COIN OVERVIEW

The reverse image depicts the U.S.S. Cairo on the Yazoo River as it would have been seen when it served the U.S. Navy during the Civil War. Inscriptions are VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI, 2011 and E PLURIBUS UNUM. Design candidates were developed in consultation with representatives of Vicksburg National Military Park.


VICKSBURG NATIONAL PARK OVERVIEW

From May 18 - July 4, 1863, they battled.

For 47 days the siege lasted, beads of sweat dripping from the faces of the soldiers into the mucky trenches caked around their dusty boots. For nearly 7 weeks the battle persisted, until finally -- mercifully, the Confederacy surrendered, granting the United States victory in the Battle of Vicksburg and access to the Mississippi river.

Thirty-six years later, a national military park was established the commemorate the siege and defense of Vicksburg. In 2011, the site and the park will again the celebrated, when a designed based on it is featured on the ninth entry in the United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters program.

The park itself includes more than 1,300 historic monuments and markers, 20 miles of trenches, a 16 mile tour road, nearly 150 cannons, a restored gunboat, and countless historical memories. These attractions, among others, draw over one million visitors to the park yearly.