The Vicksburg Campaign -2026

A BGES Civil War Field University Program

with Tim Smith

November 11-14, 2026, from Vicksburg, MS

For nine months, Union and Confederate forces struggled across eight states for control of the Mississippi River. It would take nearly that long to see every important site of the campaign, but this tour will focus on the climactic operations around Vicksburg itself. It was there and in the vicinity that Ulysses S. Grant tried for months to breast the high winter water to reach Vicksburg, only to be turned back each time. Then he made the most daring of all moves by marching south of the city, crossing the Mississippi River, and moving northward to take Vicksburg from the rear. Just getting into a position to start operations against the Vicksburg fortifications consumed nearly seven of those nine months, but by mid-May 1863 Grant was marching on Vicksburg itself after fighting his way inland amid five battles over the course of seventeen days, all of which he won. Once at Vicksburg, the process of taking the city then began with two failed assaults and then six weeks of siege. But it was worth it, and Vicksburg capitulated on July 4, 1863, the most telling blow to the Confederacy to that time.

This tour will, over the course of three days, show participants where it all occurred. Not delving into minutia, this tour will rather be an overview while seeing the most important sites. We will examine portions of Grant’s initial failed attempts, particularly Chickasaw Bayou and Grant’s Canal, and then see the major sites of his inland campaign in May, particularly Grand Gulf, Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hill, and Big Black River Bridge. Then the assaults and siege will be explored in the Vicksburg National Military Park itself. It is hoped that participants who know a great deal about the Vicksburg Campaign can see where it unfolded on the ground itself, proverbially putting a face to a name. And who knows, we might all learn something new in the process.

Join Tim as we examine the events and the ground where the Battles for Vicksburg and the control of the Mississippi River occurred.

Itinerary

Wednesday evening, November 11, 2026, 6:00-7:00 PM: Orientation

Meet at the headquarters hotel at 6 p.m. to receive nametags and program packets and meet our historian. Tim will deliver an introduction to the program including an overview of the Vicksburg Campaign: including the objectives of each side. Here, your program materials will be handed out (or the next morning if you are late arrival).

Dinner is on your own.

Thursday, November 12, 2026, 8:00 AM-5:00 PM:

8:00 Depart Hotel

• See the Chickasaw Bayou Confederate line, Yazoo River Johnson and Lake Plantations, and Union attack area
• Travel to Grant’s Canal and back to Vicksburg
• Travel to Grand Gulf and tour the earthworks
• Travel to Port Gibson and see the Bruinsburg Road, Windsor Ruins, Bethel Church, and Shaifer House
• Travel Grant’s route northward to Auburn, seeing Willow Springs, Rocky Springs, and Cayuga before returning to Vicksburg.

Lunch is included but dinner is on your own.

Friday, November 13, 2026, 8:00 AM-5:00 PM:

8:00 Depart Hotel

• Travel to Auburn to pick back up with Grant’s march to Dillon’s Plantation and Raymond
• See Raymond Battlefield
• Travel to Jackson by way of the battlefields
• Tour Old Capitol
• Tour Champion Hill
• Travel back to Vicksburg via Big Black River battlefield

Lunch is included but dinner is on your own.

Saturday, November 14, 2026, 8:00 AM-5:00 PM:

8:00 Depart Hotel

• Visitor Center, Vicksburg National Military Park
• Vicksburg National Military Park Stockade Redan assaults and approaches and northern Confederate line
• USS Cairo
• 3rd Louisiana Redan and Great Redoubt assaults and approaches, including Illinois Monument and Shirley House
• Railroad Redoubt area assaults and approaches
• Southern siege lines no longer in the park and Mississippi River batteries.

We will be back at the hotel by 5 p.m.

Lunch is included.

About the Faculty

Dr. Timothy B. Smith is a former NPS ranger at Shiloh, and he teaches history at the University of Tennessee at Martin. He is the author of numerous books including Corinth 1862: Siege, Battle, Occupation and Shiloh: Conquer or Perish, both published by the University Press of Kansas. Tim has also published books on the Battle of Champion Hill, the siege and battles for Vicksburg, and Grierson’s Raid among other works. Tim also co-edited historian O. Edward Cunningham’s Shiloh, and the Western Campaign of 1862.

Hotel Information

This program will be headquartered at Hampton Inn Vicksburg, 3330 Clay Street, Vicksburg, MS 39183. Phone: 601-636-6100. The BGES special hotel rate is $129 plus tax (Use code: BGE), with a rate cut-off date of October 28, 2026.

Use the following booking link:

https://www.hilton.com/en/attend-my-event/vksbghx-bge-b2df5ed6-7c31-4351-aa81-8afcc3b98af8/

Use code: BGE

Mark McGraw, Director of Sales

If you call the hotel, be sure to tell them that you are booking your room with the group “Blue and Gray Education” with the Code: BGE to get the special rate.

The hotel does not have an airport shuttle.

Transportation

The servicing airport is Jackon International Airport (JAN), which is 51 miles from the hotel.

Recommended Reading

You will receive maps and materials that will meet your onsite requirements. The following books are suggested to enhance your readiness for the program.

Ballard, Michael B. Vicksburg: The Campaign that Opened the Mississippi. Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 2004.

Bearss, Edwin C. The Vicksburg Campaign, 3 vols. Dayton, OH: Morningside, 1985.

Grabau, Warren E. Ninety-Eight Days: A Geographer’s View of the Vicksburg Campaign. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2000.

Miller, Donald L. Vicksburg: Grant’s Campaign That Broke the Confederacy. New York: Simon and Shuster, 2019.

Shea, William L. and Terrence J. Winschel. Vicksburg is the Key: The Struggle for the
Mississippi River. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2003.

Smith, Timothy B. Early Struggles for Vicksburg: The Mississippi Central Campaign and Chickasaw Bayou, October 25-December 31, 1862. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2022.
_____. Bayou Battles for Vicksburg: The Swamp and River Expeditions, January 1-April 30, 1863. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2023.
_____. The Inland Campaign for Vicksburg: Five Battles in Seventeen Days. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2024.
_____. The Union Assaults at Vicksburg: Grant Attacks Pemberton, May 17-22, 1863. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2020.
_____. The Siege of Vicksburg: The Climax of the Campaign to Open the Mississippi River, May 23-July 4, 1863. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2021.

Tour Pricing

Current BGES member $825 (one-time payment, no deposit)
Non-BGES member $875 (one-time payment, no deposit)
Deposit to reserve spot: $150
Annual membership fee: $75

Registration

The Vicksburg Campaign-Tour 2026

Registration includes 3 lunches, all paid admissions, maps, the academic program, support of an historian and a tour director, and transportation by passenger bus or van. We will also provide snacks and bottled water.

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