VICKSBURG NATIONAL MILITARY PARK

The park comprises most of the seats held by the Union forces at Rode's headquarters (19/25 May -4 July 1863). Some sites are to be visited. It also houses the USS Cairo Museum and the Rode National Cemetery. At Visitor Center, a 20-minute film and exhibition show the Bataille battle and living conditions at the time. The park visit is made easily by autotour with its own vehicle, following a circuit that is given to the entrance. From one site to another, the red markers report the places held by the Confederate and the blues, those kept by the Union. Historic reconstructions are usually scheduled from early June to early August. The USS Cairo, shortly before the Rode National Cemetery and the opposite end of the park, is an iron-fired Union navy iron coque in the Civil war in January 1962. It was 53 metres long and 15 m wide and consisted of a crew of 251 sailors. He was named after the city of Cairo in Illinois. On December 12, 1862, this gunboat was the first ship sunk by a marine mine on the Yazoo River. The USS Cairo was bailed out in 1964 and has been registered with the National Register of Historic Places since 1971. A 6-minute film recounts the ship's salvage and some saved parts and objects from the ship are exposed.
The Rode National Cemetery welcomes the remains of 17 000 Union soldiers, including 13 000 unknown soldiers. It also houses the remains of veterans of more recent wars. Most of the soldiers of the Confederation dead during Rode's siege are buried at the Cedar Hill Cemetery, outside the park and the north of the city.