USS Cairo again

The hull was mostly preserved in the mud, but the superstructure was lost by the time of its salvage. One of Grant's (unsuccessful) offensive tactics was to dig a canal to divert the bed of the Mississippi River away from Vicksburg. However, some years later the shifting riverscape decided to follow the path of the canal and Vicksburg was stranded. The Corps of Engineers diverted the nearby Yazoo River into the original Mississippi channel. Now Vicksburg is on the bank of this much smaller river, which rejoins the Mississippi a little further downstream.