"Grant's crown of immortality was won, and the jewel that shone most brightly in it was set
there by the blood of the men of Champion Hills ...... Six thousand blue and gray-coated men were lying there in the woods, dead or wounded, when the last gun of Champion Hills was fired.

Major S. H. M. Byers, Fifth Iowa Infantry

Memorial Stone Dedicated at St. Alban's Episcopal Church

By Rebecca Blackwell Drake

After the battle, as the Confederate army moved back to Vicksburg, Corporal Woodson and four other critically wounded soldiers were left at the Masonic Lodge in Bovina. Here, they were cared for by the women of the town.

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Memorial Service for Steve Fritz

Friend of Champion Hill

A private memorial service for Steven "Cricket" Fritz was held Saturday, November 14th at Champion Hill. Steven Fritz, 50, was born on November 24, 1958 in Cleveland, Ohio and moved at a young age to Jackson where he graduated from Callaway High School. After graduation, he enlisted in the USMC and traveled the world. After completion of duty, he returned to Jackson to live and pursue his life-long love of hunting, fishing and land conservation.

As a Civil War buff, his spare time was spent at Champion Hill where he enjoyed being with fellow hunters and his life-long friend, Sid Champion. Steven enjoyed all of the visitors who came to Champion Hill and played a major role in all of the Champion Hill events sponsored by the Champion Heritage Foundation.

In addition to hunting and fishing, he delighted in preparing gourmet meals for family and friends during special events at Champion Hill. It was there that he passed away on November 8, 2009, doing what he loved best, with those he loved best. He will be missed.

Alvin P. Hovey Reminisces the
Vicksburg Campaign

by Rebecca Blackwell Drake

During the Vicksburg Campaign, General Alvin P. Hovey was commander of the 12th Division, XIII Corps, Army of the Tennessee. On May 16, 1863, his division bore the burnt of the Battle of Champion Hill. In 1885, when Hovey gave this interview with the Indianapolis Journal, he was 64 years old and a practicing lawyer in Mount Vernon, Indiana. The following year, he was elected to Congress and served from 1887 until 1889. In January of 1889, he reached the peak of his political career when he was elected to serve as the 21st governor of Indiana.

Following a five year stint as U. S. Minister to Peru (1865-1870), Alvin P. Hovey returned to the United States prepared to carve out another chapter in life, this time not as a general in the Union Army but as a lawyer, congressman and governor of Indiana.  During the winter of 1885, Hovey met with a reporter from the Indianapolis Journal and by way of conversation inquired, “Have you heard anything today about Grant’s condition?” Aware that Grant was suffering from throat cancer, the reporter replied, “No, I have not.” In a voice thick with emotion Hovey spoke nostalgically of his former commander-in-chief: “Well, the old hero is not afraid of death.  I touched Grant many times during the war. I thought then he was something of a fatalist. Now, at Vicksburg - but I mustn’t get started in on a war story.”

May 16, 2009
By Steve Sanoski
Published, Sunday, May 17, 2009, The Vicksburg Post
 

CHAMPION HILL — Longtime battlefield buff Jack Opshinsky had seen just about every significant Civil War site relating to the Vicksburg Campaign before Saturday’s commemoration of the 146th anniversary of the Battle of Champion Hill near Bolton.

“This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long, long time, and it kind of completes the story for me,” Opshinsky said as he walked down the Old Jackson Road to the site of a new historical marker commemorating the battle. “I’ve often imagined what it would be like to see this site from on top of the hill, and wondered what those soldiers must have seen and been feeling as they made their way up here.”

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Photography of the
2009 Anniversary Event

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2009 Anniversary Event
Draws Large Crowd

On Saturday, May 16, 2009, hundreds of spectators attended the event commemorating the 146th Anniversary of the Battle of Champion Hill. The well-publicized event drew visitors from many states: Michigan, Connecticut, Iowa, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, and, of course, Mississippi.

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By Rebecca Drake and Margie Bearss

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