June 23
After another 245 miles and about 4 hours we arrived at Vicksburg National Military Park, MS, still four hours behind schedule. At Vicksburg a pivotal battle for control of the Mississippi River was fought during the Civil War. In October 1862, Vicksburg was the center of operations between Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton. After several failed attacks by the Union on the Confederates, Grant began a formal siege of Vicksburg. Forty-six days later, Pemberton finally surrendered his troops and the city.
Nearly 20 years ago, William visited Vicksburg as part of his military studies and analyzed the campaign in order to understand the complexity of military operations. As part of the study, the Army officers were to become an expert on their assigned character from the battles. William got Pemberton who was the “loser” and resigned after the surrender of Vicksburg.
There is a narrow, winding 16-mile driving tour through the battlefield with 15 informative stops, numerous memorials and a Civil War cemetary. We didn’t have much time to spare and didn’t want to unhitch the camper. Instead we decided on only a quick stop at the visitor center, watched a short film about the battles, and took some pictures of cannons.
We knew we would not reach our next planned stop for the night but really wanted to get past the Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX area so we wouldn’t have to deal with the commuter traffic in the morning. We drove another 420 miles and 7 ½ hours, arrived at a Walmart in Hudson Oaks, TX at almost 11 pm, pulled to the edge of their parking lot, and got some sleep.
The Davids' Cross-Country Trip 