Touring Vicksburg National Military Park

[@berteisenbraun7415]

ABT you are doing GREAT THINGS!

[@MartinsNewTeeth]

I visited Vicksburg a couple years ago and it was amazing! I bought a CD/book tour and it really added a lot to my visit. My 3rd Great-Grandfather served here during the siege and thanks to the detailed signage, I was able to go to the area where he was during the fight!

[@pumpkin998]

The park is full of history, and bold Civil War monuments galore. A unique American treasure.

[@justinmays9680]

I'm visiting the park right now to the park , it's an amazing place full of history. The town is full of history so much to see

[@lmt84soc]

Thanks for the great video series. It motivated me to visit from Austin. Well worth the trip!

[@AmericanBattlefieldTrust]

Fantastic, we love to hear that!

[@danieljosiahcotton]

Another great ABT video. Thanks for all you guys do!

[@NJcruiser]

My good friend Terry Winschel was the Chief Historian there for many years. I met Terry when we both worked as seasonal rangers at Gettysburg back in the mid '70s. I visited Vicksburg on two occasions while Terry was still there. He showed us around to some pretty cool sites. The last time I was there the Park had just purchased the house in town that Gen Pemberton used as his headquarters. I forget what Terry said the Park had plans for it. Perhaps it was going to be park office space. Great Park. If you go you must also tour the whole campaign. Grand Gulf, Port Republic, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hill and Big Black River.

[@tumbleweedweed3691]

I am doing that next year and hope to see some of the sites in eastern Louisiana as well.

[@gmdanna]

Love V’burg!!! Spent a summer as a seasonal guide there plus my family was from MS, fighting for the CSA so pulled to there. ❤

[@PeterMancini]

I spent two days touring this park and loved it.

[@charlesparker6929]

My great great grandfather is buried there in the Confederate Cemetery. He died there.

[@wyattroose2664]

Amazingly done. I love the production of this video !!!

[@fishez17]

I've had the opportunity to visit the Vicksburg National Military Park on more than one occasion and it it truly incredible. Great video!

[@SouthernGentleman]

Awesome! Keep American identity alive!

[@TheUsenti]

I can feel them calling me to visit and pay my respects. I've been wanting to for a while, but watching this it feels like a desperate need. Their Memory is our Sacred Trust

[@chrisstyles4822]

Planning a trip to the Western sites including Vicksburg and Shiloh, hopefully next Spring. Thanks for the preview.

[@davidlavin3492]

Great video full of insightful information! Glad I contribute to ABT

[@timrowe234]

Thanks for a great detailed explanation of this battlefield and monuments. Hope to visit one day.

[@tomjones2202]

Vicksburg is SO overlooked in that first week of July 1863. It was a double whammy, bad for the south and grand for the union. I've been there twice, once when the Cairo was sitting waiting to be assembled and then when it was all complete. It's an amazing place to visit and NOT JUST GETTISBURG :):)

[@Stew-kv8nw]

Well done, and Guest appearance by Timmy!

[@DeclanConnor-y1j]

I SOOO need to go here. It's on my bucket list and it's not too far from where I live

[@carywest9256]

Then go before it's too late.November is right around the corner!

[@DeclanConnor-y1j]

@carywest9256 what's in November?

[@richardglady3009]

Wonderful and informative video…thank you! When I visited a decade ago, I was lucky enough to see a cannon, located behind recreated earthworks, fire. It was neat! The amount of smoke produced was amazing, I could only imagine the smoke created in a real battle. Thanks for the tour and bringing back some good memories.

[@Eupher72120]

I lived 2 hours north of Vicksburg from 2015-17. Made the trek to the Military Park and spent some time there and on the Cairo. Very impressive. Thanks for a very informative video!

[@CarolinaThreeper3534]

Once again. Superb

[@TulsaDem]

Loved your video. Hope to visit one day. Well done and informative.

[@annmcgehee1728]

Excellent video, hope to visit there someday!!

[@slippysnek9507]

this is so well done, thank you

[@rdhunkins]

I really enjoyed my visit there last year. I hope to go again, as there's always something missed.

[@edglass9912]

Wow great job. Wow again for finding Tim Smith part two. Now we have an Adam’s County version and a Vicksburg version!! Do all the major battlefields have a Time Smith? This one is super interesting. Ed from Lynchburg

[@nilesoien7867]

My ancestor served in the 45th Illinois regiment. I very much want to visit!

[@jackrackham7942]

Thank you for preserving the battle lines. 56th Georgia Infantry, Cummings Brigade.

[@fruitfarmer1]

Growing up next to the park on Hills of The Valley. We used the park as a play ground. As kids in the neighborhood we explored the ravines and waterfalls and had cane forts and swung on grape vines. We climbed the winding towers ( torn down) and climbed on bridge structures which nowadays would give a mother a heart attack. Hey when it snowed we drug car hoods and slid down the long slopes in the park. No problems with park rangers back then. The park was open to public transportation at that time 50’s and 60’s and not restricted to local traffic.

[@CraigLYoung]

Wow, it's been 30 years since I visit this Vicksburg. A lot has changed.

[@TheMasonK]

Just recently found out my (Great x6) uncle fought here as part of the Michigan 27th Infrantry. Very cool battlefield. I’ve gotta make it down there eventually.

