The Fall of Port Hudson, Louisiana - July 9, 1863

Peace Monument at Port Hudson, Louisiana

The longest siege of the War Between the States (or Civil War) came to an end 150 years ago today at Port Hudson, Louisiana.

For more than six weeks, Major General Franklin Gardner and a Confederate garrison of fewer than 4,000 men had kept at bay a Union army of more than 30,000 soldiers. In the process, they killed or wounded more of their enemies than were included their own command. Had Vicksburg not fallen five days earlier, they might well have continued to fight even longer.

To learn more about the fighting at Port Hudson, please read these previous articles first:

• Vicksburg and Port Hudson, the "other" battles of July 1863
• Fighting goes on at Port Hudson, Louisiana
• Port Hudson, Louisiana - July 7, 1863

Earthworks defended by Alabama and Arkansas units

On July 7, 1863, however, Union soldiers in the trenches surrounding the Mississippi River bastion north of Baton Rouge began to yell across the lines to their Confederate counterparts that Vicksburg had fallen. The news was passed up to General Gardner who penned a letter that night to the opposing commander, Major General Nathaniel P. Banks, seeking official confirmation.

Banks replied early on the morning of July 8th by declining a truce to discuss the surrender of Port Hudson, but also enclosing a dispatch he had received from General Ulysses S. Grant the previous day notifying him of the surrender of Vicksburg.

Union dead at Port Hudson National Cemetery

Because the primary purpose of the Confederate bastion at Port Hudson was to defend the stretch of of the Mississippi River that began at the nearby mouth of the Red River so that supplies could continue to flow from west of the Mississippi to the railroad at Vicksburg, the strategic value of the position ended when Vicksburg fell. Gardner accordingly wrote back to General Banks:

Having defended this position as long as I deem my duty requires, I am willing to surrender to you, and will appoint a commission of three officers to meet a similar commission appointed by yourself at 9 o'clock this morning, for the purpose of agreeing upon and drawing up the terms of surrender; and for that purpose I ask for a cessation of hostilities. Will you please designate a point outside of my breastworks where the meeting shall be held for this purpose? - Maj. Gen. Franklin Gardner, CSA (July 8, 1863).

Confederate garrison flag that flew over Port Hudson

Banks replied immediately by informing Gardner that he would direct that active hostilities end until further notice. He designated Brig. Gen. Charles P. Stone, Col. Henry W. Birge and Lt. Col. Richard B. Irwin to meet with three officers of Gardner's choice.  

The Confederate commander appointed Col. I.G.W. Steedman, Col. Henry W. Birge and Lt. Col. Marshall J. Smith to represent him in the surrender negotiations. The two groups of officers agreed to relatively simple terms and both commanding generals approved the agreement. The hour set for the official surrender of Port Hudson was 7 a.m. on July 9, 1863, 150 years ago today.

Confederate flag dug up at Port Hudson after the battle.

The surrender took place as expected. The Confederates stacked their weapons and furled their flags, with one exception. A Southern flag would later be dug up at Port Hudson where it had been buried prior to the surrender. It is now on display in the museum at Port Hudson State Historic Site, along with the official garrison flag of the post.

Although the Confederate officers agreed to surrender themselves and their men to become prisoners of war, General Banks ordered that the enlisted men and non-commissioned officers be paroled and released. The officers were sent away to northern prisoner of war camps.

Union losses in the siege of Port Hudson totaled roughly 10,000. These included 5,000 men who were killed and wounded in the disastrous assaults on the Confederate lines, as well as another 5,000 men who died of disease during the siege. Confederate losses were less than 1,000, including around 250 men who died of disease.

To learn more about Port Hudson State Historic Site, which preserves a large area of the battlefield, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/porthudson.

Port Hudson, Louisiana - July 7, 1863

Confederate gun at Port Hudson State Historic Site

150 years ago today, Major General Franklin Gardner (CS) at Port Hudson learned that Vicksburg had fallen three days earlier.

