Vicksburg, Mississippi
In 1719, French colonists built Fort Saint Pierre on high bluffs overlooking the Yazoo River at present-day Redwood. They conducted fur trading with the Natchez and others while starting plantations in the area. The Natchez spoke a language isolate not related to the Muskogean languages of other major tribes in the region. Before the Natchez, other indigenous cultures had occupied this strategic area for thousands of years. On the 29th of November 1729, the Natchez attacked the fort and surrounding plantations. They murdered several hundred settlers including Jesuit missionary Paul Du Poisson. As was custom, they violently took women and children as captives and adopted them into their families. The Natchez War proved a disaster for French Louisiana. The colonial population of the Natchez District never recovered from these losses. Aided by the Choctaw, traditional enemies of the Natchez, the French defeated and scattered the Natchez and their allies, the Yazoo. The Choctaw Nation took over the area by right of conquest and inhabited it for several decades.
During the American Civil War, the city finally surrendered during the Siege of Vicksburg after a 47-day campaign intended to starve the city into submission. Its location atop a high bluff overlooking the Mississippi River proved otherwise impregnable to assault by federal troops. Confederate General John C. Pemberton surrendered on the 4th of July 1863, together with the defeat of General Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg the day before. This surrender marked the turning point of the Civil War in the Union's favor. From the surrender until the end of the war in 1865, the area remained under Union military occupation. Celebrations of the 4th of July were irregular until 1947. The Vicksburg Evening Post of the 4th of July 1883, called July 4 "the day we don't celebrate". Another newspaper, the Daily Commercial Appeal, hoped that a political victory would bring an enthusiastic celebration the following year. In 1902, the 4th of July saw only "a parade of colored draymen". A recent scholar disagrees, stating that large Fourth of July celebrations were being held by 1907.
In August 1874, a black sheriff named Peter Crosby was elected in Vicksburg. Letters by a white planter named Batchelor detail preparations for what he described as a "race war," including acquisition of the newest Winchester guns. On the 7th of December 1874, white men disrupted a black Republican meeting celebrating Crosby's victory and held him in custody before running him out of town. He advised blacks from rural areas to return home; along the way, some were attacked by armed whites. During the next several days, armed white mobs swept through black areas killing other men at home or out in the fields. Sources differ as to total fatalities with 29, 50 blacks and 2 whites reported dead at the time. Twenty-first-century historian Emilye Crosby estimates that 300 blacks were killed in the city and surrounding area of Claiborne County. The Red Shirts were active in Vicksburg and other Mississippi areas. Black pleas to the federal government for protection went unmet. At the request of Republican Governor Adelbert Ames, President Ulysses S. Grant sent federal troops to Vicksburg in January 1875.
Because of Vicksburg's location on the Mississippi River, it built extensive trade from prodigious steamboat traffic in the 19th century. It shipped cotton coming from surrounding counties and was a major trading city in West Central Mississippi. However, in 1876, a Mississippi River flood cut off the large meander next to Vicksburg through De Soto Point. This changed the river's course away from the city leaving only an oxbow lake formed from the old channel effectively isolating the city from accessing the Mississippi riverfront. The city's economy suffered greatly due to lack of a functional river port. Vicksburg would not be a river town again until completion of the Yazoo Diversion Canal in 1903 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The United States Army Corps of Engineers diverted the Yazoo River in 1903 into the old shallowing channel to revive the waterfront of Vicksburg. The port city was able to receive steamboats again but much freight and passenger traffic had moved to railroads which became more competitive.
The exclusion of most blacks from the political system lasted for decades until after Congressional passage of civil rights legislation in the mid-1960s. Lynchings continued to occur in Vicksburg after the start of the 20th century. In May 1903, two black men charged with murdering a planter were taken from jail by a mob of 200 farmers and lynched before trial. In May 1919, as many as a thousand white men broke down three sets of steel doors to abduct hang burn and shoot a black prisoner named Lloyd Clay who was falsely accused of raping a white woman. From 1877 to 1950 in Warren County, 14 African Americans were lynched by whites mostly in decades near turn of the century. Particularly after World War II, returning veterans began active participation in the civil rights movement wanting full citizenship after fighting in war. Activists in the Vicksburg Movement became prominent during the 1960s. As of the 2020 census there were 21,573 people with 67.21% identifying as African American.
Up Next
Continue Browsing
Common questions
When did the Natchez attack Fort Saint Pierre in Vicksburg?
The Natchez attacked Fort Saint Pierre on the 29th of November 1729. They murdered several hundred settlers including Jesuit missionary Paul Du Poisson and took women and children as captives.
Who surrendered at Vicksburg during the American Civil War and when?
Confederate General John C. Pemberton surrendered to Union forces on the 4th of July 1863 after a 47-day siege. This event marked the turning point of the Civil War in favor of the Union alongside the defeat of General Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg.
What happened to black sheriff Peter Crosby in Vicksburg in December 1874?
White men disrupted a black Republican meeting celebrating Peter Crosby's election on the 7th of December 1874 and ran him out of town. Armed white mobs subsequently killed hundreds of blacks in Claiborne County during the following days.
How did the Mississippi River flood affect Vicksburg trade in 1876?
A Mississippi River flood cut off the large meander next to Vicksburg through De Soto Point in 1876, changing the river course away from the city. The area became an oxbow lake that effectively isolated the city from accessing the Mississippi riverfront until the Yazoo Diversion Canal opened in 1903.
When were civil rights activists prominent in the Vicksburg Movement?
Activists in the Vicksburg Movement became prominent during the 1960s following decades of exclusion from the political system. As of the 2020 census there were 21,573 people with 67.21% identifying as African American.