Vicksburg, Mississippi

City: Vicksburg

County: Warren

State: Mississippi

Lat/Long: 32.3500, -90.8667

Located in west central Mississippi on the east side of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vicksburg is the county seat of Warren County. Prior to the coming of Europeans, the Natchez Indian nation occupied the area that would become Vicksburg. In 1719, the French established Fort St. Pierre in the area, which remained until 1729, when the French abandoned the fort after attacks from the Natchez. The French allied with the Choctaws to drive the Natchez from the area, and the Choctaw assumed control over the region. After the American Revolution, the Choctaw ceded the territory to the United States, and American settlers began arriving in the area. Migration increased after the War of 1812, and in 1824, settlers had the town surveyed and platted. In 1825, the Mississippi Legislature incorporated Vicksburg as a town, and by 1835, the town had a population of between 2,500 and 3,000 people. In 1836, the Mississippi Legislature incorporated Vicksburg as a city. Vicksburg quickly grew into Mississippi's second largest community. Prominently situated on the confluence of the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, it became an important commercial, trade, and manufacturing center. Trade in cotton and slaves flowed through Vicksburg. Commercial activity ceased with the onset of the Civil War. Known as the "Gibraltar of the Confederacy" Vicksburg was crucial to the Confederacy's hopes to retain control of the Mississippi River and to the Union's strategy to divide the Confederacy. Capturing Vicksburg became crucial to Union military strategy, and the capture of the city in July 1863 was a turning point in the war.

Mississippi Encyclopedia Staff, "Warren County," Mississippi Encyclopedia, accessed 25 June 2020, http://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/warren-county/; R. V. Booth, "Vicksburg," Encyclopedia of Mississippi History, ed. by Dunbar Rowland (Madison, WI: Selwyn A. Brant, 1907), 2:858-62.