Anyone who knows me at all knows that I love history...so we decided to make a trip over to Vicksburg for our anniversary trip! We enjoyed a leisurely morning(something we rarely do) and then visited a few sights of interest.
We began our day at the Cedar Hill Cemetery and Soldiers Rest. It is commonly known as City Cemetery and is the resting place for 5,000 confederate soldiers who died during the Siege of Vicksburg.
Church of the Holy Trinity (1869) was our next stop...unfortunately, we missed the tour! It contains six Tiffany stained glass windows and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
We then headed south to visit the town of Port Gibson. During The War Between the States, Port Gibson is best remembered as one of General Grant's first conquests after crossing the Mississippi River during the Vicksburg Campaign of 1863. In a famous legend, Grant reportedly stated that the town was "too beautiful to burn." He left Port Gibson mostly unscathed on his northward trek to Vicksburg.
We drove on down the road to the Windsor Ruins, a four story mansion built in 1860. It was used as a Union hospital and observation post during The War Between the States. It was destroyed by fire in 1890 by a careless smoker.
Steel caps and wrought iron balusters topped and joined the orginal 29, 45 feet high Corinthian columns. The mansion had 25 rooms and 25 fireplaces.
Down the road was the Bethel Presbyterian Church (1824)
Next, we headed to Rosswood Plantation which was built in 1857 by David Shroder, architect of Windsor.
It took my breath away as we turned into the drive...
We met the sweetest couple, the Hylanders, who own and operate a Bed and Breakfast in this Greek Revival mansion. They make the plantation come to life with the historical facts about the people who lived there...and they have much to offer about their lives and travels as well!! Very interesting and lovely folks...well worth the drive to meet them and see this beautiful plantation.
The original owner, Dr. Walter Ross Wade, kept a journal of his life on the plantation that describes life before and during the Civil War. It is quite the love story for all of you romantics out there. Dr. Wade was a widower with three children who had his eye on a lovely young widow on a nearby plantation with three children of her own...(now where have I heard a story like that before?) Mrs. Mabella Chamberlain. He had the mansion built and the two married and were blessed with two more children.
A Union cannonball destroyed the kitchen and the mansion became a hospital for both sides...Mrs. Mabella helped round up the wounded and sent for a nearby doctor.
The mansion is furnished with many beautiful antiques which the Hylands have collected from their various travels...no pictures inside so I can't share the view from within...it was spectacular!
