worth checking out, and of course, even stopped to have a well-earned Diet Coke!

It was certainly a busy half-day in Vicksburg for us, and had we had time, we would have loved to take a Riverboat cruise, or visit one the many museums, such as The Old Depot Museum (railroad memorabilia & local history), The Lower Mississippi River Museum (the rivers natural history and its flood control measures), or the Old Court House Museum (local history). As it was, we had enough time to grab a yummy late lunch at The Mad Baker and then prepare ourselves for the long drive back to Houston.

Mississippi riverboat cruises, Vicksburg.

The Old Depot Museum, Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Conclusion

Vicksburg exceeded every expectation I'd built up over 30 years of wanting to visit. While the National Military Park alone could easily consume an entire day with its monuments, trenches, and that remarkable Illinois State Memorial, we managed to experience an impressive range of attractions in just half a day. The quaint Southern architecture, those vibrant riverfront murals, and the strategic bluff location overlooking the Mississippi all combined to show why this city mattered then and why it's worth visiting now. We genuinely wished we'd scheduled a long weekend instead of a quick stopover—there are still riverboat cruises, additional museums, and more historic homes we didn't manage to see. For anyone interested in American history, military tactics, or simply discovering overlooked Southern gems, Vicksburg deserves a prominent spot on your travel list.