The news came not from the Union commander, Major General Nathaniel P. Banks, but from his soldiers themselves, who called across the lines to let the Confederate defenders of the Louisiana bastion know that they alone remained to defend the Mississippi River for the South. The intelligence was passed up through command to General Gardner, who penned a brief inquiry to General Banks and had it delivered through the lines under a flag of truce:

Museum Display of Heavy Artillery Shells at Port Hudson

GENERAL: Having received information from your troops that Vicksburg has been surrendered, I make this communication to ask you to give me the official assurance whether this is true or not; and, if true, I ask for a cessation of hostilities with a view to consider terms for surrendering this position. - Maj. Gen. Franklin Gardner, CSA (July 7, 1863).

It was a remarkable fact of the 19th century that commanding officers believed they could trust their enemies to be honorable and provide them with accurate information under such situations.

The siege at Port Hudson had continued longer than any other siege of the War Between the States (or Civil War). The first attempt by the Union army to storm the defenses of the Confederate bastion had ended in disaster (please see Fighting goes on at Port Hudson, Louisiana). Not only did it leave nearly 2,000 Union officers and soldiers dead, wounded or missing, the assault gave a significant boost to the morale of the surrounded Confederates. They had plenty of gunpowder and believed they could beat the Union army any time it chose to advance.

Field gun on display at Port Hudson

General Gardner and his men proved this again on June 13-14, 1863, when Banks attempted a three-pronged infantry assault on the fortifications of Port Hudson. The Confederates now had just over 3,500 men capable of fighting, while the Union army numbered more than 30,000.

The attack began at 11:15 in the morning of June 13 when more than 100 Union cannon opened fire on the earthworks and trenches of Port Hudson. After one hour of bombardment that could be heard in Baton Rouge and other towns throughout the region, General Banks demanded that Gardner surrender. The Confederate general replied that duty required him to defend his post and told Banks simply, "I decline to surrender."

Indiana Artillery firing on Port Hudson
Courtesy Library of Congress

The bombardment was resumed and continued through the night and into the pre-dawn hours of July 14, 1863. Then, at 3:30 a.m., the Union infantry began its assault. The attack was confused and poorly organized. Fog and the smoke of the bombardment created even more confusion in the dark. The result was a Confederate victory so lopsided that it was matched by few other engagements of the war. The Union army lost 1,792 men killed, wounded and missing. The Confederates lost only 47.

Even as their food and bullets ran out, the Confederates kept fighting. Reduced to eating rats and their own mules, they made up for their lack of bullets and artillery shells by salvaging the ones fired into the front of their earthworks by the Union army. They carried out quick raids against the Union infantry that was slowly digging its approach trenches toward them. When they learned that the Federals were trying to dig mines under their works to plant gunpowder in order to blow them up, the Confederates dug mines of their own and blew up the Union mines.

Looking out from Confederate lines at Port Hudson
Courtesy Library of Congress

One can not help but wonder what might have happened at Vicksburg had Gardner been in command there.

Gardner and his tiny command, in fact, held out longer than any other force under siege during the war. It was not until he learned that Vicksburg had fallen that he finally accepted the fact that there was no further need for sacrifice on the part of his men. Port Hudson was the southern defense for the stretch of the Mississippi River used to move supplies and men from west of the river to the railroad at Vicksburg. With Vicksburg in Union hands, Port Hudson no longer served a purpose for the Confederacy.

So, late in the day on July 7, 1863 - 150 years ago today, Gardner sent his inquiry through the lines asking for official confirmation from Banks that Vicksburg had surrendered. The Union commander would not reply until early the next morning, and for one more night the fighting continued to rage.

Please click here to learn about the surrender of Port Hudson.

Read more about Port Hudson battlefield at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/porthudson.

Fighting goes on at Port Hudson, Louisiana - July 5, 1863

Confederate Fortifications at Port Hudson

150 years ago today, as Union troops consolidated their hold on the newly captured city of Vicksburg, the fighting and misery continued down the Mississippi River at Port Hudson, Louisiana.

With the fall of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, Port Hudson became the last remaining Confederate
stronghold on the Mississippi. The siege there is remembered today as the longest in American history.

