Vicksburg, Mississippi

The city of Vicksburg (20 miles from Mile Post 60 of the Natchez Trace) was also a scene of Civil War action. Probably the most famous aspect of this battle was that the Union army held the city under siege for 47 days, during which civilians actually took shelter in caves under the city.
Vicksburg was located on the Mississippi River. Therefore naval boats plied the water of the river. One Union boat, named the Cairo, was sunk by a Confederate torpedo. Because the vessel went down in 12 minutes, almost all the artifacts went down with her, and were very well preserved. There is a museum dedicated to this boat and its artifacts.

The Cairo was a special kind of boat called an ‘ironclad’, which means that it was a wooden boat that was covered on the top with iron. The river mud preserved much of the original boat, which is now displayed under a giant tent.