Natchez

French coloniser Jean Baptiste le Moyne established Fort Rosalie in 1716 at the site of the present day Natchez. Later the Spanish for a while occupied the area. The town’s heyday came in the 19th century, when cotton growing was a leading industry and Natchez was an important river port of the Mississippi River. Fortunes were made, and vast plantations with magnificent houses reflected the prosperity of the period. All the work on the plantations of course  was carried out by slaves.

I stayed at Natchez state park for two nights in a shaded spot. Another superbly laid out park where there was plenty of deserted road to bicycle on and places to hike. Each day I drove into Natchez to tour the city. An excellent visitors center - where I could sit and compose this Blog with high speed internet and air conditioning. It was about 33C outside.

Funny to see a whole lot of Canada Geese at the park and I encountered a tortoise when out on a bike ride. I saw a numbers of colorful birds including a red Northern Cardinal.

Battle of Mobile Bay

At the RV Park in Vicksburg I met a keen Civil War Historian who told me about the Battle of Mobile Bay. I was not going that far south but for this diary I am adding this account.

Mobile Bay, Alabama is just east of New Orleans, Mississippi. New Orleans had been captured by Union Forces in 1862.

In 1864 in the middle of the American Civil War (1861- 1865) Mobile Bay was the site of more blockade runners than any port other than Wilmington North Carolina. These blockade runners were supported by the British and the French and were supplying the Confederate Navy and Confederate Army.  The British had built Iron Clads for the Confederate Navy. One was the Alabama. Later during the Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant the British paid compensation to the US for their support of the Confederacy and particularly the building of the Alabama.

In August 1864 Admiral Farragut of the US Navy (Union) launched a navy/army operation against Mobile Bay.  The US Navy had four Monitors (Iron Clads) and 15 Wooden Steam ships. The Confederate Navy had one Iron Clad and three wooden gun boats. The battle continued till the spring of 1865 when the Captain of the Confederate Navy’s Tennessee as a last effort to make a difference came up with the call for “Damn the Torpedoes”.  Torpedoes were what would later be called mines.

It was not until April 12th 1865 that Mobile surrendered to land forces and the final surrender of the land forces of the Confederacy in this area was on May 4th 1865.


See: www.battleofmobilebay.com

Meeting the Generals

When you are an independent traveller you sometime come across unexpected events that no organised tour group would ever find.

At the Strand Theatre in Vicksburg on July 3rd, the day before the July 4th holiday there was a performance titled “Appomattox - The Last 48 hours”. There were two actors who were historians - a Dr Curtis Fields, as General Ulysses S. Grant, and Thomas Jesse, as General Robert E.Lee. They reenacted the written communications between Lee and Grant from the evening of April 7th 1865 and the afternoon of April 9th 1865. Having read “Grant” a 900 page history by Ron Cherenow I was impressed with how accurate (at least as far as historian’s have mostly agreed) the performance was. It really made history come alive.

The following day July 4th there was an “Annual breakfast with the Generals”. This was put on by a local historical society which call themselves “Vicksburg Civil War Roundtable”.  There was only about 40 people in attendance. There were historical presentations by the two generals as well as General Pemberton who was commanding the Confederates at Vicksburg, an English woman acting the role of women and nursing (as it was) in the Civil War, General Beauregard and the Secretary of State for the Confederate Government.

I spoke to the Generals and told them of my interest in the American Civil War and having recently read the Grant book.

USS Cairo

This museum is within the Vicksburg National Military Park. It explains the history of the discovery of the USS Cairo buried in silt and its recovery. It was an Ironclad - the type of naval ship developed in the Civil War that changed naval war for the future. The Union had built many of them on the Mississippi north of Vicksburg and the Confederates had some south of Vicksburg. It was sunk by a torpedo (as mines were called) with no loss of life but all the crew had to abandon all their possessions. The museum has extensive displays of implements, personal possessions etc. There is even a champagne bottle that was owned by the officers.  You can see the paddle wheel mechanism which powered the iron clad at about 9 knots.

