On May 26, 2007, VicksburgNationalMilitaryPark unveiled a new exhibit on African-American history inside the park VisitorCenter. The exhibit and interpretive panel highlight the role of soldiers of African descent in the Battle of Milliken’s Bend and was funded by the Lower Mississippi Delta Initiative.
Superintendent Monika Mayr welcomed guests to the dedication and helped cut the ribbon with Ser Seshs Ab Heter-Clifford M. Boxley,Coordinator, Friends of the Forks of the Roads Society Inc. Park Ranger Matt Atkinson presented a short historic overview of the battle and then local African-American living historian, Norman Fisher, elaborated on how enslaved people were transformed into freedom fighters. Visitors accompanied the Superintendent and Park Rangers to the Milliken’s Bend area on a “caravan tour” of the site. SeasonalPark Ranger David Slay presented a program on site near Milliken’s Bend where historical markers commemorate the battle.
On June 7, 1863, the Battle of Milliken’s Bend was the first engagement of the Civil War in which formerly enslaved people recently recruited into the Union army fought and won a decisive victory over Confederate forces. The 9th and 11th Louisiana Regiments (African Descent) and the 1st Mississippi Regiment (African Descent) along with the 23rd Iowa Infantry Regiment repelled a Confederate attack on the supply depot at Milliken’s Bend. The fighting was fierce and resorted to hand-to-hand combat as many of the black soldiers had just been issued their rifles and had not received training on how to load them.
The battle proved a pivotal turning point in white Northern opinion on whether black soldiers would fight for their freedom. Superintendent Mayr stated that the United States Colored Troops “got their genesis at Milliken’s Bend.” After the battle, Milliken’s Bend was used as a rallying cry to recruit more black soldiers into the Union Army. By the end of the war, over 180,000 soldiers of African descent had enlisted in the Union army.