Inside the fortifications that ringed the little river community, Confederate general Franklin Gardner and his force of fewer than 5,000 men defied a Union army more than three times the size of their own along with the firepower of some of the most powerful warships of the U.S. Navy. It was a battle against overwhelming odds unlike any other ever fought on the North American continent and it went on for 48 days.

Confederate flag that flew over Port Hudson

After the fall of Memphis to the north and New Orleans and then Baton Rouge to the South, the Confederacy was in serious danger of being split in two. The loss of a way to move men and supplies from the states west of the Mississippi River to the armies battling east of the river would be a disaster from which the Southern nation likely would not recover. To attempt to preserve this tenuous lifeline, Confederate engineers fortified the high bluffs of Vicksburg to the north and Port Hudson to the South.

Located on the east side of the river just south of its confluence with the Red River, Port Hudson was an ideal position for defenses that would protect the southern approach to the stretch of the Mississippi that ran from the mouth of the Red up to Vicksburg. This would enable supplies coming by steamboat down the Red to continue to flow up the Mississippi to Vicksburg from which they could be shipped out by rail to all points east.

Port Hudson Peace Monument

The position was occupied by Confederate troops after they failed to retake Baton Rouge in 1862. Located at a sharp bend of the river, its high bluffs offered the ideal position for the emplacement of heavy guns. Work on the batteries continued through the winter of 1862-1863. Major General Franklin Gardner arrived late in December of 1862 to assume command of the position. His selection would prove to be an inspired choice.

Major General Nathaniel Banks, commanding the Union''s Department of the Gulf, was under pressure from Washington, D.C. to push north up the Mississippi, reduce Port Hudson and join forces with Major General Ulysses S. Grant for a final move on Vicksburg. Banks tried to accomplish this by swinging west into the bayous and driving north up the Atchafalaya River to its junction with the Red. He hoped this would enable him to bypass Port Hudson and force its evacuation. When he reached the Red River, however, expected troops and transports were not there. Grant had changed his plans and gone ashore near Port Gibson with his full army.

Gun taken from USS Merrimac and used at Port Hudson

Since he had no way to get his army north to join forces with Grant, Banks decided to move against Port Hudson with his own 17,000 man force. Orders were issued on May 18, 1862, and troops began to march north from Baton Rouge, rapidly covering the dozen or so miles between that city and the Confederate position at Port Hudson. Other parts of Banks' army came down the Red into the Mississippi and were landed at Bayou Sara near St. Francisville just north of Port Hudson.

Fighting broke out on May 21, 1862, as a miniscule force of Confederates opposed the oncoming Federals at the Battle of Plains Store west of Port Hudson. Resisting fiercely, they inflicted worse casualties than they received and then fell back into the trenches at Port Hudson.  By the night of May 22nd, the Confederate position was surrounded by Banks and his converging army.

Confederate earthworks at Port Hudson

General Gardner and his men dug in at a furious rate, extending and strengthening their defenses. They watched as the Union navy formed in the Mississippi and the Union army moved into position around them from all directions. They knew they were outnumbered and outgunned, but they determined to put up the fight of their lives.

The Southern soldiers got their first chance on May 27, 1863, when daylight broke over the woods and fields to the east and Union cannon opened fire on them from all directions. They responded furiously at first with their own cannon, but then slowed their rate of fire to conserve ammunition. They knew a massive infantry attack was coming and they got into position and ready to welcome it.

Union troops were trapped in this ravine during the first assault.

When the huge attack came, it was carried out by more soldiers than there were Confederates in the entire Port Hudson lines. Gardner was ready, however, and his skirmishers alone held back the attacking columns for more than an hour. Fighting from a tangled mess of felled trees and the ravines and ridges outside the main works, the Confederate skirmishers fought fiercely against overwhelming numbers.

When they finally withdrew into the main lines and the Federal troops tried to push forward, they found themselves wading into the fire of dozens of cannon and thousands of rifles. The fighting went on all day and all night. When the Confederates opened fire again the next morning, Banks decided his men had suffered enough and raised a flag of truce. Gardner granted the Union general's request for a ceasefire so his dead and wounded could be removed from the field.

