The heritage site of the National Military Park in Vicksburg is a highly significant place in American history. It is the place where the battle of Vicksburg was fought during the American Civil War.
The 47-day battle lasted from May 18 to July 4 in 1863. Replicas from the period of the Siege bring back war-ridden memories from the War period in the minds of the visitors. The victory from the battle that was fought here and the one fought at Port Hudson finally helped the US gain control of the Mississippi.
Established on February 21, 1899 this park was constructed to commemorate the tragedy of the Civil War battle in Vicksburg. With an area of 1800 acres this park draws millions of visitors each year. The National Park Service is in charge of the park and today it has gained the prestigious status in the National Register of Historic Places.
On the site where the park now stands was the actual battlefield.
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The park today consists of 1325 historic monuments and landmarks, trenches covering a 20 mile area, a tour road spanning over 16 miles, 2 homes patterned on antebellum architecture, 144 cannons and the remnants of the infamous USS Cairo. The USS Cairo recorded as the first ship in American history to be sunk by a torpedo. All these are bound to evoke terror-filled tragic memories from the battle. Together with such battlefield remnants there is also a site of the Grant's Canal proposed by the Union Army Major General Grant so that Union ships could pass by and also so that the course of the Mississippi could be changed manually. The Mississippi, however, had naturally changed its course a few years later.
The park is also the resting ground of 18,244 interments, 12,954 of whom had not been identified. The resting ground is in the Vicksburg National Cemetery , which is also a part of the National Military Park. The Illinois State Memorial remembers the Vicksburg Siege by dedicating each one of its 47 steps to the trauma of the event. Together with so many historically significant landmarks in the Park, it has become a major landmark of Vicksburg.
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