FIREWORKS THAT SHAPED HISTORY SHELLING, SIEGE AND JULY 4 SURRENDER OF VICKSBURG PROVED DECISIVE IN CIVIL WAR.

Byline: Mary S. Hartman Correspondent

VICKSBURG, Miss. - Nestled on a bluff above the Mississippi River, about 200 miles north of New Orleans, is a site of raw and rare beauty - of grassy hills covered with dogwood, sycamore and sweetgum trees. Throughout this land, the birds sing and spring flowers cover the roadsides in a riot of color.

Here, Mother Nature has woven a tapestry of peace and tranquillity away from a troubled world.

But it wasn't always so.

Across these hills 140 years ago raged a bloody Civil War battle. As cannonballs hurtled through the air, townsfolk took cover in caves, which, in preparation for war, they had carved into the soft loess soil of the surrounding countryside.

It was springtime 1863, and the Siege of Vicksburg was under way. For 47 days, between May 19 and July 4, the battle raged. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, commander of forces for the Union, choked the town by cutting off supply lines and shelling round the clock.

The result: On July 4 - Independence Day in America - Grant forced Confederate troops, commanded by Lt. Gen. John Pemberton, into surrender.

Why did Grant and President Abraham Lincoln deem such a bloodbath necessary?

To survive as a nation, the North needed trade. Because of its location, Vicksburg was an important control point for shipping on the Mississippi River. If Northern goods coming down the river by boat were stopped at Vicksburg, they would not reach Union-held New Orleans, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean shipping routes.

Lincoln felt so strongly about the need to take Vicksburg that he called its capture the key to Union victory. ``The war can never be brought to a close,'' he said, ``until we have that key in our pocket.''

While war raged in Vicksburg, it also exploded far to the north, in Pennsylvania. In one of history's greatest coincidences, the Battle of Gettysburg ended on the same date: July 4, 1863.

In both battles, forces of the strong, industrialized North outmatched, outgunned and outsmarted their Southern counterparts.

Two years later, in April 1865, the Civil War was over. The North had won. The Union had been preserved.

If Vicksburg's Civil War residents could return today, they would not recognize their surroundings. Vicksburg has become a thriving Southern town of 27,500 people adjacent to its battlefield of rich beauty.

When my husband and I visited Vicksburg National Military Park - first as the sun was setting on a beautiful April evening and again as it rose the following morning - the park's rolling green hills sparkled with light. The paved roadway cut through the swells and fells as if a ribbon had been laid to mark the contours of the land. Rays of sunshine awakened the statues and busts of majors and generals, both Union and Confederate, all but bringing them to life.

How, we asked ourselves, can this glory have arisen from the carnage imposed by war?

Vicksburg and its countryside had been plundered by the constant shelling, although, because of the caves, miraculously few residents lost their lives. It was, however, an event so psychologically painful that Vicksburg residents did not celebrate the July 4 Independence holiday for 100 years - not until July 1963.

Largely because of their pro-slavery stance, these Southerners wanted a separate country. In addition, many were not keen on a strong central government - a hallmark philosophy of the Northern states.

To fight for their beliefs, the Confederate soldiers here were willing to endure beastly hardships.

Consider, for example, one exhibit in the military park Visitors Center, located just outside the park gates. A small diorama portrays the daily food allotment of a Confederate soldier. Breakfast: one biscuit, one slab of salt pork (2 inches by 4 inches, 1/4 inch thick) and one tablespoon of beans. Dinner: the same. Lunch: nothing.

Not surprisingly, starvation and desertion were two reasons for the ultimate surrender of Vicksburg. Yet the bulk of Southern troops fought bravely to the end.

While life wasn't comparatively rosy for Union soldiers, they were dug into trenches where they could pass some of their time by reading books and newspapers, as well as mail, from home. Food for Union soldiers, though monotonous, was plentiful.

The Visitor Center's exhibits and a film on the siege are a good way to get oriented at this park.

Then proceed through Memorial Arch to begin the 16-mile drive along the verdant parkway. Springtime, with the dogwood and magnolia trees in new leaf, is a glorious time for this excursion.

Along the way, signs are color-coded - red for Confederate exhibits, blue for Union - to help visitors sort out the battle sites. Those who have not visited a Civil War military park will be astounded by the number of monuments, memorials, busts and statues on display - 206 in all - honoring those who fought at Vicksburg. Set onto the green landscape, they form a 16-mile necklace of tributes to the valiant soldiers who fought, each for a cause he thought was right.

After a short drive, you'll reach the Illinois Memorial, modeled after the Pantheon in Rome and looking for all the world like the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. It holds the names of more than 36,000 Illinois men who fought in the siege. It is said that Illinois soldiers literally bled and died everywhere in this battle.

Nearby is the restored Shirley House, which Union troops called ``the white house'' - the only structure in the park that survived the war. During the siege it served as headquarters for the 45th Illinois infantry.

Proceeding through the park, visitors pass fortifications of both Union and Confederate significance, but it is clear from these exhibits that although the South lost the battle, its troops put up a heroic fight.

A sobering aspect of the park tour is a stop at the Vicksburg National Cemetery, where row upon row of plain white markers account for the 2,944 lives lost here.

Between March 29 and July 4, 1863, more than 19,000 soldiers were listed as killed, wounded or missing by the two warring sides. Buried in the cemetery are thousands more - unknown soldiers whose remains have been transferred from other battle sites.

Before closing out a visit to Vicksburg, stop at the Old Court House Museum. Here, on July 4, 1863, the Confederate flag was lowered and the Stars and Stripes were raised.

Thus, the Mississippi River was opened to Union trade, and the key had been turned toward ending the War Between the States.

IF YOU GO

GETTING THERE: From Interstate 20 in Vicksburg, take 4B and take Clay Street (U.S. 80) one-quarter mile to the park entrance.

HOURS, COSTS: Currently the park is open from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. From November to March it is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Entry fee is $5 per vehicle, good for seven days.

INFORMATION: [phone]; www.nps.gov/vick.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Cannons line up in a precise row at Vicksburg National Military Park, where a July 4, 1863, surrender by the Confederates proved a pivotal event in the Civil War. Above right, the Illinois Memorial honors the more than 36,000 men from the state who fought in the campaign.

Mary S. Hartman/Special to Great Escapes

(3) The restored USS Cairo, an ironclad warship, is exhibited at Vicksburg National Military Park. The Vicksburg siege and surrender were pivotal events in the Civil War.

Jay Clarke/Miami Herald

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IF YOU GO (see text)