The first attempt to storm Port Hudson left 1,995 Union soldiers dead, wounded or missing. The Confederates lost 235 men. The attack had been a bloody disaster for the Union army. There may have been only 4,000 Confederates at Port Hudson, but they were prepared to fight.

I will post more about the Siege of Port Hudson tomorrow.  You can read more about the battlefield at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/porthudson.

The Fall of Vicksburg, 150 years ago today (July 4, 1863)

Vicksburg, Mississippi

150 years ago today, the Confederacy's "Gibraltar of the Mississippi" fell to the army of Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. It was a devastating blow from which the South would not recover.

The final acts in the moments leading to the surrender of Vicksburg were enacted before dawn on the morning of July 4, 1863. Having considered a final proposal from Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton (CS), Gen. Grant (US) sent a letter through the lines to his Confederate counterpart:

Union battery before Vicksburg

     ...I can make no stipulations with regard to the treatment of citizens and their private property. While I do not propose to cause them any undue annoyance or loss, I cannot consent to leave myself under any restraint by stipulations. The property which officers will be allowed to take with them will be as stated in my proposition of last evening; that is, officers will be allowed their private baggage and side-arms, and mounted officers one horse each.
     If you mean by your proposition for each brigade to march to the front of the lines now occupied by it, and stack arms at 10 a.m., and then return tot he inside, and there remain as prisoners until properly paroled, I will make no objection to it. - Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, USA (July 4, 1863).

Confederate cannon at Vicksburg

In closing his final offer, Grant informed Pemberton that if he received no reply by 9 a.m., hostilities would resume. To avoid this, the Confederates should display white lines along their lines.

Pemberton reviewed the note and early on the morning of July 4, 1863, agreed to surrender Vicksburg, Mississippi, to the United States:

GENERAL:  I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of this day, and in reply to say that the terms proposed by you are accepted. - Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton, CSA (July 4, 1863).

Later in the morning, as the Union forces crowded to the tops of their breastworks and fortifications to watch, the Confederate army came out of its trenches for the first time in more than 45 days:

Former channel of the Mississippi at Vicksburg

...[T]he garrison was surrendered at 10 a.m., and the Federal forces immediately took possession of our works and placed guards in the city. If it should be asked why July 4 was selected as the day for the surrender, the answer is obvious. I believed that upon that day I should obtain better terms. Well aware of the vanity of our foes, I knew they would attach vast importance to the entrance on July 4 into the stronghold of the great river, and that to gratify their national vanity they would yield then what could not be extorted from them at any other time. - Maj. Gen. John C. Pemberton, CSA (August 2, 1863).

Union cannon at Vucksburg

Pemberton was right in his assessment of how the Union would regard the surrender of Vicksburg on the 4th of July. It was hailed across the North with celebrations and bonfires. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, Grant's friend and trusted subordinate, predicted the reaction of the Northern states and gently warned his commander about the fleeting nature of fame. He also commended him for his generosity to the Confederates who had fought from the trenches of Vicksburg for 47 days:

...I can hardly contain myself. Surely will I not punish any soldier for being "uncohappy" this most glorious anniversary of the birth of a nation, whose sire and father was a Washington. Did I not know the honesty, modesty, and purity of your nature, I would be tempted to follow the examples of my standard enemies of the press in indulging in wanton flattery; but as a man and soldier, and ardent friend of yours, I warn you against the incense of flattery that will fill our land from one extreme to the other. Be natural and yourself, and this glittering flattery will be as the passing breeze of the sea on a warm summer day. To me the delicacy with which you have treated a brave but deluded enemy is more eloquent than the most gorgeous oratory of an Everett. - Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, USA (July 4, 1863).

Old Courthouse in Vicksburg

While the main army remained outside the city, a small force of Union troops entered Vicksburg on July 4, 1863 - 150 years ago today - and raised the U.S. flag from the top of the Warren County Courthouse. The historic building still stands in Vicksburg today, where it is now a museum and is generally known as the "Old Courthouse."

