| The enabling legislation which created
Vicksburg National Military Park on February 21, 1899, called for the restoration of the
forts and lines of fortifications, to mark the lines of battle and other points of
interest with tablets, and permit any State that
had troops engaged in the campaign, siege, or defense of the city of Vicksburg from
March 29-July 4, 1863 to erect monuments in
honor of its troops. The park as established in 1899 encompassed the entire area of the
siege and defense lines around the city and included the headquarters
site of Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant the Union commander at Vicksburg. In 1964, the park
boundary was adjusted as the lower one-third of the park
was transferred to the City of Vicksburg.
In 1990, Senate bill S.2437 authorized the
National Park Service to accept a donation of the remaining vestige of Grant's Canal
for incorporation into the park and broadened the interpretive mandate to include the
operations from April 1862 to July 4, 1863, and the history of Vicksburg under Union
occupation during the Civil War and period of Reconstruction.
Today the park encompasses 1,800 acres and is one of the more densely monumented
battlefields in the world as 1,324 monuments, markers, tablets, and plaques dot the
historic landscape. In addition to the largest collection of outdoor sculpture in
the southeastern United States, the park also preserves nine historic fortifications, over
20 miles of reconstructed trenches, approaches and parallels, 15 historic bridges, 5
historic buildings (one ante-bellum home), 141
historic cannon and carriages, a visitor center, the U.S.S.
Cairo gunboat and museum, 17 miles of hard-surfaced roads and the Vicksburg National
Cemetery with over 17,000 interments, the largest number of Civil War soldiers of any
national cemetery in the United States.
Vicksburg National Military Park exists as a lasting memorial to the soldiers and
civilians that suffered through the widespread tragedy and conflict of the Civil War. It
is a vivid legacy of America's past, a place where students can learn and individuals
reflect upon the dramatic events that shaped a young and developing nation. |
Preserving Historic Landscapes
Preserving Historic Structures
 Park Watch
SPECIAL PROJECTS
Restoring the Illinois Eagle
Restoring the Mississippi Memorial
Controlling Exotic Species
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