Vicksburg Unveils Replacement Battlefield Tablets

Hundreds of community members, dignitaries, and local students gathered on Thursday, October 30th, to celebrate the replacement of missing historical tablets at Vicksburg National Military Park.

This special National Park Service Centennial event featured Director Mary A. Bomar and Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, who unveiled the bright blue and red tablets commemorating Union and Confederate actions in the siege and defense of Vicksburg.

“Today, as we dedicate these tablets, we refuse to allow these soldiers to slip from memory,” said Director Bomar. “The National Park Service will keep telling the stories of what happened here for the benefit of future generations.”

The ceremony began with country music star Trace Adkins singing the national anthem. The park was honored to host Adkins, whose ancestor served in the 31st  Louisiana Volunteer Infantry during the siege of Vicksburg and was captured along with the garrison when the city surrendered on July 4, 1863.

Other distinguished speakers were Landman Teller, President of Friends of the Vicksburg National Military Park and Campaign, Monika Mayr, Superintendent of Vicksburg National Military Park, and John Nau, Chairman of the National Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

 

The Centennial Initiative, launched by the National Park Service in 2007, is a ten-year program to reinvigorate America’s national parks and prepare them for a second century of service by embracing new constituents and gaining support from a broad array of public and private partners.

The Vicksburg Centennial project matches $71,000 of private donations with $71,000 of federal money. This funding will pay for tablet replacement and the conservation of bronze statuary and stone monuments throughout the battlefield.

A total of 22 tablets are being cast as part of this project and will mark the specific locations of various Union and Confederate artillery batteries during the siege and defense of Vicksburg. The tablets unveiled on Thursday replace those that were removed in 1942 as part of the scrap metal drive in support of America’s efforts during World War II.