The TRAVELER'S JOURNAL: July second, remembering the Battle of Vicksburg.

Civil war buffs remember this weekend as the anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, but it also marks another epic struggle of that conflict. In early May of 1863, General U.S. Grant led his army across the Mississippi River south of Vicksburg. Situated on a high bluff and ringed by swamplands, the Misssissippi town was one of two Confederate strongholds that remained on the river. It took Grant a month to establish a river blockade and siege line on high ground east of town. Then he waited. After six weeks in the sweltering heat and with no hope of relief, Vicksburg surrendered on the Fourth of July. Five days later, the Union controlled the entire Mississippi River. "The Father of waters again flows unvexed to the sea," was how Abraham Lincoln expressed the victory.

Grant's campaign and the siege are well- explained by exhibits in the visitor's center at the Vicksburg National Military Park. A drive along the 16-mile road that winds through the huge park brings the battle to life. Cannons dot the rolling woods and fields where battles of the siege were fought. Markers recall the action; monuments honor the regiments who fought; and the park's cemetery is the final resting place for the 17,000 Union soldiers who died in the siege of Vicksburg, while many of the Confederate dead lay in the City Cemetery nearby.

The park is open daily. Spring is the best time to visit. But any time of year, a thoughtful observer can gain poignant insight on the terrible struggle that once raged across this now serene landscape.

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