Message at Vicksburg deciphered

A message in a bottle delivered to a Confederate general during the Civil War has been deciphered by a retired CIA code breaker, 147 years after it was written. In the encrypted message, a commander tells Gen John Pemberton that no reinforcements are available to help him defend Vicksburg, Miss. • Article

Vicksburg may add 10,000 acres

Vicksburg National Military Park would be expanded to include the entire Vicksburg Campaign, based on legislation pending in Washington. The bill would permit the park to add the battles of Champion Hill, Port Gibson and Raymond. • Article

Cap, pistol, buckle stolen from museum

Some $2,000 worth of Civil War relics were taken from the Old Court House Museum in Vicksburg, Ms. • Article

Loss of Vicksburg sealed South's fate

The 1863 Battle of Vicksburg may have been the Civil War’s most consequential fight. The Vicksburg Siege split the Confederacy in two, brought Ulysses S. Grant to the fore, and sealed the fate of the South, says novelist-historian Winston Groom. • Listen