VICKSBURG BATTLEFIELD TOUR STOP 2: THE SHIRLEY HOUSE
The Shirley House is the only surviving structure in Vicksburg National Military Park that was around during the Civil War. The house was built in the 1830s and was purchased by James and Adeline Shirley in 1851. When the fighting at Vicksburg began in May 1863, James and his daughter were stranded in Clinton, Mississippi, after the Union cut rail service to Vicksburg. Adeline and her son Quincy were the only ones at the house. The Confederates tried to burn it down so the Union could not use it, but the soldier who was sent to do the task was shot dead by Union troops that arrived at the same time.
With the Union Army now positioned all around the house, it took constant fire from Confederate artillery and was heavily damaged during the fighting. Adeline and Quincy had to move to a safer place and eventually settled into one of their slave cabins. Despite owning slaves, the Shirleys and most of the Vicksburg residents supported the Union because their main source of income was selling products to the northern states.
It is from this location that the Union soldiers began digging trenches towards the Third Louisiana Redan, which is located a very short distance down the road (Tour Stop 3). When you get to the redan (a triangular fort), you can see just how close the Union and Confederate lines were to each other, as the Shirley House is in plain view.
The U. S. government purchased the house in 1900 and restored it to its 1863 appearance. It is usually open to the public on weekends during the summer (Memorial Day through Labor Day) and for special events at other times, but all depends on staffing. To find out about upcoming events, check Vicksburg National Military Park’s Calendar web page or call the park at (601) 636-0583. The house was closed when I visited, but from looking in the window it appears that the front rooms are decorated as a military hospital. The house was used as a smallpox quarantine hospital after the siege of Vicksburg was over.
If the Shirley House is not open, there’s not much to do other than take a photo. However, you will also want to spend some time next door at the most elaborate monument in the park, the Illinois Memorial. Dedicated in 1906, the monument cost $190,000, about $4 million in today’s dollars. I doubt you could build such a structure for $4 million today. You can go inside the monument as well.
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Last updated on January 18, 2022