The Shirley House in Vicksburg

In between two fires: The Shirley House in Vicksburg

My tour-guide Barbara pointed to the white house in the midst of the Vicksburg National Military Park, "This is the only surviving building on the siege line in between two armies." Barbara is a native Vicksburg resident and she speaks with a melodious singsong Southern Mississippi accent, a cultured lady, doing tour for the sake of history and as a hobby.

You all have seen the famous photograph of Vicksburg under siege, with dugouts and caves covering the hillside. The house in the background is the Shirley House.

Well, the Shirley family had a New England / Boston connection. Adeline Shirley came from Boston, Massachusetts. Her maiden name is Quincy, from the well-known Quincy family. Her husband James Shirley originally came from Goffstown, New Hampshire, and graduated from Dartmouth College. He moved South for years; practiced law in Warren County and was known as Judge Shirley. The family was a composite of North and South ---- they owned a few slaves and lived the Southern way of living, yet they remained loyal to the Stars and Stripes.

The war came in May 18, 1863, the beginning of the siege of Vicksburg. It was no longer a far away rumor but right in front on her doorstep. Her house was located in between two big combating armies. A piece of shell struck the chimney, tearing away its top; another shattered a bedstead in an upstairs room. She pulled out a white bed sheet, tied it to a broom handle and hanged it from the porch. But it cut no ice. Her people, the Yankee soldiers, swarmed into her house and looted her belongings. Only when the Federal officer arrived, the rampage stopped. The officer believed her story when she uttered her authentic Bostonian accent. Gen. McPherson moved them to the rear.

The fighting was fierce and both sides could not gain any advantage. Both sides dug their trenches and the standoff resulted in a siege. Shirley's house lied between the two trenches of both sides. A few hundred yards away, the Confederate color waved in the West from the fortifications of the third Louisiana. The wounded and the dying soldiers slowly found refuge in Shirley's house, and the blood soaked the floor.

On the order of Gen. Grant, the couple was moved to a safer place, several miles away to a plantation. The shelling continued to spread, and reaching that "safe" place too, and so Grant moved them again further away in another home. By then, the Shirleys' political view were well known, and the Confederate host did not welcome them, and put them in the slaves quarters. Judge Shirley thoroughly knew the land, and helped Gen. Grant in suggesting the most favorable way to position their troops on which segments of the high ground.

The Shirley had three children. The oldest son Frederick stated that he rather served Abraham Lincoln for 20 years than serving Jefferson Davis for two hours. His enraged companions almost hanged him. So the family quickly sent him to Indiana. The 15 years old youngest son stayed with the parents, and was allowed to join the Union soldiers in the trenches. Their daughter Alice lived in the Central Female Institute in Clinton, far away from the siege line. Brig. Gen. John Eaton, a recent graduate, also from Dartmouth, served as chaplain in the 27th Ohio Volunteers, brought letters from Judge Shirley's brother from New Hampshire. Eaton found the family, with Alice, and he also found a wife. Eaton fell in love with Alice and they got married.

In addition to standing in the line of fire, Gen. Logan's men had dug up a long deep trench up the hill and in front of the house. A Union Battery stationed across the road. On the slope to the East, the Illinois troops built shelters in the hillside. The house suffered daily artillery battering. It also stood in the line of the last desperate Union assault to take Vicksburg on May 22, 1863. Grant used it as an observation post. Logan made it his headquarters. Yet the house had managed to survive. When the Confederate commander Gen. Pemberton and Union Gen. Grant met under a tree to discuss the terms of surrender on July 3, 1863, they were with sight of the Shirley House. In 1864, the Federal Army used the house as a smallpox hospital. The house stood partially ruined during reconstruction era. In 1900, the Federal Government bought it. During 1930s, it was used as resident, Park headquarters and museum. In 1966, it was restored to its 1860 appearance. And today, it remains as an exhibit and historical site and the only house on the siege line of the Vicksburg National Military Park.

For those people who joined our Millennia Tour, they would have seen the video tape of the Vicksburg Campaign, and the visual picture of the Shirley House.

At the end of the tour, Barbara, the tour-guide, waved good bye to my wife and me.
"You all have a nice day!"

{Source: Notes taken from the touring of Vicksburg National Military Park.}

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Author and Webmaster, Gordon Kwok (gordonkwok@aol.com)

March 15, 2001