The road through Vicksburg National Military Park is lined with monuments and statues. Simple granite blocks identify the regiments that battled here and are etched with the names of young lives lost. Elaborate bronze statues celebrate their leaders and capture for posterity a message of unity and healing after both sides had lost so much. These visuals help understand and learn from history. I hope the fervor for removing “offending” art never makes it into our National Military Parks.

I think of the Civil War as a bloody brawl where hand to hand combat and cannon fire left fields littered with bodies in blue and in grey. There was a bloody brawl here in Vicksburg but it was something else too. The surrender at Vicksburg was brought on by starvation and disease inflicted by 45+ days under siege. Blockade of supplies and constant bombardment punished civilian and soldier alike until they could no longer endure. It is a stark reminder; war is ugly business and the “good guys” get their hands very dirty too.