During the Civil War Vicksburg, part of which lies just above the Mississippi, was a thorn in the flesh of the Union forces, since from there the Confederates controlled shipping on the river. After several unsuccessful attempts to take the town Union troops commanded by General Grant finally captured it in 1863 after a 47-day siege; its fall
was one of the bitterest defeats of the Confederates. These events are commemorated in the Vicksburg National Military Park and Cemetery, with the Union gunboat "Cairo" which sank in 1862, and in a museum in the Old Court House. Other features of interest in the town are a number of handsome antebellum houses and the Biedenham Candy Company and Museum of Coca Cola Memorabilia, a restored candy shop where the famous pop was first bottled in 1894.
Vicksburg (pop. 26,000) is located in Warren County in western Mississippi.
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