Vicksburg Day 3

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May 14, 2011 Saturday
Decided to stay another day in Vicksburg so went by the office and paid for another day. Did some more reading on Grants Vicksburg campaign and took another look at the map of the battlefield that I had. On my tour of the battlefield I had missed the "Texas Lunette" which is the defensive position that the 2nd Texas volunteers had fought from with some members of Waul's Texas Legion as well. Being from Texas that was of particular interest to me. The Texas troops were used on both sides of the Railway Redoubt with parts of Waul's Legion as the reserve on the South side of the redoubt while the 2nd Texas Volunteer infantry were the main force on the Second Texas Lunette on the North side with some artillery support by Mississippi light artillery.
For breakfast I had a banana and three slices of 100%!w(MISSING)hole wheat bread. With tea it made a good light breakfast without being too filling.
When I went outside to leave my hotel I was surprised with how cool it had become. It was cool enough that a light jacket was almost needed. How delightful. It is so difficult to enjoy oneself in hot and humid weather. It warmed up just enough for it to be a perfect day for touring.
When I got to the battlefield I used my National Parks Pass again and went directly to Pemberton's Ave. where I cut across to the Confederate Ave. On the way across I came to the surrender site where Pemberton met Grant on July 3 to discuss surrender terms. Grant demanded Unconditional Surrender but Pemberton refused reckoning that Grant wanted a surrender on the 4th of July for political reasons so badly he would offer better terms which Grant did later that evening via letters. Pemberton accepted the new terms and surrendered his army the following day.
His army would march out and stack its arms and his troops would be paroled to go home instead of going to prisoner of war camps.
An interesting bit of info: a higher percentage of Confederate prisoners died in Northern prisoner of war camps than Federal prisoners died in Southern prisoner of war camps even though the North suffered no shortages of food or supply.
When I got to the location of the 2nd Texas Lunette (marked by marker # 12) I realized why I had missed it the first day. It was now a picnic area. So I had blithely driven by it. For some reason the Texas monument is on the other side of the railroad where Wauls Legion was used in support instead of on the 2nd Texas Lunette position which had the Texas main force.
After visiting the battlefield again I went on a several hour and store search for a mosquito net since I will be camping again after I leave Vicksburg. Didn't find one, only an endless assortment of sprays and devices. I didn't get any because I don't want to put any chemicals on my body or in the air I breathe. Guess I will keep searching.
I even drove out on Hwy 61 north to an outdoorsman supply store but they didn't have mosquito nets, just a "head" net and more chemical sprays etc. So I gave up for now. On the way to this store I passed a sign saying road closed 8 miles ahead due to flooding. I considered going to look at it but considered how unpredictable river flooding can be and decided not to go there.
After all this I decided to go back to my hotel and work on my blogs, etc. I realized that except for my light breakfast I hadn't eaten all day. It's interesting how I don't get hungry at all when I am doing something that interest me. So I had some tea and buttered bread. I didn't feel like eating much now and figured I could fix up a microwave baked potato later.
I worked on my blogs for a few hours. Then just had some raisin bran with a banana and did some more reading before going to bed.
Leaving here I will have to go East whether I like it or not. The roads North and South are flooded. If I had came 2 days later I would have had to circle around to Jackson and approach Vicksburg from the East at last as Grant had been required to do.
Tomorrow I will head to Jackson and up the Natchez Trace again.

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Photos

Site of meeting of Grant and Pemberton
This is the sit of the meeting between Grant and Pemberton to discuss surrender terms. Grant at first insisted on unconditional surrender but later offered terms so the surrender would be on the 4th of July

Confederate line
Confederate line as seen from the Union line.

showing closeness of lines
Standing where the Union lines were you can see the monument at where the Confederate lines were. Seemingly close but I suppose far enough when you are getting shot at

Picnic area
Picnic area at where the 2nd Texas Division fought

Mississippi Light Artillery
Mississippi Light Artillery on the 2nd Texas Lunette