Although the Connecticut Monument is indeed part of the Vicksburg National Military Park, it is located at the Grant's Canal Site in Delta, Louisiana, and is detached from the main park location in Mississippi.
This is where our men served the majority of their time while at Vicksburg and it was appropriate that their memorial be placed on that site. However, because it is somewhat isolated from the main campus of the VNMP, I thought I might include some info here.
You will cross a set of Railroad tracks. Immediately after the tracks is the road LA-3218.
Turn right on LA-3218 and drive towards Delta.
Before you get to Delta is a road to the right with a sign pointing to Grant's Canal. (When we went for the Dedication in 2008, this was a small dirt road connecting LA-3218 and Grant's Canal Road. It shows up as a dirt road on the satellite images below, but is not marked on the maps as an official road...) Turn right onto this road.
Turn right at the end of the dirt road onto Grant's Canal Road and drive under the bridge for I-20.
Shortly after this bridge is Grant's Canal on the left.
Here's a live gadget where you can enter your own beginning point...
Little note about desination entry--there appears to be a typo... Leave it alone. Changing it to "Grants Canal" messes it all up... Also, be sure to look at the maps in the slide set below--it appears that some roads are labeled differently between Google and the other sites... The monument is located at the blue pushpin in the last image...
Maps & interesting satellite views...
These slides are screenshots of the area where the monument stands, each map showing a closer view of the roads and ending with satellite images of the monument site. (The map numbers of each slide correspond to the thumbnails below.)
Please refer to the titles and notes under each of the slides by hovering your mouse over "Notes." The slide titles & notes are unique to each picture, and correspond to the thumbnails in the green box just below the slideset...
This photo batch is in the Flickr set titled "Maps to CT monument at VNMP" in the "Vicksburg" collection. My Flickr user name is "CasualClicks"
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Clicking on any of the thumbnails will open that map in a new window... useful if you want a closer look or want to print it for reference...
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A little side note about getting there... )
This is where we got mixed up--that little dirt road, (marked with the orange pushpin), didn't show up on our maps... If you mouse over the image above, you'll see it clearly on the satellite image... (These two images are maps 4 & 5 from the slide set above.)
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Clicking here will give you a screenshot of Google Map driving directions from Vicksburg. Use the gadget above for live directions.
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Links to the various satellite image hosting sites:
(Interestingly, none of the satellites images are current... my screenshots were taken in November, 2010--TWO years after the dedication and they still do not reflect the current state of the site!)
Once the satellite images are updated, our glorious monument resting on it's plaza should be clearly visible from the sky...
The Artwork on the Monument Centerpiece...
The Centerpiece etchings
The etched portion of the monument is roughly 10' tall and 3' wide at the base. There are six "panels," three on the front and three on the back, each panel being about 3' by 3'.
The front & back top panels are of the Connecticut 9th Regiment Seal and the official State Seal of Connecticut, respectively. The only panel that I have not been directly involved with is the Connecticut State Seal panel as this image was provided by the State of Connecticut.
The front & back middle panels are portraits of some of the men in the 9th Regiment.
These two panels were designed so that the viewer will see his or her face reflected in the mirror-like polished granite, in the midst of the soldiers' images.
Care was taken to have portraits to represent a variety of ranks, as the monument is dedicated to all of the men serving in the 9th Regiment, regardless of their rank. It was also decided not to engrave the portrait names on the monument, (though they will be named in the exhibition and dedication booklets), to further emphasize that these men are representing the entire regiment (as opposed to being individually honored).
The front & back bottom panels are of montage scenes depicting work on the canal, the labor and hardships these men faced during their time at Vicksburg.
Below are some of the images used in the panels. You may click on the image to advance to the next or choose a specific thumbnail image:
As the Monument nears completion...
I'm limiting this spot to the most current pictures...) Jump below to see the weekly images that Stacy has sent throughout the etching process...
This photo batch is in the Flickr set titled "Etching Progress" in the "Vicksburg" collection. My Flickr user name is "CasualClicks"
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The images that were used as templates for the centerpiece etchings...
This photo batch is in the Flickr set titled "Final Images" in the "Vicksburg" collection. My Flickr user name is "CasualClicks"
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Step-by-step pictures as the monument grows towards completion...
(Feb 2008-August 2008)
This photo batch is in the Flickr set titled "Vicksburg Steps" in the "Vicksburg" collection. My Flickr user name is "CasualClicks"
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More snapshots (May 2008)
More snapshots! When Bob & I went to see the monument at the end of May, both he and I took lots of pictures from every angle! This was the first time that I had seen the monument in real life and what a thrill! Bob took the pics of Stacy & me...
This photo batch is in the Flickr set titled "Misc. Vicksburg Pics" in the "Vicksburg" collection. My Flickr user name is "CasualClicks"
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