Powder magazine -- Old Warren Co. Courthouse, Vicksburg MS
N 32° 21.133 W 090° 52.754
15S E 699568 N 3581454
An underground man-made cave dug into the side of a hill in downtown Vicksburg by Union Army Soldiers to store their supply of black gunpowder during the occupation of the city
Waymark Code: WMMJPQ
Location: Mississippi, United States
Date Posted: 09/29/2014
Views: 3
When Vicksburg fell, the victorious Union Army soldiers marched into town. First order of business: hauling down the flag of the Confederate States and raising the United States flag from the top of the Warren County Courthouse in downtown Vicksburg. Not so subtle message: Just so you know who is in command here now.
Federal troops occupied Vicksburg for the next 2 years. In 1864 Federal soldiers needed a secure place to store their gunpowder. they took bricks from a nearby home (we were not able to find out if the home was a ruin before the bricks were taken) and used the bricks to line a cave that had been dug into the side of the hill Court Square sat on. This vault was used as a powder magazine, and is preserved today as part of the Old Courthouse Museum.
The battered and faded metal plaque reads as follows (as best as we could make it out):
"CIVIL WAR POWDER MAGAZINE
In 1864 Yankee troops took bricks from the home f Prof. Young, a block away, and according to the records, built “a vault” on Court Square. It was probably used as a powder magazine, for the hill was fortified during the occupation of the city. The terracing of the hill and the construction of the steps in this [illegible] of the entrance to the vault, but in that there [illegible] metal [rest is illegible]"
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