Vicksburg National Military Park

Vicksburg National Military Park preserves the site of one of the most decisive campaigns of the American Civil War — the Siege of Vicksburg, which ended on July 4, 1863, when Confederate General John C. Pemberton surrendered the city to Ulysses S. Grant after a 47-day siege. The Union capture of Vicksburg gave the North control of the entire Mississippi River, effectively splitting the Confederacy in two and marking a turning point in the war.

The park encompasses more than 1,800 acres on the bluffs above the Mississippi River in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Its 16-mile auto tour road winds past more than 1,300 monuments, markers, and tablets — the largest collection of such commemorative art at any Civil War battlefield in the country. State monuments from both Union and Confederate states line the route, including the massive Illinois Memorial, an ornate domed structure modeled on the Roman Pantheon that lists the names of every Illinois soldier who served in the campaign.

The visitor center on Clay Street houses a museum with Civil War artifacts, battle maps, and a 20-minute orientation film. The U.S.S. Cairo, a Union ironclad gunboat raised from the Yazoo River in 1964, is displayed in a dedicated shelter near the north end of the park — the only surviving Civil War-era iron-hulled gunboat in existence. The National Cemetery within the park contains the graves of nearly 17,000 Union soldiers, more than 12,000 of them unidentified.

Ranger-led tours depart from the visitor center and cover specific sections of the siege lines. The auto tour suits self-guided visitors and takes approximately 2 to 3 hours to drive. Spring and fall are the most comfortable seasons for walking the earthworks. America the Beautiful annual passes are accepted in lieu of the $20 vehicle fee.