Vicksburg-The key to the South

I have been waiting for this one to share with you. We are in Vicksburg, MS. For those of you who aren't familiar with Vicksburg, it is the site of one of the most important battles of the Civil War. 

A little history.  Lincoln called Vicksburg the key to the South and he also stated that the war could not be won until that key was in our pocket. General Winfield Scott's strategy was to gain control of the Mississippi river to split the Confederacy.  By denying use of the Mississippi river, the South couldn't move supplies or men from the western Southern states to the eastern Southern states. The final linchpin in the strategy was Vicksburg. The Confederate army was well fortified and the natural topography all were conducive to stopping the march down the Mississippi. Grant tried over and over to take Vicksburg but with even the Navy bombarding the city, he was not able to take Vicksburg

. After the navy successfully ran the gauntlet of Vicksburg, Grant was able to move his troops across the Mississippi south of the city and began marching north. After throwing literally thousands of men against the wall, Vicksburg still stood. Ultimately, the only way for a victory was to conduct a siege, which he did, and 46 days later, Vicksburg surrendered. The beginning of the end for the Confederacy had started.

So, after that abbreviated history lesson, what does it have to do with our travels. Well, on Saturday, I had the privilege of visiting Vicksburg National Military Park. Perhaps the best example of an identified battlefield in the world.  I say privileged as this is truly hallowed ground.  Thousands of men fought and died here to restore the Union and ensure constitutional rights for all people. 

 I only wish that the new President who would be king, his millionaire cabinet and his locked stepped congress could come and visit this National Park. Let them walk the fields, ravines and hills. Let them see where men died so that our ideals would stand. Part of the park is the largest National Cemetery in the country. Over 17,000 Union soldiers are there. Over 13,000 are unknown. Who were they? People without names, pedigree or money. Freed black men, immigrants both documented and undocumented, men from Illinois, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Ohio, Massachusetts and every other northern state. As our constitutional rights are being trampled, it is unbelievable to see what real courage is.

The reason it is the best identified battlefield is that veterans from both sides were invited back after the war to show where they and their companies fought. There are over 1,300 monuments throughout the park. Some small, some large...but all dedicated to those that served.

If a walk through this park doesn't humble you and show what is really important than nothing will. You can walk the hills where artillery was placed, walk up the ravines where Union soldiers tried again and again to gain an advantage and look over the large fields of engagement.

And there is a park within a park. The USS Cairo has its own museum. The Cairo is the only ironclad ship of the Mississippi fleet left. Seven boats were built within 100 days and those ships helped win the river.  The ship had been sunk by electronically activated mines and went down in 12 minutes. All crew got off safely but left everything behind. The ship sat for 102 years and was finally raised, restored and put own display. The ship did not have all its metal cladding replaced, but rather the skeleton is in place so that you can see everything about the interior.

 Now here is the best part. There were 175 crew of sailors, officers and marines. The crew was more than half first generation immigrants from France, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, England and the Caribbean. Black and white. Farmers, teachers, and tradesmen. Most had no sailing experience but all came forward to serve their country. If Trump's immigrant ban was in place, who knows if the north would have won the Civil War. 

This wasn't supposed to be political but Vicksburg and the story of the people who lived and died here made it impossible. Hope you forgive my wanderings.
 

Natchez

I probably should be working on cleaning up the RV exterior, but just have to share our stop after the Big Easy. We headed north through some beautiful country to Natchez. Located on the banks of the Mississippi river, which is the boundary between Louisiana and Mississippi, this river town turned out to be a jewel. Our campground was on the Louisiana side but right on the levee of the river. We sat and watched the barges slowly go by with their giant cargoes of coal and other raw materials. 

The town itself has roots that go back to 1716 and discovery by the French. Natchez is the oldest city on the Mississippi river. The city was a thriving port prior to the civil war and for years after when cotton was still king. Obviously, no longer proud of their history of enslavement, the city does celebrate it's history of plantations, freedmen, music and art.  It's history includes European settlement, African enslavement, the American cotton economy, to the Civil Rights struggle on the lower Mississippi River.

