The subject of the ninth quarter in the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program is Vicksburg National Military Park. The park commemorates one of the pivotal battles of the Civil War: the Battle of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
The Confederates' surrender on July 4, 1863, coupled with the fall of Port Hudson, Louisiana, split the South at the Mississippi River. The Union gained control of the river, separating eastern and western Confederate states.
Along the tour road in the park, visitors can see more than 1,350 monuments, a national cemetery, and the restored Union ironclad gunboat, the USS Cairo. The Cairo was the first warship sunk by an electronically detonated "torpedo," which ushered in a new age of naval warfare.
The exhibits at the park's museum depict the hardships that both civilians and soldiers went through during the 47-day siege of the city. Vicksburg was first established as a national site on February 21, 1899.
On the Vicksburg quarter, the USS Cairo travels the Yazoo River. This ship served the US Navy during the Civil War.
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