(March 17, 2013) Enlarge Orion Perseus Howe Medal of Honor display
 

Howe Battlefield Marker

(March 17, 2013) Enlarge Display

(3-01) Enlarge Artifacts from the battlefield

(3-96) The Confederate Trench. NPS information: Life behind the Confederate lines was a far cry from the comfort experienced by the Union soldier whose duties were light with plenty of relief time for reading hometown newspapers, mail and pilfered books. Food was plentiful, though sometimes monotonous. Even so, there was a war going on and one yankee soldier wrote, "Everywhere I went I was met with the familiar zip, zip of rebel bullets flying promiscuously through the air."

(3-96) NPS information: One Day's Allowance! Morning (left) and evening meal. Toward the end of the siege, a full day's allotment for soldiers and civilians alike was "two common biscuits, two rashers (slices) of bacon, a few peas and a spoon full of rice ..." Drinking water was also in short supply

(3-96) Bomb Shelters. NPS information 1: To escape relentless shelling from Federal artillery many citizens of Vicksburg took refuge underground. They dug caves into hillsides of loess soil, a fine-grained clay deposit indigenous in this area. Single family caves had only one or two rooms, others were huge and accommodated as many as 200. To avoid entrapment and induce air circulation caves often had several entrances. Cooking took place outside the entrances. Amenities were preserved in the caves with carpets, furnishings and wall niches for books, candles, and flowers. Jane Bitterman described her underground quarters as "far more pleasant than the people imagine." Thanks to widespread use of caves only a very small number of Vicksburg citizens were killed or wounded during 47 days of sustained bombardment. Information 2: All furnishings are original pieces of the Civil War era, and are typical of household articles brought into the caves during the siege. This rocking chair was used in one of these Vicksburg caves

(3-08) Enlarge African-American soldiers' display