The visitor center was one of the best we have seen. The National Park system manages three locations in the city, Fort Rosalie, Melrose Plantation, and the William Johnson House. We visited Melrose Plantation which is fully restored with the main house, auxiliary buildings, slave quarters, and carriage house. The plantation interior is by guided tour only and the reason is that the home has been occupied by only three families and was always sold furnished. Amazingly, the interior is about 80% original. The uber-wealthy is nothing new. 

The Samuel Johnson house is located in downtown Natchez. It was the home of a black freedman who was the barber of Natchez. He bought real estate and became such a successful businessman that he purchased his own plantation on the outskirts of town where he had his own slaves. A difficult concept for us to understand, but apparently not that uncommon. The building was retail on the first floor, that he rented, and living quarters for his extended family on the second floor.  He kept a diary from 1835-1851 that is one of the few written histories of life in the pre-civil war era from a freedman's perspective.

Even though he obtained financial security, he always walked a fine line and was certainly never accepted by white society. His diaries sat in the attic of the home until 1976 when they were published.  At the same time, the remaining family sold the house to a historical society and ultimately to the National Park. 

The town is one of little traffic, dozens of restored homes to visit, Natchez Indian mounds (which we visited), great food and music. The blues trail goes right through Natchez. We stopped for lunch one day at the Cotton Alley
Cafe for an excellent meal that included seafood gumbo and southern specialties. 

Natchez was a great surprise and a place worthy of visiting!

Next on to Vicksburg.....

 

 
 

French Quarter

On the next to the last day in New Orleans, Jo and I headed to the French Quarter for dinner and music. We went to The 3 Muses for both. The 3 Muses is a hole in the wall restaurant music venue. Great small plates of highly creative food with live music from Dr. Stix. He looks and sounds like the son of Dr. John.  Great blues with bass, drums and Dr. Stix on the fiddle, piano, guitar, and saw. Crazy stuff!

 Signature drink:

 Unbelievable food:

We walked out to Frenchman Street and saw the Young Man's Brass Band.  Check out this video:

It turned out to be a great night.

 Next on to Natchez and Vicksburg!

NOLA

Jo headed up to Philly to visit her mom on the 6th and Jack and I were bachelors for a while. We were busily working away on the next day when the first Tornado warning went off. A tornado had been sited west and north of New Orleans. Being in a house on wheels is not comforting when tornadoes are around. It got really dark and then the warning went off again. Heavy rain and hail pounded the RV. The warnings went off 4 times during the next several hours. I pulled in the slides and lowered the antennae and actually did ok. The tornado hit directly across the canal from where we are staying and did a substantial amount of damage. Amazingly, there was no loss of life. The point where it touched down was about 2 miles from our park. More than close enough for me.

I took a ride out to Chalmette  battlefield where the battle of New Orleans took place during the war of 1812. It is a serene location neatly tucked into an industrial part of New Orleans. Surrounded by a refinery and shipping docks is a 100' tall monument to Andrew Jackson, a really informative visitor center, a grand plantation house, the battlefield itself and a cemetery with over 15,000 veterans.  The cemetery was started as a burial ground for Union troops who died in the south during the civil war.  Hundreds of grave stones are marked U.S.C.T. It took a while to figure out that it stood for United States Colored Troops. There are also vets from the war of 1812 that were re-interned there, the Spanish American war, WW1, WW2 and a few from Vietnam. It was a moment of introspection for sure.

 I climbed the 100 steps to the top of the monument, but the view wasn't much as the windows were too narrow to take a photo. The interesting part of the monument were the commemorative plaques placed around the perimeter. Every group that participated on the U.S. side is memorialized.  Pretty impressive group of native Americans, Batarian pirates, local militia, and soldiers and sailors. 

Later in the week, I drove out to the Batarian Preserve. This is the place where Jean Lafitte had his pirate hideout, smuggling businesses, and ships. Unfortunately there is nothing left of the pirates, but the area has been turned into a wildlife preserve.  There are numerous trails with most having boardwalks through the bayou and marshes.  There was an amazing difference as you moved from the bayou

 to the marshes.

