Military Museum Marks 150th Anniversary of the Siege of Vicksburg

SPRINGFIELD, IL (05/17/2013)(readMedia)-- On May 18, 1863, Union forces including 36,000 Illinois Soldiers commanded by Illinois militia officer Ulysses S. Grant began the siege of Vicksburg, Miss., a Confederate stronghold that controlled the Mississippi River.

After 47 days of hard fighting Grant accepted Gen. John Pemberton's unconditional surrender on July 4, 1863, sealing a major strategic victory that put the Mississippi in Union control and cut the Confederacy in two.

The Illinois State Military Museum will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the siege with special displays of flags, equipment and weapons used by Illinois Soldiers. The items will be on display until July 8, about the same length of time as the siege. The museum is two blocks north of the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard. and North Grand Avenue. in Springfield.

Bill Lear of Springfield, Military Museum curator and designer of the displays, said the importance of the Vicksburg siege and the contribution of Illinois Soldiers in this campaign is frequently overlooked. "Vicksburg fell at the same time that the Union Army stopped the Confederate Army's advance at Gettysburg, Penn., and Gettysburg has overshadowed Vicksburg over the years," he said.

He added Illinois had a significant role at Gettysburg with the first shot fired by Lt. Marcellus Jones of the 8th Illinois Cavalry.

To recognize Illinois service at Vicksburg, the museum will display the national colors of the 97th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, one of 71 regiments of Illinois infantry at Vicksburg. Painted with the names of key battles in which the regiment fought, the flag is on display in museum's lobby.

The displays of Vicksburg artifacts also include a small cross made of wood from the "unconditional surrender" tree where Pemberton surrendered to Grant, brass spurs worn by Lt. Col. M. Smith of Rockford, Ill., killed near Vicksburg Jun 25, 1863, the officer's sword of Capt. William Colby of Greenville, Ill., who was killed at Vicksburg, and a Confederate Soldier's shirt made from a felt piano cover.

"In addition to these displays, our Civil War exhibit gallery includes the regimental colors from the 114th Illinois Volunteer Infantry that fought at Vicksburg, the frock coat from Maj. Gen. John A. Logan of Murphysboro, Ill., and weapons and personal equipment Civil War Soldiers carried," said Lear.

"And, of course the Museum features other displays of Illinois heritage from French colonial militia to the current Global War on Terror."