Vicksburg

We are currently in Clinton, Ms. which is right next to Jackson. There is not much to see here and if you ever  come here, don't bother going to the visitor center. Can't figure why they even have one.Well ignorance is not always bliss. We are about 40 miles from Vicksburg,site of one of the most important series of events in the civil war.I had told Joy that there was no need to go to Vicksburg because it was just a battlefield area and no big deal. DUMB DUMB DUMB! We would not have gone except Joy wanted to go to a quilt shop. Well, we went and the quilt shop was great. Then we went to the "battlefield". It is a wonderful National Park with a 16 mile drive showing where each of the regiments were encamped and explaining the history of that part of the war.There were many areas with rows of cannon. There were many monuments to the various military units, the various military leaders, and monuments done by the various states in honor of the participants from each state.There is also a national cemetery with more than 17000 buried there. I didn't know that Lincoln himself told Grant that the war could not be won without Vicksburg being taken and Lincoln himself was aware that to take Vicksburg would effectively divide the confederacy which is exactly what happened. In the beginning, Grant took many losses while the confederacy had many less.Ultimately, the losses basically evened out.I also didn't know that there was also a huge naval attack on Vicksburg and the confederates used torpedoes for the first time and sunk many boats. One of the pictures above shows the USS Cairo, an ironside that was raised from the Mississippi River and restored. It was a steam powered vessel with a huge paddle wheel iron plating for protection , and many rows of canon..Another picture is of a plaque that shows the losses on both sides.

Also, Vicksburg is the first place to bottle coca-cola. They have a little museum that shows the first bottling system and alot of other memorabilia.The first bottling system did one bottle at a time where 1 oz of syrup was put into the bottle and then the bottle was filled with carbonated water. A picture of the company logo on the side of the building is shown above.