"Grant's crown of immortality was won, and the jewel that shone most brightly in it was set
there by the blood of the men of Champion Hills ...... Six thousand blue and gray-coated men were lying there in the woods, dead or wounded, when the last gun of Champion Hills was fired.

Major S. H. M. Byers, Fifth Iowa Infantry

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Bertram Hayes-Davis
150th Anniversary Event
Featured Speaker

On May 18, 2013, the Champion Heritage Foundation will host an all-day event to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Champion Hill. Bertram Hayes-Davis, the great-great grandson of the president of the Confederate States, Jefferson Davis, has been named as event speaker.

"Having Bertram Hayes-Davis accept the Champion Heritage Foundation’s invitation to speak at Champion Hill was exciting for me," said Rebecca Blackwell Drake, local author and historian who has worked for battlefield preservation in Mississippi since 1999. "The 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Champion Hill calls for a special commemoration and we could think of nothing better than to have Bertram Hayes-Davis as speaker."

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Historic Headstone Set
at Champion Hill

By Rebecca Blackwell Drake

Early on the morning of December 12, 2012, trucks and cars began pulling onto Midway Station road, located on the Champion family property. The guests had come to witness the setting of a long overdue headstone for Lula Johnson Townsend, turn of the century matriarch of the Champion Hill community. A light frost covered the ground, casting a shimmering beauty throughout the woods.

The vehicles maneuvered the sunken roadbed before parking in view of an 1840s cemetery. The burial site, accentuated by broken headstones scattered amidst the fallen leaves, held the remains of those who had passed away long ago.

The last vehicle to pull through the gate and up to the cemetery was a company truck from Yazoo City. The truck’s precious cargo was a newly inscribed headstone for Lula Townsend who was born at Champion Hill in 1878, one year after the close of the Reconstruction Era, and lived at Champion Hill until her death in 1958. She was widely recognized as a “mover and shaker” in the black community.

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Letters of Pvt. Ackless W. Geeslin
to his wife, Mary Ann

22nd Iowa Infantry

May 16 Three miles west of Raymond I have had no opportunity of sending my letter out yet so I will write some more. I am still well and hearty. Good news. Jackson is ours, the Capitol of the state. O’ we are playing smash down here. I tell you the poor rebs have got perfectly scared and just as soon as we open on them they run. We have tore up their R.R. for miles. Their troops can neither get to nor from Vicksburg.

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Gen. Bowen's Wife in Raymond

By Rebecca Blackwell Drake

In 1862, when the War came to Mississippi, one of the Confederate officers assigned to protect the Big Black River railroad bridge between Edwards and Bovina was Brig. Gen. John S. Bowen, commander of the First Missouri Regiment. Accompanying Bowen to Mississippi was his pregnant wife, Mary Kennerly Bowen of St. Louis. She refused to be separated from her husband. When Bowen left St. Louis to enter the war, Mary was by his side, leaving their two small children, Menard Kennerly (age seven) and Anna, (age two), at the family home to be cared for by Mary’s mother.

General Bowen received his first real taste of war on April 6, 1862, when, during the battle of Shiloh, he had two horses shot from under him and was severely wounded. Mary accompanied him to Memphis where he was hospitalized until early May. Bowen rejoined his regiment at Corinth and was soon ordered to Vicksburg to defend the city from naval attacks.

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Commemorative Medallions
to be Awarded to Descendants of Soldiers Who Fought
 

During the opening ceremonies commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Champion Hill, commemorative medallions will be awarded to the descendants of those who fought.

To receive honorary medallion, honorees must apply online and the family member(s) must be present. Rebecca Drake and Sid Champion V, the great-great grandson of Sid and Matilda Champion, will present the medals. The medallions will also be sold to the public with all proceeds going to further interpret the Champion Hill battlefield.

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Directions to the 150th Event
Champion Hill MB Church

Take I-20 to Exit 27, Bolton.
Go south 0.8 miles to a 4-way stop in the heart of town. Then continue straight for 0.2 miles over the railroad tracks to the first street on the right. Turn right on Champion Hill Road for 4 miles. The Champion Hill MB Church is on the left. There should be signs of cars and activity on the roadside.

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Champion Hill Tours
With Sid Champion V

Tour Champion Hill with Sid J. Champion (Sid V), the great-great-grandson of Sid and Matilda Champion.

• The Cross Roads

• Old Jackson Road

• The Hill of Death

• Original House Site and Historic Marker

• Midway Station

• Family Cemetery and Memorabilia

• Margie Bearss Memorial

$50 per person (minimum of 2)  Call 601-316-4894

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Collected Stories of the Vicksburg Campaign