Chickasaw Bayou

One of the first engagements at Vicksburg was the battle of Chickasaw Bayou.  Grant had Sherman attack here while Grant's army was moving south through central Mississippi.  The hope was that either spot would be lightly defended and one or the other, or both, would have success.  Instead Grant's offensive ground to a halt due to some great cavalry raids  by Van Dorn at Holly Springs and Forrest in west Tennessee.  Sherman's force was defeated in large part because the ground did not allow him to bring his entire force to bear at one time, plus it was good defensive ground in general. 

This is looking south and this road would take one right past the Vicksburg defenses.  There is high ground to the left side through the trees but cannot really be seen due to the thick foliage.

Moving east from the above sign brought us to several bayous, this was the largest one and we believe it to be Chickasaw Bayou but there really is little in the way of signs or markers of any sort back here.

This is the Yazoo River in the vicinity of where Sherman's forces would have left their boats and moved towards Vicksburg.

The view from Chickasaw Bayou looking towards Vicksburg.  We talked to a local who was telling us about how the area flooded, he remembered one year when it flooded to the tops of the telephone poles.

In the center of the photo an obelisk can be seen in the far distance.  This is the navy monument inside the park boundaries and helps to show where the high ground is.