With the fall of Vicksburg, only one Confederate bastion - Port Hudson, Louisiana - remained along the full length of the Mississippi River. I will focus on events at that battlefield over coming days.

To learn more about the Battle of Vicksburg and the historic city itself, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/vicksburg1.

In the Trenches at Vicksburg on July 2, 1863

Union Siege Gun at Vicksburg, Mississippi

150 years ago today, as the 15th Alabama and 2nd Maine faced off on the slopes of Little Round Top at Gettysburg, the Confederate soldiers at Vicksburg, Mississippi, endured another day of bombardment and trench warfare.

The previous day, July 1, 1863, Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton - the Confederate commander at Vicksburg - firmly concluded that the city could not hold out much longer.. In a dispatch from headquarters that day, he polled his subordinate generals about the prospect of trying to break out of Vicksburg through the surrounding Union army of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant:

"Whistling Dick" - A Confederate Gun at Vicksburg

Unless the siege of Vicksburg is raised or problems are thrown in, it will become necessary very shortly to evacuate the place. I see no prospect of the former, and there are many great, if not insuperable, obstacles in the way of the latter. You are, therefore, requested to inform me with as little delay as possible as to the condition of your troops, and their ability to make marches and undergo the fatigues necessary to accomplish a successful evacuation. - Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton, CSA (July 1, 1863).

The generals commanding sections of the Confederate lines around the city responded on July 2, 1863, 150 years ago today:

Mississippi River at Vicksburg

...My men are very cheerful, but from long confinement (more than forty-five days) in the trenches on short rations, are necessarily much enfeebled, and a considerable number would be unable to make the marches and undergo the fatigues which would probably be necessary to a successful evacuation of this city. If pressed by the enemy, and it should be necessary to place the Big Black in our rear in one march, the chances are that a large number of them now in the trenches could not succeed. I believe, however, that most of them, rather than be captured, would exert themselves to the utmost to accomplish it. - Maj. Gen. C.L. Stevenson, CSA (July 2, 1863).

Union Siege Battery at Vicksburg

...I concur in the unanimous opinion of the brigade and regimental commanders, that the physical condition of our men are not sufficiently good to enable them to accomplish the evacuation. The spirit of the men is still, however, unshaken, and I am satisfied they will cheerfully continue to bear the fatigues and privations of the siege. - Maj. Gen. J.H. Forney, CSA (July 2, 1863).

...There are about 3,000 men in my division, including State troops, in a condition to undertake a march of 8 or 10 miles a day in this weather, if there is an opportunity of resting at intervals. Out of these 3,000, only about 2,000 are considered reliable in case we are strongly opposed and much harassed. A secret evacuation I consider almost impossible...I believe that General Johnston has or will fight Grant, and my hope has been that he would be successful and in time to relieve us. At present, however, I see no chance of timely relief from him, and his dispatches have never indicated a hope of being able to raise the siege. Under these circumstances, I deem it best to propose terms of capitulation before being forced to do so from want of provisions. - Maj. Gen. M.L. Smith, CSA (July 2, 1863).

Stockade Redan, Confederate fort at Vicksburg

...[M]y men are in as good, if not better spirits, than any others in the line, and able to stand as much fatigue, yet I do not consider them capable (physically) of enduring the hardships incident to such an undertaking. Forty-five days' incessant duty day and night, with short rations, the wear of both mind and body incident to our situation, has had a marked effect upon them, and I am satisfied they cannot give battle and march over 10 or 12 miles in the same day. In view of the fact that General Johnston has never held out the slightest hope to us that the siege could be raised; that his demonstration in our favor to relieve this exhausted garrison would of necessity be sufficient to raise it, I see no alternative but to endeavor to rescue the command by making terms with the enemy. - Maj. Gen. J.S. Bowen, CSA (July 2, 1863).

View of the battlefield from the Confederate trenches

The receipt of these opinions from his commanding generals, 150 years ago today, convinced Pemberton that he had no hope of fighting his way out of Vicksburg. While his army clearly could continue to hold out, the generals for the most part concurred in their belief that Gen. Joseph E. Johnston would not be able to help them.

