We stayed at Rocky Springs Campground until Friday morning, when Tom received a text from the guy at the motorcycle shop telling us that the scooter battery was in and charged and could be picked up any time. We backtracked up to Jackson and picked up the battery. We then decided that it would be worth the drive west to Vicksburg to see the Vicksburg National Military Park. Our only problem was that we weren’t finding any listings for anywhere to stay in that area, other than overly expensive RV parks like KOA. But, I kept digging, and found one listing for a small RV campground right next to the park. We called and they had availability and said it was only $25 for the night, so we headed for Vicksburg.
The RV campground is less than a 1/2 mile from the park, so we decided to check in before going to the park. We quickly figured out why it’s not very popular; it’s old and run down with lots of garbage around, and inconsistently staffed. When Tom went to check in, the price had gone up to $35, plus taxes and fees that pushed it up to $40, which still isn’t ridiculous, but it was annoying. But, we had full hookups, so we made good use of the $40 and ran our heater even through it wasn’t freezing, and we did a couple of loads of laundry, and left the next day with full water tanks. And, after we toured the park, we were set up and making dinner in 15 minutes after leaving the park.
We were really glad we decided to visit Vicksburg. It was a great comparison to Gettysburg, and it was interesting how they’ve laid out the park. The park wraps around the city of Vicksburg, and includes battle monuments, one old house, the national cemetery, and the USS Cairo. The only way to see the whole park is to drive around the loop road, which we did.
The RV campground is less than a 1/2 mile from the park, so we decided to check in before going to the park. We quickly figured out why it’s not very popular; it’s old and run down with lots of garbage around, and inconsistently staffed. When Tom went to check in, the price had gone up to $35, plus taxes and fees that pushed it up to $40, which still isn’t ridiculous, but it was annoying. But, we had full hookups, so we made good use of the $40 and ran our heater even through it wasn’t freezing, and we did a couple of loads of laundry, and left the next day with full water tanks. And, after we toured the park, we were set up and making dinner in 15 minutes after leaving the park.
We were really glad we decided to visit Vicksburg. It was a great comparison to Gettysburg, and it was interesting how they’ve laid out the park. The park wraps around the city of Vicksburg, and includes battle monuments, one old house, the national cemetery, and the USS Cairo. The only way to see the whole park is to drive around the loop road, which we did.
This arch marks the beginning of the driving route through the park.
Like Gettysburg, the grounds are riddled with monuments and cannons, and with signs explaining the flow of the battles.
This Illinois memorial monument is the largest monument in the park.
Unlike Gettysburg, where all of the major monuments were for the Union troops, many of the Confederate states had large and impressive monuments.
This photo shows not only some of the smaller monuments but the red and blue signs explaining the flow of the battles. It also shows the difference in the terrain between Vicksburg and Gettysburg, which greatly impacted how the battles were fought. Gettysburg battles rolled over relatively flat fields, where the Vicksburg battlefield is an endless series of small hills and ravines which prevented any charges. From what we read, it seems that the battles were fought by dragging cannons from hilltop to hilltop so opposing forces could shoot into the other side’s ravines.
The National Cemetery makes it very clear how high the death toll was at Vicksburg. The cemetery has more than 17,000 graves of fallen union soldiers. There is a separate cemetery for confederate soldiers that is not in the national park.
The USS Cairo was recovered from the bottom of the river, where it was torpedoed near the end of the Civil War.
We ended our Vicksburg tour by walking the smaller southern loop with the dogs before heading back to the campground. Despite being run down, the campground was quiet and peaceful, and we had a quiet night before heading south towards Louisiana in the morning. Our original plan had been to stop at the Natchez Historical National Park and then go to the National Forest, but it was pouring rain so we did a quick outside tour of the Melrose Farm before heading towards Louisiana.