I’m considering heading down to New Orleans in October and I’ve been contemplating taking a day or two to check out a few Civil War sites (I’ve wanted to go to Shiloh for a while since I have had relatives of many generations ago that lived in TN, but that’s probably a bit of a drive from the Big Easy). Vicksburg isn’t that far of a drive from New Orleans, is it?
Vicksburg’s about 4 hours from N. O. Directly east of Jackson, MS on I-20. Two things about Vicksburg you should keep in mind: the Battle of Champion’s Hill (the key battle of the campaign) and Grierson’s Raid (immortalized in John Wayne’s “The Horse Soldiers”).
You’ll need to set aside an entire day for Vicksburg, imo.