# Grant's Campaign Weekend A 2-day, ~180-mile Southern road trip from Vicksburg. It chains Grant's Vicksburg Campaign. - **Days:** 2 - **Distance:** ~180 mi - **Starts in:** Vicksburg - **Themes:** History - **Routes chained:** [Grant's Vicksburg Campaign](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/grant-campaign) The 1863 campaign in two days, exactly as the user manual (Grant's memoirs) describes it — five battles, one siege, county roads the whole way. ## Why this itinerary works Starting in Vicksburg, this 2-day itinerary connects Grant's Vicksburg Campaign. It suits travellers interested in battlefields, the movement & the past. The day-by-day bases let you split roughly 180 miles into a sequence of visits rather than trying to cover every linked route end to end. Use the daily highlights to decide which places deserve your longest stops. ## Day by day ### Day 1: Vicksburg & the Crossing Vicksburg NMP's 16-mile loop and the USS Cairo first thing; Old Court House Museum after lunch. Then south: Grand Gulf's silenced forts, the Bruinsburg landing road, the Shaifer House at golden hour. Overnight Port Gibson — 'too beautiful to burn.' Treat the park loop as a morning of interpretation, not just a scenic drive: choose a few monuments to read and leave time for Cairo. If the museum takes longer, shorten the afternoon rather than rushing every battlefield. Port Gibson is the useful base for continuing the campaign south; check access to the smaller sites before committing to a late arrival. Highlights to consider: - **Bruinsburg Landing** (Lorman) — Where the army came ashore unopposed — often called the largest American amphibious operation before D-Day. Today: a gravel road, a marker, the river. Grant wrote that he felt 'a degree of relief scarcely ever equaled since.' [Grant's Vicksburg Campaign](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/grant-campaign) - **Shaifer House** (Port Gibson) — Midnight, May 1: the first shots of the Battle of Port Gibson cracked past this clapboard house while the family fled with the laundry. It still stands on the old sunken road. [Grant's Vicksburg Campaign](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/grant-campaign) - **Old Court House Museum** (Vicksburg) — The 1858 courthouse where the Stars and Stripes went up on July 4th — now a gloriously eccentric museum of everything Warren County ever saved. [Grant's Vicksburg Campaign](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/grant-campaign) - **Big Black River Bridge** (Edwards) — May 17: the bridgehead collapse that penned Pemberton's army into Vicksburg. The railroad trestle site is a quiet pull-off where the campaign's field phase ended. [Grant's Vicksburg Campaign](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/grant-campaign) - **Vicksburg National Military Park** (Vicksburg) — A 16-mile avenue through 1,400 monuments to the 47-day siege that ended July 4, 1863 — a holiday Vicksburg kept at arm's length for generations. The USS Cairo, first ship ever sunk by an electrically detonated mine, was raised from the Yazoo a century later and sits under canopy with her boilers bare. [Grant's Vicksburg Campaign](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/grant-campaign) ### Day 2: The Inland March Windsor Ruins early (have them to yourself), then Raymond's field, Jackson's Old Capitol and the twin state museums, Champion Hill with the NPS app narrating, Big Black River — and back into Vicksburg for sunset over the river the whole war was about. Highlights to consider: - **Champion Hill** (Edwards) — May 16, 1863 — the decisive battle of the campaign, fought over a hill that changed hands three times. Almost unvisited: country roads, markers, wind in the cedars. Download the map first; there's no gate, no fee, no crowd. [Grant's Vicksburg Campaign](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/grant-campaign) - **Big Black River Bridge** (Edwards) — May 17: the bridgehead collapse that penned Pemberton's army into Vicksburg. The railroad trestle site is a quiet pull-off where the campaign's field phase ended. [Grant's Vicksburg Campaign](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/grant-campaign) - **Vicksburg National Military Park** (Vicksburg) — A 16-mile avenue through 1,400 monuments to the 47-day siege that ended July 4, 1863 — a holiday Vicksburg kept at arm's length for generations. The USS Cairo, first ship ever sunk by an electrically detonated mine, was raised from the Yazoo a century later and sits under canopy with her boilers bare. [Grant's Vicksburg Campaign](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/grant-campaign) - **Old Court House Museum** (Vicksburg) — The 1858 courthouse where the Stars and Stripes went up on July 4th — now a gloriously eccentric museum of everything Warren County ever saved. [Grant's Vicksburg Campaign](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/grant-campaign) ## Practical planning Budget an average of about 90 miles per day across the whole trip, or roughly 2.0–3.0 hours behind the wheel at an assumed 30–45 mph back-roads pace. This is a planning estimate, not a measured time for each leg: transfer days can be longer and rest days shorter. Add meal stops, tours, ferries, traffic and hikes separately; use each day's navigation link for current driving estimates. ### Overnight bases - Day 1: Port Gibson - Day 2: The Inland March ### Best season & route notes - [Grant's Vicksburg Campaign](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/grant-campaign): Summer mosquitos at the river landings are themselves a siege; spring and fall win. ## Frequently asked questions ### How many days and miles is Grant's Campaign Weekend? Grant's Campaign Weekend is a 2-day trip of about 180 miles. ### Where does Grant's Campaign Weekend start? It starts in Vicksburg. ### Which routes does Grant's Campaign Weekend chain together? It chains Grant's Vicksburg Campaign. ### Where are the overnight bases on Grant's Campaign Weekend? Day 1: Port Gibson; Day 2: The Inland March. ## Related itineraries - [The Trace & the Delta Loop](https://dixieroadtrip.com/trips/trace-delta-week) — 7 days, ~1000 mi - [The Deep South Grand Circle](https://dixieroadtrip.com/trips/deep-south-circle) — 14 days, ~1700 mi - [The Whole Hog](https://dixieroadtrip.com/trips/whole-hog) — 28 days, ~4300 mi --- Canonical URL: https://dixieroadtrip.com/trips/grant-weekend Publisher: Dixie Media (Dixie Road Trip, https://dixieroadtrip.com/) Last updated: 2026-10-04