Casual Clicks Home > Links > Vicksburg > Vicksburg National Military Park
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The Connecticut Monument at
Vicksburg National Military Park
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Congress established Vicksburg National Military Park on February 21, 1899, "to commemorate the campaign and siege and defense of Vicksburg, and to preserve the history of the battles and operations of the siege and defense on the ground where they were fought and were carried on …"
"On September 17, 1990, Congress further directed the Secretary of the Interior to "interpret the campaign and siege of Vicksburg from April 1862 to July 4, 1863, and the history of Vicksburg under Union occupation during the Civil War and Reconstruction." **from the NPS Mission Statement, Courtesy of Vicksburg National Military Park
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It is because of the latest 1990 legislation that Connecticut was allowed to place a monument in memory of her soldiers in this beautiful park.
Geographically, the park crosses the state line and now includes land in both Louisiana and Mississippi. Although the park is typically identified as being located in Mississippi, the Connecticut Monument is located in Louisiana at the Grant's canal site, where the Connecticut soldiers toiled...
Hosting over 1,300 memorials, signposts and monuments from 28 states, the park educates, entertains and allows over one million visitors a year to connect with our National History.
The monuments at Vicksburg comprise one of the largest collections of significant commemorative military art in the United States, and, indeed, one of the most extensive collections of such art in the world. Representing the states involved, the monuments and memorials, with their varied symbolism, commemorate the campaign, siege, and defense of Vicksburg. **from the NPS Mission Statement, Courtesy of Vicksburg National Military Park
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The National Park Service has a wonderful site dedicated to this incredible park. I had the pleasure of touring the park when I went to Vicksburg for the dedication of the Connecticut Monument. I wish that I had discovered this web site before my visit, as it is packed with photos, maps, history, tours, (and pretty much anything else you'd want to know about), pertaining to this very poignant chapter in our National history.
I recently discovered this NPS page that contains printer friendly pdf bulletins. Here you may download over 60 official park site brochures/bulletins spotlighting information that covers a huge range of interests. There is a wealth of information in these materials. Here's a link to the page that highlights all of the State Memorials located in the park.
While doing online research, I found that Vicksburg National Military Park had two web sites, one current and one archived. They were organized very differently and most of the information from the older site can be found on the current site. I enjoyed perusing both sites and had a link to the archived pages (which were last updated in 2001) here. The last time I tried to visit the older site though, the pages had been removed, and so I removed my link here as well. Time marches on... and it's wonderful that the NPS is actively attending to keeping their intenet resources current.
Learning about this lovely park will only enhance your journey through it by adding a deeper understanding of the sacrifice and conflict that occurred on the grounds. Even if you are not able to visit the park in person, this site does an amazing job of sharing the grounds and it's history with you.
One could spend hours just gazing at the incredible memorials found throughout this Military park, but taking the time to envision the events and learning about the brave soldiers that battled on those very grounds transforms the quiet landscape into an unforgettable experience.
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Check out The Vicksburg Campaign, A Virtual Tour to see snapshots of the monuments currently representing the Union and Confederate states that were involved at Vicksburg.
The below images are scanned sections of the Vicksburg National Military Park brochure distributed by the National Park Service, showing the locations of each of the monuments, tour stops and tour road. A pdf of the full brochure (map side) can be found here or by clicking on either of the maps. The Connecticut Memorial was placed at the Grant's Canal site found in the second image below... (The NPS created a new map to reflect the latest Connecticut Monument. Unfortunately, I misplaced my copy and so have not been able to update the below images to reflect the new map with our monument...)
The snapshots below are closeups of a single map.... This map can also be viewed from the NPS web site under the "view map" link
Map courtesy of Vicksburg National Military Park
Map courtesy of Vicksburg National Military Park
More info on the park can be found at Wikipedia...
For a very cool view of the Grants Canal site at the park, click here:
National Park Service (NPS.gov) pages
specific to the
Connecticut Monument/Grant's Canal at Vicksburg
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This link is to the NPS page about the Connecticut Memorial. You may download a pdf version directly from the NPS site or get it here.
This link is from the NPS Focus Digital Library and Research Station. If you type in Connecticut Memorial in the search box, you will see some information and pictures taken in July of 2008, while the monument was still in the etching phase. (You may also view the page here (with links) or here (links removed.)
This link is to the NPS Bulletin outlining all of the State Memorials at the park. Connnecticut is now listed, and the Official NPS bulletin has now been updated to reflect it's recent addition...
This link mentions Grant's Canal as one of the detatched units in the Vicksburg National Park.
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The Vicksburg National Cemetery
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"In July 1862, Congress enacted legislation initiating the establishment of National Cemeteries, "for the burial of deceased soldiers and sailors." The Vicksburg National Cemetery was established in 1867 by authority of this act. **from the NPS Mission Statement, Courtesy of Vicksburg National Military Park
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Established by an act of Congress in 1866, The Vicksburg National Cemetery, (located in the Vicksburg National Park), is our country's largest Civil War cemetery. It spans 117.85 acres and houses over 18,000 interments.
It is the final resting place of 17,077 Union soldiers, more than in any other cemetery in the United States. Of this staggering number, 12,909 Union men are unidentified.
Why are so many of the Union Soldiers interred at the Vicksburg National Cemetery not identified?
During the Civil War, usually those soldiers who died as a result of wounds or disease were buried close to where they died. Their graves were marked using only the materials that were at hand. Most often a wood board with an etched name, (if a name was known), served as the grave marker.
After the establishment of the Vicksburg National Cemetery, extensive efforts were made to locate the remains of the Union Soldiers throughout the Southeast and move them to Vicksburg for reinterment. By the time this occurred many of the wooden markers had faded or were lost to the elements making identification impossible.**from interment.net
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Also buried at the Vicksburg National Cemetery are 1,280 veterans from the Mexican and Spanish-American Wars, Indian Wars, World War I and II, as well as the Korean Conflict. No Confederate soldiers are buried here. (The Confederate soldiers were buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery in the City of Vicksburg.)
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This page was last edited in December, 2009
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