Vicksburg, MS

Vicksburg was an important fortress for the Confederacy, sitting high on hills overlooking the Mississippi River. The terrain (steep hills) made it nearly impossible to capture without extraordinary losses. On one side was the river, on the other side, hills.

But, in 1863, the Union wanted to capture Vicksburg, because that would finally win them control of the Mississippi and effectively cut the Confederacy in half, vertically (cartographically speaking).

So in May of 1863, the Union, led by General "US $50 bill", moved in and surrounded Vicksburg. The city/fort had a Confederate army that had retreated to the city and was dug in around the city.

Grant tried a couple of assaults, which failed, leading to heavy casualties; he then decided a siege was necessary.

Vicksburg held out for some 40 days, under bombardment from Union gunboats on the river and from artillery that encircled the Confederate defenses. During this siege, the civilians dug caves to escape the shelling. (Leading to the Union soldiers issuing a nickname "Prairie Dog Village." But the caves worked for the civilians; only a dozen or so were killed.)

Without food and supplies, and with people growing sicker, Vicksburg finally had to give up on July 4th. Apparently the Union couldn't handle the prisoners, so they were paroled. But the Union controlled the Mississippi for the rest of the war.

The area around Vicksbug has been made into a huge park on the hills around the city, with markers showing various units, the fortifications and artillery pieces.

Also in the park is the resurrected and restored USS Cairo (pronounced KAY-row), a Union ironclad gunboat (steam driven with armored paddlewheel), one of several that patrolled the rivers. After walking around and in it, it's clear that these things were fearsome boats, with lots of firepower and lots of armor to prevent it from being sunk by other ships.

But…

…all that armor was *heavy*, so the boats were only ironclad above the water line.

You know what's coming, don't you? Ever hear the old phrase "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead"? Well, back in the day, the word torpedo was used to depict what we today call mines. And in late 1862, volunteers hiding on the riverbank near Vicksburg* sank the Cairo with a cleverly designed torpedo – a floating contraption filled with black powder - with waterproof wires leading to the shore where lurkers could fire it off. 

Cairo went down in 12 minutes with no loss of life, and was the first time an electrically detonated mine sank an armored warship. While Cairo didn't make it to the siege of Vicksburg, it was salvaged and now sits in a fabulous open air museum at Vicksburg. You can walk around - and inside - the shell of the boat and see the engines (one piston jobs with a looong stroke), coal bunkers, wheelhouse area and a riverboat paddlewheel (surrounded by armor).

*Took it up the Yazoo (river, that is).