Civil War Tour: Mississippi River Campaign

The Civil War: Mississippi River Campaign Tour visits the sites and battlefields fought along the Mississippi River, including Memphis, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Port Hudson and New Orleans, in a trip designed to reconstruct the struggle for the river and the key transport routes of the Confederacy. 

The Mississippi River was the major interstate highway of the nineteenth century America. It was also the strategic focal point of the Civil War. Whoever held the great river would control the continent. Without it, neither side could supply itself, so both the Confederates and the Federals made it a key aspect of overall strategy. The railroads through Tennessee were the other link the eastern Confederacy had to its western bread basket, so both sides fought bitterly for control of Tennessee, the northern gateway to the Confederacy.

The Civil War: Mississippi River Campaign Tour is led by our Director, Mark Bielski, who personally designed this tour and did his doctoral research on the Civil War at the University of Birmingham, England. Mark’s ability to relate history in an engaging way coupled with his warmth and sense of humor, make him a favorite among our guests who have traveled with him.

Tour Highlights

Historians