Tag Archives: history

Silent Guns & Sunken Iron: Vicksburg and the Cairo

The heat was intense and my back was killing me by the time I was crossing the Mississippi River. I had read so much about Vicksburg and I was lucky that it laid right in my trip’s path on my drive to Alabama from Texas. I pulled in and the first thing that you notice immediately is the great arch at the entrance. Then you begin driving through these hills, now a very quiet and beautiful place. I passed several memorials and markers. About every one hundred yards there was a plaque that was marking the Union trench line. After driving for about 20 minutes we arrived at De Golyer Battery. The first open area that starts to reveal the size and scope of the battle and later the siege. I was stunned to see that many of the earth works, the trenches, and battery positions were still there. I can only imagine the ferociousness and overall size of the conflict that took place here. You can feel the weight of this place as you walk around. A true sense of reverence for all the men that fought here.

We then made my way along the trench line to the Wisconsin Memorial, a large marble obelisk standing tall along the old Union trench. Walking around it seeing the names of all the men you begin to feel the personal cost of this battle. So many names. I had walked up the long set of white marble stairs leading to the top looking up at the figures of the troops flanking each side. Walking down again back towards the car I took the opportunity to run over and take a closer look at the Union trench line that the road follows as you drive through the battlefield. The heat was insane so by the time I had run over I was sweating through all my clothes. I took a look at the temperature in the car when I got back in and it was 104 degrees so it was definitely hot for running around but very much worth it.

Next, we drove to the highest point on the battlefield, Fort Hill. I did stop at a few spots on the way up the hill, investigating the Union lines and the different approaches and the earth works creeping towards the Confederate readouts and defenses. It was amazing to see for myself a place I had read so much about. It is easy to tell you are at Fort Hill as you pull off in your truck on the top of the mountain. Overlooking the great Mississippi River and how it bends going into the city of Vicksburg it was very clear why this was one of the most important positions for the Confederates. The heavy artillery could fire directly onto the river and any Union Ironclads making a run on the city.

It was getting late in the day so I immediately made my way to one of the most important places of the trip. Time to see the Union Navy Ironclad the Cairo. The first thing that blew me away was the sheer size of the ship. I had only ever seen pictures obviously, since the Cairo is the only ironclad that exists today, the rest being repurposed or dismantled after the war. So, I had never really had an idea of how huge they really were until that moment. In the bow there were two 42 pounder rifles and an 8 inch smoothbore between them. On the Port side three 32 inch smoothbore and an 8 inch smoothbore. The Starboard was equipped with a 42 pounder rifle, an 8 inch smoothbore, and two 32 pound smoothbore. Finally, at the stern of this iron beast of war was a 30 pounder parrot rifle, which is a rifled cannon, on the left and a 32 pounder smoothbore on the right. Seeing this ship of war paddling its way up the river must have been terrifying. Cairo was a paddlewheel steamer like most of the ironclads that fought in the Mississippi River Campaign. Walking through it though was one of the most amazing things I have ever done and as a historian something I can’t believe took me this long to do.

After exploring the great ship I made my way into the Cairo Museum. This amazing part of the Vicksburg National Military Park not only shows the work put into recovering the great ship from where it was sunk by a mine but also shows all the equipment, weapons, and even personal belongings of the sailors on board. It was amazing how the ship acted as a type of time capsule locking everything in how it was when it sunk during the beginning of the siege on December 12, 1862, North of Vicksburg. The video I made of this trip is still the most popular one I have ever made up to now and one of favorites. If you love history or anything maritime this is definitely a location you may want to check out and if you are interested in the history of the Civil War it is most certainly somewhere you may want to wander through for a day or two. Thank you so much for reading friends, God bless you, and don’t forget to go outside!

The Sixth Floor at the Texas School Book Depository, Dallas, TX.

Driving to Dealey Plaza is surreal as someone who has spent years reading about this place. Nestled in a beautiful and busy part of Downtown Dallas, Texas, it takes a moment for you to realize where exactly it is you are standing. It took me a moment to find the parking area, that once you find it it is just a short walk from the Grassy Knoll. As I exit the car I look up at the old brick building standing ominously in the Texas sun. I gaze over to the Grassy Knoll and my gaze followed past the knoll to the rail road where a witness said he saw a group of men and what looked like a puff of smoke, possibly from a rifle. He mysteriously died after his testimony. Dallas Police also found several footprints and cigarette butts on the knoll.

I made my way across the parking lot to the entrance of the Sixth Floor Museum at the Texas School Book Depository Museum. The building where it it said that Lee Harvey Oswald had a sniper nest and murdered the young and beloved charismatic President John F. Kennedy. That is what the government told us for years amongst the sea of conspiracy theories and inconsistencies surrounding the death of the president. Going through the main doors we are directed to a cashier and given a ticket that grants us access to the elevator that takes us to sixth floor, now a museum in honor of the late President John Kennedy and that haunting day in American history.

Exiting the lift you walk through a short accessway passing the original freight elevator that Oswald would have used to transport the books to the storage area on the sixth floor. The books stacked in a certain way would have made it somewhat easy to make a hidden sniper nest by a window as it is posed that Oswald did but the location he selected is still something that continues to cause debate amongst theorists. As I looked out the window myself I could see that his vision would have been obstructed slightly by a large tree and that the position of the motorcade before the turn on Elm would have been a better location for a solo sniper operating by himself but Oswald didn’t do that.

The museum is a showcase of the achievements of the late President Kennedy and the life of a young Oswald leading up to the day where the tow paths would cross for the last time on this Earth. The exhibits include Oswald’s wedding ring, the sweater he wore when Jack Ruby shot him, and a historical walk through of that day that will leave you moved with its immersive experience.

Leaving I took a stroll over to the Grassy Knoll and gazed out of the white dome next to Elm street. I strolled slowly past the first X higher up on the drive. Where the first shot struck the president in the neck. A little further a more defined larger white X. The spot where the fatal shot stole the life of a president who had just started a legacy that would change the country forever.

Looking around now, the business of downtown, the families walking by, the drivers passing over the X. It is as if the history of this place rests quietly amongst those ho call this place home but never truly gone. A place renowned for conspiracy and sadness that changed a country forever.