[@ChuckG92]

I need to get there. Half a dozen of my ancestors fought with Co G. 56th GA with Stevenson’s Division. They were paroled and all the younger men reenlisted when exchanged. My 4x grandfather and his brother chose to stay home and leave the fighting to their sons from then forward.

[@carolanncesare7170]

God Bless Robert E. Lee

[@JohnathanBruner-t2d]

Yeah, glad he was instead at Gettysburg. My Tennessee Volunteer gg grandfather was captured near Macon, Georgia after fighting at Chickamauga.

[@paulfreeman7719]

Very good video. Plan to visit in 2025. From Spokane, WA.

[@gmlogan4889]

I’m biased, but I think the Illinois monument at Vicksburg is the grandest of any of the ACW monuments on any battlefield.

[@crippledcrow2384]

I figured the Pennsylvania monument at Gettysburg was the biggest monument. Illinois monument is impressive, but the Pennsylvania monument, I personally feel, is the best. 8:17 The Shirley House needs some yard work. Those bushes and vines haven't been trimmed in months. 16:21

[@jeffelzey]

I always thought that house was behind confederate lines near Miss river bluffs

[@5graney5]

Wow I want to see the gunboat at 20:20!

[@swagger7522]

I go see it all the time actually! It's a wonder that thing didn't sink just from the weight lol it's basically a huge cast iron tub with cannons pointing every which way

[@Daina1278]

Is the hurricane damaged finally fixed?

[@unbreakable7633]

Vicksburg, where the South lost the Civil War, not Gettysburg.

[@mikemactavish1665]

Give us some map graphics to help us understand the battle

[@carywest9256]

What's to understand, when your surrounded you have sue for peace or get massacred.

[@ericmuhs]

www.nps.gov/vick/planyourvisit/maps.htm

[@Captkman]

Do the other major battlefields have license battlefield guides like Gettysburg does?

[@AmericanBattlefieldTrust]

No, but there are local tour groups at most battlefields.

[@Captkman]

@@AmericanBattlefieldTrust Great, thanks

[@ericsimpson1176]

Yes , most the larger ones do even some of the smaller ones do

[@ericsimpson1176]

I've been I few times. ,when I was a young pilot I diverted a few miles to get a a different view ...I remember thinking dam I am only a few miles away but can't stop.😂

[@Captkman]

@@ericsimpson1176 who am I supposed to believe? American battlefield trust says no and you say yes. I think I'm going to go with ABT. I have a feeling ABT knows what they are talking about.

[@K_Type]

What is it about “Tim Smith’s” who know so much about Gettysburg

[@joegibson4946]

Sadly, I think the park now is about half the size it was in the 1960s.

[@AmericanBattlefieldTrust]

It is definitely sad to see all of the monuments and markers that used to be on park roads.

[@Prest0n97]

Went to the park around a month ago. The park displays clear bias. I am a Mississippi native. I have relatives from both sides granted most are from the south. When I was there the grass was not well kept for the park as a whole. But in the union lines the grass was cut so you could at least access all monuments. This is not the case for the confederate side. I wanted to go to the Mississippi monument and had to walk through knee high grass that could have had snakes. Please maintain both sides fairly. It was a blatant show of the lack of care for the confederate side.

[@jamessullivan8452]

Yeah, but I couldn’t tell who won the war from the park.

[@sharkusvelarde]

You're sure it was blatant bias? That's your biased perception, don't mean it's reality. Maybe the mower broke

[@jeffcarlson6885]

It may be that the north is responsible for paying for the lawn care for their side. And the south is responsible for paying for theirs.

[@DH.2016]

Maybe if you had asked, you might have got a perfectly reasonable explanation?

[@Prest0n97]

@@jeffcarlson6885 from my understanding it’s maintained by the national park service now. Buying the land and returning it to original state it was in was done by the battlefield trust. So I believe this is by the national park service. Cairo exhibit was quite cool.

[@jesterboykins2899]

Pemberton…🤦🏼‍♂️ That’s all I can say. Just wtf…

[@royhammett3572]

Would have been nice if y'all could have shown some of the Confederate monuments during your visit there - but, I guess that would have not been politically correct. For years now, the park service has done a miserable job of maintaining the grass, landscaping etc. along the Confederate lines - such a deliberate disrespect for my ancestors and their honorable service. So painfully obvious!

[@MrMarkRGraves]

The previous administration really cut the National Park Service budget - which was already too low. They have since received an influx of funds - which they are using to address a backlog of maintenance and needed renovations - but the Park Service never seems to get the resources they really need.

[@historyandhorseplaying7374]

At least one of the individuals in the video has demonstrated clear bias previously. He called articles/memoirs of Confederates "propaganda" not worth reading... so am not surprised. Also they lay wreaths, for example, on Union graves but never Confederate graves.

[@historyandhorseplaying7374]

Wow... I responded to your post, and my response was immediately deleted. Talk about censorship.

[@historyandhorseplaying7374]

@@MrMarkRGraves If only one side is being taken care of, that's more like evidence of bias, rather than lack of funds. Which would not be surprising these days.

[@historyandhorseplaying7374]

I'll try to rephrase my post to get around the censors. One of the individuals in the video in a previous video referred to Con-fay-day-rate memoirs/articles as "propaganda" and not worth reading. So am not surprised at the bias. Also, they lay wreaths on the graves of Union troops, but never Cone-fay-day-rates.