 
 Look close for some residents I saw along the boardwalk.

Jo got back last night and we are heading to the French Quarter tonight for dinner and music at the Three Muses. 

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Louisiana

After East Texas, we kept heading east into Louisiana. We headed north to the town of Natchitoches that is the oldest city in Louisiana. I don't know why, but it is pronounced Nack-a-tish. It is a Caddo indian name. We went a little further north to a campground in Marthaville.  It is a true rural area with logging operations, farms and real Southern cooking. I stopped for lunch at Mim's restaurant for fresh catfish. A grandmother and her granddaughter run this cooked to order shack.  Hand breaded, fresh caught fillets couldn't be beat.

We visited Cane River Creole National Historic Park.  This well maintained riverside plantation goes back to a land grant in 1785. The plantation remained in the same family until 1999. Cotton was raised first with slaves and then with share croppers. The period after the civil war was just as interesting pre-war. We toured than main house with a guided tour just for us from a Ranger who couldn't have been nicer or better informed. Everything changed with the invention of mechanized cotton picking.

Louisiana blooms in the spring. 

 The dining room in the main house. The board above the table is called a punka, a fan moved back and forth by a rope with a slave doing the work.

Next on to New Orleans and a campground on the the canal that leads into Lake Ponchartrain. We drove through Baton Rouge and across the famous lake causeway that seemed to go on forever. We stayed on Route 10 through New Orleans that on Friday night was relatively tense but we safely arrived at the campground. 

We took the shuttle to the French Quarter and began walking around. It sure is different during the daytime than at night on Bourbon St. The crowds were pretty large around Jackson Square but we walked down to the French Market. 

We signed up for a walking tour of the garden district.  We had never been there before and decided it was time. We had to walk out of the French Quarter and catch a street car. They were everything I remembered from childhood.  We got dropped off by Commander's Palace.  One of the great Brennan family restaurants.

 We toured this amazing neighborhood until our feet hurt. We learned the difference between pre-civil war and post-civil war. Slave quarters are the tell. The area is known as the "sliver by the river" as it is one of the few areas above sea level. 3' may not sound like a lot but it certainly was during Katrina. The area is known for opulent mansions and beautiful gardens. I was amazed that most of the homes had not been converted into professional offices as the upkeep must be unbelievable. But, there are still wealthy families that have been here for years as well as an influx of famous personalities, like Sandra Bullock, Nicolas Cage, and Anne Rice. 

Hard not to feel some antebellum history going back to 1832.

Next time-Tornados, Andrew Jackson and Jean Lefitte.
 

 

Back on the Road

We finally hit the road again and left Austin on the 28th and went east. Our first night back out was a campground near Big Thicket National Preserve.  This campground was unlike any other we have visited so far. Triple Creek RV Music Park is in east Texas in the town of Woodville.  We were interested in it because they advertised live music on Friday and Saturday nights. We arrived and were greeted by this sign:

Looked pretty good right? Here was the next view that greeted us.

Yep, three and half miles of dirt road that was like being in an earthquake for the next 30 minutes. We discovered why you don't take real glasses or real china.  Everything in every cabinet and  the refrigerator fell out when we finally got into our space. The place was rustic with interesting wood carvings, but also a fair amount of confederate flags, trump stickers, hats, buttons and a flag that said, "Thanks for making our country great again". Suffice it to say, being in the land of the president who would be king wasn't the most comfortable place to be.  I didn't want to make this blog political, but "my desire to be well-informed is currently at odds with my desire to remain sane."

We stayed and spent the next day at Big Thicket National Preserve.  It is the first National Preserve and is a living example of biodiversity. Their motto is the place where, "animals eat plants, plants it insects and insects eat everything" It is a conglomeration of parks, some several miles away. Each area offers a different environmental focus. Two of the more interesting species are carnivorus plants.  Joanne and I took two separate hikes but didn't get to see any. I  guess it was a little too early in the season. 

 
 Next stop, Louisiana and Cane River National Historic Park.