Johnston was then trying to put an army together to save Vicksburg, but men and supplies were scarce and his task was simply impossible.

Looking down the Confederate lines at Vicksburg.

As Pemberton reviewed his situation, the outlook was bleak.  Throughout the day on July 2, 1863, soldiers huddled in their trenches and civilians - including many women and children - hid in caves they had dug beneath their homes - as Union artillery continued to bombard the city. As Chamberlain and the 2nd Maine fought gallantly against the Alabamians of the 15th on Little Round Top, at Vicksburg generals Grant and Sherman bombarded civilians.

The next day, July 3rd, would be the day on which Pemberton made his most important decision of the Battle of Vicksburg.

Please click here to read the next post in this series on the 150th anniversary of the surrender of Vicksburg.

To learn more about the Siege and Battle of Vicksburg, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/vicksburg1.

Vicksburg 150th Anniversary Events Set for Memorial Day Weekend

Stockade Redan at Vicksburg

Memorial Day Weekend this year also marks the 150th anniversary of the Siege and Battle of Vicksburg, Mississippi, one of the most critical battles of the Civil War.

The battle for Vicksburg actually began on May 19, 1863 - 150 years ago today - when Gen. Ulysses S. Grant hurled his army against the Confederate fortifications at the Stockade Redan in an attempt to break through the Southern lines and capture the city without resorting to a long siege. The Confederate Army of Gen. John C. Pemberton, however, hurled back the attack in bloody fashion. Pemberton lost only 8 men killed and 62 wounded, compared to 157 killed and 777 wounded for Grant.

Battery De Golyer at Vicksburg

A second, larger attack came three days later on May 21, 1863, after a horrible bombardment of both military and civilian targets in Vicksburg, but ended in an greater disaster for the Union army. Some 3,000 U.S. soldiers were killed or wounded, compared to around 500 Confederates.

The fighting would go on for more than six weeks, ending only after the Confederate defenders and civilians in Vicksburg had been reduced to eating rats, mules and boiled shoe-leather. Gen. Pemberton surrendered the city to Grant on July 4, 1863, the same day that Pickett's Charge failed at Gettysburg.

To learn more about the Battle of Vicksburg, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/vicksburg1.

In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the bloody siege and battle at Vicksburg, the National Park Service has planned numerous events that are now underway and will continue thorugh Memorial Day Weekend.  Here is a schedule:

Sunday, May 19

First Assault Programs:
10:00 a.m. - Confederate Perspective, Begins at Stockade Redan (Tour Stop 12)
1:00 p.m. - Union Perspective, Begins at Stockade Redan Attack Display (Tour Stop 5)

Wednesday, May 22

Memorial Day Event:
7:30 a.m. - Placement of flags on graves at Vicksburg National Cemetery.

Second Assault Programs:
10:00 a.m. - The Forlorn Hope, Begins at Stockade Redan Attack Display (Tour Stop 5)
10:00 a.m. - Second Texas Lunette Attack, Begins at Second Texas Lunette (Tour Stop 12)
10:00 a.m. - Assault on the Great Redoubt, Begins at the Great Redoubt (Tour Stop 11)
1:00 p.m. - Assault on Railroad Redoube, Begins at Railroad Redoubt (Tour Stop 13).

Thursday, May 23

Memorial Day Events:
10:00 a.m. - U.S. Postal Service Sesquicentennial Stamp National Event at USS Cairo Museum.
7:00 - 10:00 p.m. - Shadows of the Past walk at Vicksburg National Cemetery.

Friday, May 24

Memorial Day Event:
7:00 p.m. - U.S. Navy Band Concert at Park Visitor Center.

Saturday, May 25

Memorial Day Events:

9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Soldiers Thru the Ages Display at USS Cairo Museum
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. - Programs held throughout the day at:

• Shirley House/Illinois Monument/Old Jackson Road 
• Pemberton's Headquarters (Crawford Street, downtown Vicksburg)
• Old Administration Building (Pemberton Ave., inside park) - U.S. Camel Corps program.
• Living History programs at various locations in the park.

