Vicksburg National Cemetery Cultural Landscape Report, Vicksburg National Military Park

Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates

Vicksburg National Cemetery is located within the boundaries of Vicksburg National Military Park approximately one mile to the east and north of the historic center of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Establishment of Vicksburg National Cemetery began on July 14, 1866, when Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs requested the power to establish a national cemetery at Vicksburg and other national cemeteries elsewhere within the South. The cemetery was to be constructed on land occupied by Union forces during the siege of Vicksburg. As local residents began to return to the land associated with the Siege and Battle of Vicksburg, and fields were put back into cultivation, the bodies of soldiers were discovered; the public outcry that ensued helped hasten establishment of the cemetery. As noted in the 1968 Administrative History, “Vicksburg National Cemetery is among the nation’s oldest national cemeteries and has the largest number of Civil War interments of any national cemetery in the United States. The land for the national cemetery was deeded to the United States government on August 27, 1866, by Alney H. Jaynes and his wife for the sum of $9,000. Burials began in 1867, with a 260-man labor force responsible for the interments as well as the grading of the grounds, installing of sod on the slopes, and maintenance of the graves.” By August 1868, the remains of 15,595 Union soldiers had been interred at Vicksburg National Cemetery. Vicksburg National Military Park, including Vicksburg National Cemetery, was first listed in the National Register in 1966 as part of the National Historic Preservation Act. National Register documentation of the property was prepared for Vicksburg National Military Park by the National Park Service Southeast Regional Office in 1976 and accepted by the Keeper of the National Register on December 9, 1977. The nomination form identified the Vicksburg National Cemetery and the cemetery entrance gate as contributing features. Over time, the landscape of Vicksburg National Cemetery has evolved in response to management and maintenance practices and visitor uses. Due to its location adjacent to Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg National Cemetery is experienced by a wide range of visitors. To accommodate visitors, the cemetery is connected to the park through circulation systems that were not part of the original design. In addition, development within view of the park, including industrial warehouses west of the cemetery is impacting the cemetery’s integrity of setting, and historic viewsheds. Other challenges faced by park managers include accessing and mowing the steeply-sloped, and highly erodible, terrain of the cemetery, as well as maintenance of historic trees, monuments, and markers. Erosion problems are aggravated by heavy rainfall coupled with inadequate drainage systems. Historic tree and masonry markers are vulnerable to damage from mowing and trimming equipment. In order to support informed planning for future management and preservation of the national cemetery, the National Park Service engaged a team of preservation professionals that included Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. (WJE) of Northbrook, Illinois, Commonwealth Heritage Group (CHG, formerly JMA), and Liz Sargent HLA, of Charlottesville, Virginia, to prepare a Cultural Landscape Report (CLR) for Vicksburg National Cemetery. CLRs serve several important functions. They are the principal treatment documents for cultural landscapes and the primary tool for long-term management and treatment decisions about a landscape’s physical attributes, biotic systems, and use, when that use contributes to the historical significance of a property. Based on the identification of character-defining landscape characteristics and features, values, and associations that make a landscape historically significant, coupled with site management goals, including such issues as access, contemporary use, and interpretation, CLRs provide recommendations for a

Vicksburg National Cemetery Cultural Landscape Report, Vicksburg National Military Park

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