Military Park

3,521 rounds of ammo fired in 90 days.

Remi, Gabi, Brittany, Kathe and I went to the Military park this past weekend.  When I started the blog, I consciously decided that writing the blog about the monuments in a park where there are more than 1800 monuments is probably not the way to go.  If you want the description of that park, go check out the National Park Service website.  I focused instead on the monuments outside of the park.

But the park is incredible, and I would be doing a disservice if I did not pay at least passing homage to the incredible remains and the memorials.  The work that people have done to recreate the sense of the battlefield is simply amazing.

Earlier in the day, Remi and I had been running the streets, and drove on a road that passed through the park.  Deep woods on either side.  We talked about what it would have been like to try and fight uphill in an area you couldn't see, against an enemy that owned the high ground.

We agreed that pacifism would have been a very noble goal, and that we would have probably pursued those ends, rather than being cannon fodder.

The park is well trimmed.  The Park Service does a yeoman's job of keeping the entire site accessible by beating back the wilderness that encroaches at every opportunity.  I repeated my statement of fact that the fields are a new thing. Original battle would have been done in the woods.

And then had to retract my statement.  A very little bit of research showed me wrong.  These were ag fields during the Civil War, and all the trees would have been cut down to make room for crops.  So when the battle began, the combatants would be fighting with little cover at all.

Gabi in the tunnel, heading away from the battlefield.
Photo by Brittany Beltram

Which makes the bravery even more shocking.  It also made the engineering of the attacks and the fortifications and the positioning of the cannon even more impressive.  Cannons on top of the hill, pointing downward.  Soldiers working their way up the hill, with gabions to take the impact of the cannonballs, digging trenches as they climbed the hill.  Trenches and embankments and earth moved to suit the needs of battle everywhere.  A tunnel that extended beyond a ridge to the supply lines, protecting the lines while protecting the supplies (see figure).

In the early part of the 20th Century, the states that had sent soldiers (and sailors - the biggest monument at the park is an obelisk raised in honor of the Navy) raised memorials in the park to commemorate the battle.  It is an equal opportunity memorial, with Confederate and Union monuments along a 19-mile course (although in the early 20th C, southern states were still struggling economically, and it shows in the monuments).

Location of 3d battery, where the Ohio Light Artillery had their cannons.
Almost the entire upper left quadrant of the picture is pure National Park.

The park is amazing.  It is a fantastic place for biking, walking, running, or just walking.  It is also a great place to learn about history.  The USS Cairo (pronounced Kay-Row) was recovered in the early 1960s; its museum sits next to the reconstructed ironclad, with much of its original wood still in place.  The museum houses an amazing collection of items that were recovered after the ship was rapidly abandoned after hitting a torpedo.

The layout of the entire park provides you with a sense of context that you simply cannot get from reading.

There is also a lot of nature, all around.  As we were driving around the park, there was a cedar tree that seemed to be moving...On two sides of the tree, a swarm was working to cool the hive.  And thousands of bees just covered the surface of the tree. (I LOVED that little bit.)

We had a great time, even with the grumpy NPS guy shooing us away from the Cairo ("SEVEN minutes remain for the park to be open."  "FOUR minutes remaining for the park to be open.")  The place is is serene, beautiful, and provides context for the battles and the siege for which Vicksburg is so famous.

When you come, we will go.  It is worth it.