Vicksburg In Modern Perspective

How would you best handle a long lasting term crisis in your life?

“…Now, gentle flags that flutter on the graves

Recall the pain in blood where armies fell

And multitudes of tombstones line the hills

As somber spirits cast a ghostly spell”…

(Barry Middleton – impressions of Vicksburg battle)

As I set foot in Vicksburg on this road trip, I came across the above quote. Reading these words , it was easy to picture Vicksburg as a place that has seemed to stand still since since its iconic Civil War battle in 1863. Know then I imagined that Vicksburg’s setting straddling high cliffs above the Mississippi River was not the right place for a quick war resolution as time became the ultimate weapon itself. For what happened here was endurance under pressure as both Union and Confederate soldier losses mounted for over forty seven days.

So that’s what makes Vicksburg feel uncomfortably relevant today. So many conflicts nowadays don’t resolve. They linger, expand and settle into something prolonged where the question is no longer who wins quickly but rather how long can it go on? Consider, for example, the difficult terrain that the Vicksburg siege conflict was fought on. How much has war changed since then? Like a chess game, the advancing militia seeks to take advantage of strategic place positioning of troops in order to overwhelm the enemy. But that doesn’t always work so well for as in chess a stalemate often occurs when there’s no clear winner or loser in this battle . Meanwhile innocent people caught behind the scenes can only watch the bombs fall on their precious land.

So  Vicksburg’s bloody long history should not be underestimated. Inciting war in the Middle East now may seem to be a glamorous choice on the surface for ego driven power holders. But is it worth risking prolonged crisis which might threaten to erupt into a worldwide crisis?  We must learn to work out our problems peacefully together to sustain the ultimate survival of our human species. Perhaps  my travels might help in some way to accomplish that task.