Vicksburg NMP: Small But Interesting Ohio Monuments

Since I was so wordy yesterday, today I’ll let the pictures do the talking. While the other states mostly erected a single large monument commemorating their soldiers’ sacrifices, Ohio chose a different route. According to the Park website,

Rather than erect a single state memorial, Ohio chose to place a monument for each of the thirty-nine units that participated in the Vicksburg Campaign.

I was feeling pretty good about how many I had managed to capture on my drive along the northern loop, but now that I see that there are 39 in all, my eight seem a little piddly.

The reason I like these monuments is that each one is different (whereas Iowa, which put up a large monument and many small unit memorials went with a uniform look for its smaller markers). Each one has an interesting character and a couple shown here even show a well developed. My very favorite is the one with the young soldier standing with his hat off in front of a comrade’s grave marker. Next time you’re in the Park, try to snag your own Ohio monuments–a bonus to whoever finds all 39!

This post is part of a five-part series about Vicksburg National Military Park. Want to read more?



Categories: Historic Preservation

4 replies

  1. I wonder how much each of the Ohio monuments cost to erect. Also, not that it really matters, but did Ohio spend more than any other state?

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    • Some
      states erected state monuments and smaller unit markers. For example, the Illinois Memorial is one of the finest in the park, but there are many smaller Illinois monuments marking the locations of Illinois troops.

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    • Bob, I own a copy of Ohio at Vicksburg, which was written by the Ohio Vicksburg Battlefield Commision in the early 1900s for the purpose of marking where Ohio troops fought.

      The prices of each momument were:
      $1,460 for 26 Infantry monuments
      $960 for 11 Artillery monuments
      $480 for 1 Cavalry monument
      $1000 for a monument to Yost’s Captured Battery.
      Total is exactly $50,000

      The Illinois State monument at orignally Vicksburg cost $194,423.92 according to the VNMP website.

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  2. Another excellent article – thanks!

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