NPS Gets Vicksburg Campaign Site Tied To Grant's Strategy
By Kathryn Jorgensen
Feb./March 2003

RAYMOND, Miss. - Four hundred seventy acres of Vicksburg Campaign land has been transferred to the National Park Service's Natchez Trace Parkway property which it abuts.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency transferred ownership in a Jan. 9 ceremony held at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Raymond, a historic site that was used as a hospital after the Battle of Raymond. Guests included NPS Director Fran Mainella, Civil War Preservation Trust President James Lighthizer and federal, state and local officials.

The tract is part of the Dillon Plantation. Its historic significance was recognized thanks to the 1966 Historic Preservation Act. The act's Section 106 requirements protect historic properties by requiring federal agencies to consider historic values in their activities.

As Vicksburg National Military Park Historian Terrence Winschel explains, "Any undertaking that affects cultural resources has to be looked at for adverse effect."

When the Farm Service Agency foreclosed on a mortgage on the 470 acres and assumed ownership a year ago, the Mississippi State Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service (NPS) were contacted and Winschel was asked if the property had historical significance.

It turns out it did. "It's clearly a key piece of the Vicksburg Campaign puzzle," says Winschel. A May 12, 1863, skirmish, one of four actions along Fourteen-Mile Creek that day, occurred on the plantation while the battle of Raymond was being fought.

Confederates were trying to hold back Federal troops that were moving against Vicksburg. Gens. Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman, who were hoping to capture Vicksburg and cut the Confederacy by securing the Mississippi River corridor, were headquartered the night of May 12 at the Dillon Plantation.

Winschel refutes the notion that Grant's aim when he crossed the Mississippi was to take the capital in Jackson. Instead, based on exaggerated reports of Confederate strength, Grant changed his plans the night of May 12. He chose to move against Jackson, and in so doing his troops destroyed rail lines and materiel and forced retreat of Confederates who were kept from joining the defense of Vicksburg.

Two days later Jackson fell and Grant turned toward his objective, Vicksburg. Grant demonstrated his "mastery of the art of war," says Winschel, showing himself to be a premier general, based on his flexibility.

The Dillon Plantation land is a key component of the Vicksburg Campaign trail and helps link significant sites such as Port Gibson, Raymond and Champion Hill, says Winschel. Given the Vicksburg battlefield's restricted boundary, he said the park service works "with an array of partners" to gain access to sites connected with the Vicksburg Campaign.

The property is partially wooded farmland with some old farm buildings and silos. It contains no field fortifications, but Winschel says there's a possibility that bridge remains are on the site. Since two divisions bivouacked there, undoubtedly there are artifacts in the ground.

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) chaired by John L. Nau III facilitated the transfer. It is an independent federal agency that promotes and influences federal historic preservation efforts and advises the president and Congress. Its mandate comes from the Historic Preservation Act.

ACHP communications coordinator Bruce Milhans says the council has the potential of being involved with other Civil War sites whenever a federal agency has Section 106 activity. For additional information visit www.achp.gov.