Port Gibson, Mississippi

Port Gibson, located near the Mississippi River between Vicksburg and Natchez, is the third oldest city in Mississippi, chartered as a town on March 12, 1803. It was occupied by General Ulysses S. Grant and his Federal troops in May of 1863, during the War Between the States.

Port Gibson was spared the wanton destruction which was the fate of many Southern cities during the War because Grant said it was "too beautiful to burn." Grant and other Union Generals were responsible for burning hundreds of other Southern cities, leaving tens of thousands of innocent civilians destitute and homeless. I guess they ransacked and burned those places, butchered the livestock and left it rotting in the field, burned barns and crops, and committed other war crimes and atrocities against men, women, and children - black and white - because they thought those places were ugly.

Although the town is historically significant, Port Gibson is smaller today than it has been in times past. The population was 1,840 at the 2000 census. It is the seat of Claiborne County.