ECW Weekender: Pemberton’s HQ in Vicksburg

Considering how little John Pemberton wanted to be in Vicksburg, it’s a small wonder anyone would want to go there to visit him. Yet even today, his headquarters remains open for visitation a century and a half after the fall of the city.

The National Park Service preserves Pemberton’s former HQ, which is located downtown at 1018 Crawford Street in Vicksburg. At the time of the battle, the home was owned by John Willis—one of several stately homes in a neighborhood adjacent to Vicksburg’s prosperous downtown.

Efforts to protect the building began as early as 1895, when veterans from both sides began lobbying to protect the battlefield. It wasn’t until 1977 that the house was designated a National Historic Landmark, though, and not until Congress changed the park’s mission in 1990 was the park able to acquire the building.

Pemberton’s HQ is open for special events, although it’s worth a stop anyway just to get a great sidewalk glimpse of it.

And for anyone wanting to see Pemberton himself while in Vicksburg, he does have his own statue along the park’s siege line. Added to the park in 1917, the statue was sculpted by Edmond T. Quinn. More details are available at Waymarking.com.