TODAY IN PARK HISTORY

Cannon firing demonstrations at Vicksburg NMP
courtesy of the National Park Service

MAY 19

1863
Major General Ulysses S. Grant launches his first assault on on Fortress Vicksburg as part of his spring campaign to gain control of the Mississippi River. The attack was repulsed with Federal losses numbering 1,000 men. The Fortress would eventually surrender on July 4th of 1863.

The Vicksburg National Military Park would be established by Congress in 1899 to commemorate one of the most decisive battles of the American Civil War, the campaign, siege and defense of Vicksburg.