Shirley House

When Grant's army crossed the river in May 1863 and drove Pemberton's forces back into the city, the ridge James Shirley had chosen in 1836 for his house became siege ground. Union soldiers took it as a headquarters and called it the White House. The Shirley family stayed inside through all 47 days—through the assaults on May 19 and 22, through the slow tightening of the siege that ended on July 4 when Pemberton surrendered and the Mississippi River passed to Union control for the rest of the war. The house stood on the line where the outcome was decided. Shell and bullet damage is still visible on the structure. It is the only wartime building left standing on the battlefield. You can see it from the park tour road. The interior is not open, but the scars are enough—this is what it looked like to hold ground when the key to the war, as Lincoln called Vicksburg, was being turned.