Thursday, February 11, 2010

Vicksburg Battlefield Museum














































About a couple of months ago I visited the Vickburg Battlefield Museum in Vicksburg, Mississippi. I had heard of the museum from my college years at Hinds Community College but I never visited it. From me being a history minor I had always known about the Civil War in the South be had not had a first experience of it. I went one Saturday afternoon with my mother to go shopping and I saw the museum sign exit. So we took the battlefield sign exit and started to drive through the museum. Reminding myself and tell you that this is not a REGULAR MUSEUM because you can walk or drive-thru the battlefield.
I saw so many different sculptures, signs, cannons, figures, and boat throughout the museum. Many sculptures were from various states that were either on the Confederate or Union side. Some were big in size while others were not; only mentioning the states' names. Driving through I notice the battelfield territory was might deep with slopes and rocks. I can imagine what it was like to try to pull or bring a cannon up those hills. Signs of different war activity between the Union and Confederate was posted on the roadside in the museum. Many cannons that are in the battlefield museum are the exact cannons fired during the Civil War. The figures of civil war soldiers both African and White Americans were displayed throughout the museum too.
As I thought I was coming to the end of the museum tour I saw an enormous white tent from off the hilltop. What I was seeing as my mother made her way down the hilltop was a boat skeleton? It was the U.S.S Cairo being preserved under a white tent and beyond it was a graveyard full of tombstones. The U.S.S. Cairo was a Union Navy ship constructed by James Eads. It was under contract with the U.S. Dept. of War and in command by naval Lieutenant James M. Prichett. The naval ship was active from February 17, 1862 to December 12, 1862. The U.S.S. Cairo was sunked on December 12, 1862 by an electrically detonated mine. And beyond the navy ship there is a military cemetery to honor the falling soldiers of the Civil War with the Emancipation Proclamation at the end of the cemetery road. This tour was a great one with many images and figures to have a first hand account of this historical experience!!!

No comments:

Post a Comment