Vicksburg

The Vicksburg National Military Park is a must see and so the first afternoon I drove the 16 mile circuit.

It was only about an hour and a half drive that morning from Leroy Percy State Park. Much of it through fields of beans, cotton and corn (maize).  However there was a large section of flooding that made one aware of the effect of the heavy rains that had occurred a few weeks ago and that one had seen in Arkansas. The Arkansas river flows into the Mississippi.

At the National Military Park there is an excellent introductory museum and video and then one sets off on the 16 mile route that firstly goes down the side of the Union lines and then the Confederate.

What is striking is the number of memorials throughout the Park. There are over 1000 and they commemorate the generals and the infantry that they commanded.  Here is one line showing a Union battery.

This monument to all the Illinois regiments was restored in 1906 to commemorate all those from Illinois served in the Civil War at Vicksburg. 

Here is a memorial to the African Americans (Blacks) who served on the Union side.  

Another striking memorial.

Time to slow down - a day off!

Highway 61 heads south from Memphis and is famous for the history of the origins of country music.

There are multiple museums and places to visit the history although I did not make time to more than enjoy the country - vast acres of soya beans and cotton growing.

Having been immersed in the history of Elvis Presley and his music I decided on a quiet day.  Elvis incorporated much of the country music rhythm and songs into his music.

I was told at this stage of plant growth it is difficult to tell soy bean and cotton plants apart.

I found a state park - a bit off the beaten track near Hollandale Mississippi and checked in for two nights.  Leroy Percy State Park had electrical hookup - needed to keep the air conditioning running. It was about 34C outside but the a/c kept the temperature down to 26C inside. It was a day to clean up - inside and out. There was only one other camper - a 5th wheel in the park although there were 16 sites and five double cabins. The ranger was a young woman who lived nearby, had worked for the park for 19 years and spoke with a relaxed Mississippi accent. It appeared that the park would be more popular in the fall when it catered to hunters who would hunt (shoot) deer in the nearby hunting areas.

There were a number of birds sighted but particularly a Red Headed Woodpecker which is different from the Piliated Woodpecker seen in British Columbia.

I watched  “ Gone with the Wind” the 1939 movie with Clarke Gable as Rhett, Vivian Leigh as Scarlett, Lesley Howard as Ashley and Olivia de Haviland as Melanie. Required watching prior to visiting Civil War Sites.

I was aiming to be in Vicksburg for July 4th celebrations.

Here is a view of this lovely park which reinforced my interest in seeking out federal, state and county parks to stay in in the RV.

Graceland

I was a bit ambivalent about whether to visit Graceland - the Elvis Presley entertainment and museum center in Memphis. However, in the spirit of understanding America and because it was close buy I decided to go.  I ended up being quite fascinated by the story of Elvis and what has transpired from his music since. I even bought a CD of his best tunes. He was born on January 8th 1935 in Tupelo a small town not far from Memphis.  He died at Graceland at the age of 42 on August 16th 1977.

He made at least 36 films and is said to be “the best selling solo artist in the history of recorded music”.

The center has multiple separate exhibits - motorcycles, automobiles (he liked Rolls Royces), his time in the US army, a history of the development of rock music, two jets owned by Elvis and then there is the Graceland house and estate that he bought for his parents at the age of 22. In the house are original furnishings as the house was at the time he died. There is a big focus on his family history and activities that he was involved in - horse riding, dune buggy riding, motorcycles, racket ball etc.

What one is less aware of is that from 1973 till be died in 1977 he had a major drug addiction problem but he was still performing. Wikipedia has a lot more information. There is an impressive family shrine were he is buried.

The Beatles came after Elvis - they were formed in 1960 and became famous in the 1970s. The Rolling Stones (who are still going to-day) were formed in 1962.  Michael Jackson, another American pop artist, who died as a result of a likely drug addiction lived from 1973 to 1977.

Elvis transformed popular music with his blend of rock and roll and country and gospel music. He also was seen to be sexually provocative and completely changed the kind of music adored by youth much to the consternation of the adult world.

A fascinating visit.