During our summer 2022 trip we visited all of six the NPS sites in Mississippi and finished up the last two sites of the nine NPS sites in Tennessee. One of the overall themes of the trip was our visit to five Civil War sites in Mississippi and Tennessee. Along the way, we thought about why these battles were strategically important and what we could learn from them.
Fort Donelson NB – February 1862
The Union’s goal in Tennessee was to gain control of the state’s two major rivers – the Tennessee and Cumberland. Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant led his troops to victory in a five-day battle at Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River on the northern edge of Tennessee, elating the North and stunning the South.
The Union won its first great battle at Fort Donelson, gained a new hero in Grant (who was promoted to General), and gained control of virtually all of Kentucky and much of Tennessee, including Nashville.
The commanding views and the barge traffic we saw, demonstrated the importance of the Cumberland River to the war.
The battle began with a thundering but unsuccessful attack by four of the Union’s ironclad ships. The South successfully defended the initial attack by the North’s ironclad fleet.
But Union reinforcements encircled the Confederate entrenchments, and the confusion and indecision of the Southern generals the next day led to their downfall.
Shiloh NMP – April 1862
A couple of short months after their victory at Fort Donelson, the Union army had moved via the Tennessee River to southern Tennessee. They were encamped at Pittsburg Landing where they were ultimately surprised in the Battle of Shiloh.
The two day Battle of Shiloh began with a successful surprise attack by the Confederate army at Pittsburg Landing on the West Bank of the Tennessee River. But the Confederate troops were disorganized after the death of General Albert S. Johnston. Plus, overnight reinforcements to Grant’s army shifted the momentum. The Confederates were forced to retreat, leaving Northern Mississippi open to attack.
The small Shiloh church in the area gave the battle its name. Ironically, the name Shiloh means “place of peace”. But the carnage of the two-day Battle of Shiloh was staggering for both sides. More Americans were killed there than in all previous U. S. wars combined.
By the end of the battle, both sides realized that the war would be longer and deadlier than they had imagined. The Union victory at Shiloh allowed their troops to penetrate the Confederate interior. The Confederate morale plummeted after Confederate General Johnston was mortally wounded.
Shiloh NMP brought the terrible battle to life for us. Historians said that after Shiloh, the south never smiled again. Survivors of the battle said that it appeared that the very gates of hell had been pried open. A few weeks later we watched a movie where the characters mentioned the horror of the Battle of Shiloh. We felt like we could identify with their feelings because of our visit.
Vicksburg NMP – March – July 1863
The Union’s goal was to shut down the Mississippi River in order to cut off trade and supply routes and split the south in half. The fortress city of Vicksburg was the final part of this plan as it was the last confederate-controlled city on the river. Jefferson Davis called Vicksburg, “the nail head that holds the South’s two heads together.”
Several campaigns to capture Vicksburg had failed, including naval operations, troop maneuvers, and eleven battles. Eventually, the repeated attacks let to a 47-day siege on the city, forcing the residents underground at times. The Union army dug trenches and tunneled beneath the fort hill. Exhausted, sick, and starving, the Confederate troops finally surrendered, and Vicksburg was occupied for the remainder of the war.
One of the highlights was our visit to the USS Cairo, one of the Union’s seven Civil War era iron clads. The vessel sunk with no loss of life, in twelve minutes, after an underwater mine explosion in December 1892. One hundred years later, the Cairo and its priceless artifacts were retrieved from their resting place in the silt and mud of the Mississippi River and reassembled at Vicksburg NMP.
The siege resulted in 20,000 casualties (dead and wounded), and was considered to be one of the two main thrusts that ended the war (with Gettysburg). The Union now controlled the entire Mississippi River and the Confederacy is cut in two. According to legend, after their forced surrender on July 4, 1863, the citizens of Vicksburg did not celebrate the 4th of July for over 100 years.
Brice’s Crossroads NBS – June 1864
The NPS site that commemorates the one day battle at Brice’s Crossroads consists of dozens of unassuming highway markers in and around a tiny town in Northern Mississippi. The battle at Brice’s Crossroads is well named. It really is a crossroads. The importance of this tiny battle to the overall war strategy is not in Mississippi, though. Rather it lies in the state of Georgia.
In 1863 the Union army had won important battles in Vicksburg, Gettysburg, and Chattanooga. In the Spring of 1864 Sherman’s mission was to bisect the South from Chattanooga, to Atlanta, to Savannah in his “March to the Sea”. But he wanted to make sure he had railroad access for resupply, without the threat of General Nathan Bedford Forest’s excellent calvary corp. Thus, the primary mission of the battles in Northern Mississippi, was to keep General Forest occupied so that he would not be able to strike the supply lines and endanger Sherman’s campaign in Georgia.
The Union forces were crushed by General Forest at the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads in a brilliant tactical battle against long odds. But in this case, the Union loss was an example of losing the battle while winning the war. Sherman’s supply lines remained intact, and his campaign in Georgia dealt a brutal blow to the South.
Tupelo NB – July 1864
The Union victory in the short two-day Battle of Tupelo continued to ensure that Sherman’s supply lines to Georgia would remain intact. The NPS site is on the corner of a city block near downtown Tupelo across from a car wash on a busy city highway as well as a field outside of town.
What did we learn from our foray into Civil War sites in Mississippi and Tennessee?
Civil War era forts can be interesting, but the battlefield sites can be somewhat monotonous with their endless obelisks and monuments stretched out over grassy hills. And, in general, I considered the Civil War somewhat of a blot in the history of the U.S. Yet I was intrigued to find out why and where the Civil War was fought in Mississippi.
Isn’t that what historical NPS sites are all about? To learn more about our history, warts and all? Along the way I came to a certain peace about these sites as I viewed them from the perspective of a soldier fighting brutal battles, far away from home. I could empathize with their desire, after surviving this brutal war, to build an obelisk and create a battlefield site so that their activities would be remembered, their battle grounds preserved, and their stories told.
Tupelo sites
In the northern Mississippi part of our trip we camped at a scenic lakeside spot at Trace State Park, right outside of Tupelo. You can just barely see Joe’s head down there by the lake, watching the sun set.
Tupelo was a very nice city. We ate at a new upscale hotel downtown named Jobos. We also visited The Carron Gallery. They feature 40 Mississippi artists and provide art work for Erin of the HGTV show Home Town. We got to see the batch they were taking to her the next day for the next season’s shows.
On the last day of our trip, we took a trip down memory land and visited Elvis Presley’s birthplace in Tupelo. The last time we were there was during one of trips out west with my parents. Daddy particularly enjoyed seeing Elvis’s car.
