HISTORIC VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI

After seeing two baseball games on successive evenings, it was time to do something different.  We took a short drive westward to Vicksburg, Mississippi.  Once our motorhome was set up, we ventured into town to tour the sites.  

Our first stop was the Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum.  This was the building where Coca-Cola was first bottled in 1894. Between 1886, when Coca-Cola was first invented, and 1894, you could only get Coca-Cola at soda fountains. Here is one of the original bottles. Notice the cap is a stopper held in by a spring clip. When the stopper was pulled out of the bottle, the rubber made a popping noise. Tradition dictates that is where the term "soda pop" originated.

The museum included a reproduction of the bottling works. There was no conveyor belt here. Each bottle was rinsed and filled one at at time, a very laborious process.

The museum also included an early 1900's soda fountain. Notice how fancy the woodwork is, both above the mirror and underneath the bar. The top of the serving unit (white box like cabinet below the mirror) was the ice bin, and the syrup container was underneath the ice bin. We were able to view lots of historic Coca-Cola memorabilia throughout the museum.

We toured the Vicksburg National Military Park in the afternoon.  It was interesting to learn the part the town of Vicksburg played in Civil War history.  We watched a video at the visitors center, which gave us an overview of the campaign, siege, and defense of Vicksburg in 1863. 

The Union army was led by Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. On May 19, Grant ordered the first assault on the Confederate lines. 43 days later on July 4, the Confederates finally surrendered. It is important to note that, during this time, neither side won a single battle. In essence, the Union Army starved the Confederates into having to surrender. This was accomplished by destroying the Confederate supply lines. The Mississippi River was finally opened to Union traffic 5 days later, when Port Hudson was surrendered. 

This row of different sizes of cannons and mortars was on display outside of the visitors center. You can get an idea of just how big these cannons are when you can barely see Paul standing behind the end cannon. 

We then drove through the battlefields, viewing over 1200 monuments dedicated to soldiers who fought in the attacks on Vicksburg.  The highlight of our driving tour was viewing the restored Union ironclad gunboat, the USS Cairo. On December 12, 1862, the Cairo and several other vessels steamed up the Yazoo River, north of Vicksburg, to destroy Confederate batteries and clear enemy obstructions from the channel. Suddenly, two quick explosions tore holes in the Cairo's bottom. Within minutes the ironclad lay on the river bottom with only the tops of its smokestack and flagstaff showing above water. Cairo was the first Union vessel ever sunk by a Confederate mine.

Many artifacts were recovered from the Cairo during the salvage operation in the 1960's. These artifacts give historians and visitors alike new insights into Civil War naval life. This is the view from on board the Cairo looking out one of the cannon portholes.

We had a very entertaining day touring Vicksburg history.