VICKSBURG, Miss. (AP) - A grant will buy a tract of land to help preserve a Civil War battlefield in central Mississippi.
The Vicksburg Post reports that the Mississippi Department of Archives and History is receiving nearly $110,000 from the National Park Service. The money from the American Battlefield Trust will purchase 58 acres (23 hectares) at the Champion Hill Battlefield, about halfway between Vicksburg and Jackson.
Vicksburg National Military Park Superintendent Bill Justice says the land is along a section of road that connected the parts of the Confederate line and later two parts of the Union line.
The Battle of Champion Hill was part of U.S. Gen. Ulysses Grant’s successful effort to take Vicksburg.
About 32,000 Union soldiers fought 23,000 Confederates on May 16, 1863. Confederate forces were crushed and retreated to Vicksburg.
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Information from: The Vicksburg Post, http://www.vicksburgpost.com
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