|
| Home | Grant's March | Pemberton's March | Battle of Champion Hill | Order of Battle | Diaries & Accounts | Official Records | | Killed & Wounded | Kaleidoscope of History | Re-enactments | Book Store | Battlefield Tour | Visitors | "Grant's crown of immortality was won, and the jewel that
shone most brightly in it was set | ||||||
|
Margie Bearss'
Cistern Quenches Soldier's Thirst
Finding a Rebel Belt Buckle |
The Long
Road Home
The 68th Ohio Infantry in the Battle of Champion Hill Excerpt from Chapter Four
For 14 long days we had kept our backs to the Mississippi River, but on the morning of May 15 all was hurry and bustle in making ready for a rapid march toward Vicksburg, 40 miles away. The day after the battle of Jackson rain came down in torrents, until every gully and ravine was a raging flood. The country was broken and the soil a sticky clay that clung to the feet of the men, making it hard marching. Still, we pressed forward, and late in the day came up in the rear of Gen. Hovey's Division of the Thirteenth Corps, and went into camp in the woods about three miles east of what afterward became known in history as Champion Hills. Photograph by William Pywell Captures Scenes at the Big Black River Station in 1864
By
William Redish Pywell, a young Baltimore photographer, moved to Washington to work under the master photographer Matthew Brady. In 1863 at the age of 19, Pywell was assigned to Vicksburg to capture scenes associated with the Civil War. A photograph taken at the Big Black River Station in February 1864 captures not only a few of the business sheds (left) and the home of Mrs. Spears (far right) but a train rounding the bend (highlighted) as it heads westward toward Vicksburg. The railroad bridge over the Big Black River was burned by the Confederates on May 17, 1863, as they retreated from the Battles of Champion Hill and the Big Black. From that time on, the Southern Railroad, a line which previously extended from Vicksburg to Jackson, remained disabled except for a 12-mile stretch running from Vicksburg to the west bank of the river. After the fall of Vicksburg, this section of line was taken over by the Union Army and used to transport supplies to and from the Union encampment at the Big Black. Matilda Champion: "I was in the Cellar During the Fight" By Rebecca Blackwell Drake
On Saturday, October 26, 1906, Matilda Champion, age 79, woke up excited about the day in store. She dressed in her finest clothes, donned her hat and then called for her carriage driver to hitch up the horses. Soon she was on her way to Edwards Station to catch the train to Vicksburg where she had been invited by the State of Illinois to be an honored guest at the dedication of the Illinois Monument. Matilda, the widow of Sid S. Champion, Confederate veteran, considered the invitation to be a wonderful honor. As the train rumbled westward she focused her thoughts on the historic event that lay ahead. |
Champion Hill
Tours
Tour Champion Hill with Sid J. Champion (Sid V), the great-great-grandson of Sid and Matilda Champion.
$25 per person (minimum of 2) Call 601-316-4894 Collected Stories of the Vicksburg Campaign
By Rebecca Drake and Margie Bearss
Darwina's Diary: A
View of Champion Hill ~ 1865
My Dear Wife ~ The Civil War Letters of Sid and Matilda Champion By Rebecca Drake and Margie Bearss
In Memoriam October 22, 1925 — October 7, 2006
|
||||
|
| ||||||
|
|
||||||
RECENT ARTICLES 
Now In Audio 
The
campaign, the object of which was the reduction of Vicksburg, thus far
had succeeded admirably, and Gen. Grant was well pleased, as he had
planted his army between Pemberton's and Johnston's armies. Meanwhile
Gen. McClernand's command in our rear was making noisy demonstrations to
deceive Pemberton, in Vicksburg, as to Grant's real intentions until
Johnston's force could be disposed of This program was carried out to
the letter. Johnston's army was badly whipped and driven from the field,
the city of Jackson captured and wholly destroyed as a military depot,
and our noble chieftain was now ready to cultivate the acquaintance of
Pemberton.
Copyright (c) James and Rebecca Drake, 1998 -
2008. All Rights Reserved.
Last Modified 3/29/2008
Webpage design by James Drake