Artillery mark the spot of the 2nd Texas Lunette

VICKSBURG BATTLEFIELD TOUR STOP 12:  SECOND TEXAS LUNETTE

Before asking, “Where’s the first Texas Lunette?” the title comes from a crescent-shaped fort, a lunette, occupied by the 2nd Texas Volunteer Infantry. This fort guarded the Baldwin Ferry Road, another way into Vicksburg, and was the scene of furious fighting during the May 22, 1863, Union attack on Confederate defenses. Like all other attacks that day, the attack on the lunette ended in failure for General Grant’s Union forces.

During the subsequent siege, Union troops resorted to digging an approach trench towards the fort. The plan was to get close enough so they could dig a tunnel under it. Once dug, the tunnel would be packed with gunpowder and detonated, blowing a hole in the wall of the fort so Union troops could pour in. However, as was the case with most trench and tunnel projects started during the siege, the Confederates surrendered before it could be completed.

There’s not much to see at the stop other than a memorial sculpture of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and a two artillery pieces that mark the position of the lunette. There are also a couple of picnic tables at this stop. This is the last tour stop on the northern loop of the tour road.

Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Vicksburg National Military Park

You will pass a cemetery on the way to the next stop on the Vicksburg Battlefield tour, but it has nothing to do with the fighting at Vicksburg. It is the Anshe Chesed Cemetery, a private Jewish cemetery established in 1864. It is open for visits during the day, though it is a little hard to get to from the tour road.