9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. - Book Signings at the Park Visitor Center featuring Jeff Shaara, Dr. John Marszalek, Tim Isbell, Jeff Biambrone and Rebecca Drake.

10:00 a.m. - Re-Dedication of the Iowa State Memorial.

7:00 p.m. - Concert featuring Mississippi Symphony Orchestra with guest appearance by Trace Adkins at Park Visitor Center.

Sunday, May 26

Memorial Day Events:

9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. - Soldiers Thru the Ages Display at USS Cairo Museum
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. - Programs held throughout the day at:

• Shirley House/Illinois Monument/Old Jackson Road 
• Pemberton's Headquarters (Crawford Street, downtown Vicksburg)
• Old Administration Building (Pemberton Ave., inside park) - U.S. Camel Corps program.
• Living History programs at various locations in the park.

7:00 p.m. - Concert by Jackson Mass Community Choir at the Park Visitor Center.

Monday, May 27

Memorial Day Events:

10:00 a.m. - Vicksburg City Memorial Day Parade in Downtown Vicksburg.

11:00 a.m. - Vicksburg City Memorial Day Program at Vicksburg Civic Center.

12:00 noon - Wreath Laying at Vicksburg National Cemetery.

Wednesday, July 3

Luminary Commemoration:

7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. - 20,000 luminaries will be placed throughout the park and on Confederate Avenue in Vicksburg at every State Memorial to honor the casualties suffered by each state, North and South, during the Vicksburg Campaign.

Port Hudson State Historic Site - Zachary, Louisiana

Confederate Earthworks at Port Hudson

Although its story is often overshadowed by that of the Battle of Vicksburg, which took place at the same time, the Siege and Battle of Port Hudson was one of the monumental confrontations of the Civil War.

After a failed attempt to retake Baton Rouge in August of 1862, Confederate forces in Louisiana withdrew about 30 miles up the Mississippi River to Port Hudson. A small community located atop high bluffs overlooking a bend of the river, Port Hudson offered the ideal place for a citadel to prevent Union warships from reaching the vital junction of the Mississippi and Red Rivers.

Garrison Flag that flew over Port Hudson

Over the months that followed, the position was heavily fortified and by early 1863 a Confederate force of around 7,500 men held the position and manned the heavy guns that aimed down on the channel of the Mississippi. A flotilla of Union warships commanded by Admiral David G. Farragut tried to blast its way past Port Hudson on March 14, 1863, but only two of the vessels made it. The U.S.S. Mississippi was destroyed and the other ships had to turn back. Port Hudson had proved its worth as a defensive position.

Cannon at Port Hudson, Louisiana

Determined to eliminate the Confederate bastion, Union General Nathaniel P. Banks moved against it with more than 30,000 men in May of 1863. The severely outnumbered Confederates dug in even deeper and devastated the Union army in its two major attempts to storm the works. An attack on June 14, 1863 went so bad for the Federals that they suffered casualties of 1,792 men compared to only 47 of the Confederates, giving Southern General Franklin Gardner one of the most lopsided tactical victories of the Civil War.

Port Hudson held out until after the fall of Vicksburg, Mississippi, in July of 1863. The fall of that city gave Union ships coming down the Mississippi access to the river's confluence with the Red River and there was no longer any reason for the Confederates in Louisiana to continue to hold out. Gardner surrendered on July 9, 1863, having withstood until then the longest total siege of the Civil War.

To learn more about the Siege and Battle of Port Hudson and to see photos of Port Hudson State Historic Site and other points of interest in the area, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/porthudson.

Remembering the Alamo

In the year 1836, this date (March 5th) was the last full day of life for the defenders of the Alamo. By sunrise the next morning, they would fall and begin their journey from revolutionaries and soldiers to legends.

After nearly two weeks of siege, the Mexican army had tightened its ring around the fortified mission in San Antonio, Texas, and on March 5, 1836, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna met with his staff and made his final decision to carry the Alamo by storm. He would attack before dawn the next morning.

To read more about the Alamo and see additional photos of this Texas shrine, please visit our Alamo pages at www.exploresouthernhistory.com. Just follow the link and look for the Alamo picture and heading.