Raymond

Going back a bit for me but in October 2013 I toured battlefields of the Vicksburg campaign with the Rocky Mountain Civil War Roundtable.  I had been to Vicksburg once before so I had a little bit of knowledge of the ground but this one would be much much more.  Unfortunately this was also when the federal government shut down so we were barred from visiting the national park.  On the plus side nearly all of the campaign sites are not NPS sites so we were able to do much touring, just not the siege lines.  One of the better non-NPS sites is the battlefield of Raymond.  It is well taken care of and well marked.  We used the Blue and Gray magazine for much of our touring. 

 

 These cannons are on the grounds of an old warehouse or factory.  We intially were looking at them through the fence when a local told us that the gate is always open and we could just drive back in there to view it.  Raymond is towards the left and these guns would be pointing south.

We then drove a short distance to the south where the main portion of the Raymond battlefield is preserved.  There is a great walking trail around the park that lays out the battle.

This bridge looks old but kinda doubt that it is of Civil War vintage just because if it was I would think there would be greater efforts to protect it.

The banks of Fourteen Mile creek.  Union lines would be in the field to the left while the Confederates defended the right bank.

A line of cannons can just be seen in the field of cotton.

A cannon just after crossing the creek.

Which then provides a better view of the cannons in the cotton field.

Now walking the line of cannons.  They were all marked with NPS style markers denoting the battery they belonged to and what they did in the battle.  Every gun was also sponsored by someone, showing the care this battlefield receives.

Traveling north towards Raymond we came across this Texas monument.