Vicksburg National Military Park to Host Remembrance and Libation Ceremony for the Ross Landing Massacre of 1864

On February 17, Vicksburg National Military Park will host a special remembrance ceremony “Say Their Name” for the African American soldiers killed at Ross Landing in Chicot County Arkansas on February 14, 1864. Recent scholarship has revealed their names and burial locations so that 160 years later we can honor their sacrifice in their fight for freedom.

In February 1864, the soldiers of the United States 1st MS Infantry (African Descent) traveled upriver from Vicksburg to Chicot County, Arkansas on foraging detail. The 1st MS (AD) was attacked by Confederate guerillas and was overwhelmed. The Confederates assumed all the U.S. Army soldiers were dead and then “pinned each one to the ground” with their own bayonets. Six of the 1st MS, though, were still alive and were later treated at the Vicksburg Regimental Hospital. Three would die of their wounds, however, three survived. African American soldiers killed in the Ross Landing Massacre were buried as unknowns (Section M #14900-14912) in Vicksburg National Cemetery. Flags will be placed at the graves on February 14.

Research by Beth Kruse, PH.D., has brought identity back to these men. Dr. Kruse is working with the National Park Service as the Mellon Fellow for African American Experience in Vicksburg from Civil War through Reconstruction.

Members of the William “Bill” Sims Foundation will be conducting a remembrance and libation ceremony to honor the memory of the men massacred at Ross Landing. William “Bill” Sims was a member of the United States Colored Troops and fought at the Battle of Milliken’s Bend during the Siege of Vicksburg. He fought with the USCT from 1863 to 1865 and died in 1930 as the owner of approximately 100 acres in Warren County’s Freetown community. His descendants still live in Vicksburg and the surrounding area and founded the William “Bill” Sims Foundation in 2001 to honor their ancestor and promote the preservation of USCT history in Vicksburg.