The grounds of the Champion Hill Missionary Baptist Church are rich in Civil War history. The church now rests on the land which was the house site of Sid and Matilda Champion before the war. During the Battle of Champion Hill, Grant used the house as headquarters and later as a Union hospital. Following the Battle of Champion Hill and the Siege of Vicksburg, the Yankees torched the house and the Champion family was forced to leave the area for the duration of the war. And now, today, 148 years later, Sid Johnson Champion, host of the event, will greet the crowd as they gather to commemorate the battle fought on his great-great-grandparents’ land.

The gates to Champion Hill Missionary Baptist Church, located 4 miles west of Bolton on the Champion Hill Road, will open at 8:00 a.m. Eight Civil War authors will be present on the grounds for book signings: Rebecca B. Drake, Raymond, and Sue B. Moore, Longview, Texas, signing their latest book LEAVES: The Diary of Elizabeth Meade Ingraham: The Rebel Sister of Union General George Meade; Dr. Sidney Bondurant, Grenada, History of the 33rd Mississippi Infantry Regiment; Grady Howell, Jr., Madison, Chimneyville, Likenesses of Early Days in Jackson, Mississippi and a variety of Civil War related books; Elizabeth Hoxie Joyner, Vicksburg, The USS Cairo: The History and Artifacts of a Civil War Gunboat; Jeff Giambrone, Clinton, An Illustrated Guide To The Vicksburg Campaign; Randy Bishop, Middleton, Tennessee, Mississippi’s Civil War Battlefields and Parker Hills, Clinton, Receding Tide, co-authored with Edwin C. Bearss. Also present on the grounds will be Jerry McWilliams, nationally famous Civil War artist, displaying original paintings and prints for sale. Henry & Paula Little, members of the Champion Heritage Foundation, will be selling Champion Hill tee-shirts and mugs to raise money for the battlefield.

Opening ceremonies will begin at 10:00 a.m. with Civil War re-enactors, blue and gray, marching onto the church grounds and Posting the Colors. Sid Champion and Rebecca Drake will greet the crowd. Highlights of the ceremony will include: Sid J. Champion speaking on Matilda Champion’s Legacy, The Champion Hill Missionary Baptist Church; the book dedication of Leaves: The Diary of Elizabeth Meade Ingraham ~ The Rebel Sister of Union General George Meade, edited by Sue Moore and Rebecca Drake and the unveiling of a new historic marker, Midway Station.

During the book dedication, Drake will give a brief sketch of the contents of Elizabeth Meade Ingraham’s diary. The dedication will include the reading of a poignant letter written in 1863 by Elizabeth Ingraham to her brother General George Meade, the hero of Gettysburg. Polly Marshall, re-enactor, will portray Elizabeth as she reads the letter. Participating in the unveiling of the historic marker will be Sid Champion, Johnnie Lewis, and Polly Marshall. All proceeds from the sale of The Diary of Elizabeth Meade Ingraham will go toward battlefield preservation at Champion Hill.

During the noon hour, members of the Champion Hill Missionary Baptist Church will serve plate lunches featuring grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, baked beans, chips and Matilda Champion’s Buttermilk Pie made from her original recipe. All proceeds will go to the Champion Hill Missionary Baptist Church.

After lunch, a shuttle bus will begin transporting the crowd to the opposite side of the battlefield. The first event of the afternoon will take place at 1:30 at a site described by General Alvin P. Hovey as A Cemetery on a Mound. According to Hovey, the area surrounding the mound was the location of the Union batteries and reinforcements as they fired into the Hill of Death from the west. Dr. Sidney Bondurant, author and historian, will read a newspaper clipping entitled, A War Reminiscence: General Alvin P. Hovey Relates an Experience with Grant at Vicksburg, from the March 8, 1885, publication of the Indianapolis Journal. The 126-year-old article, in Hovey’s own words, gives an entirely new prospective to the Champion Hill battlefield.

James Drake, local engineer and historian, will be in attendance at the cemetery site with several large maps which display Hovey’s Battery position during the war. Drake will also present research showing that the old road leading to Matilda’s house adjacent to the railroad, was once the original roadbed leading to Midway Station

Immediately following the presentation at the cemetery, a skirmish between Union and Confederates re-enactors will take place. The Union cannons will be firing from the mound site while the Confederates return fire from the grounds of Matilda Champion’s house. The crowd is encouraged to follow the “guns” along the old roadbed as they move toward the placement of General Hovey’s reinforcements who entered in the fight near the close of the battle.

To conclude the all-day event, Sid Champion will give a tour of the grounds of Matilda Champion’s 1865-1866 house site. The tour will include Midway Station, the Champion Family Cemetery and the re-enactors' camp grounds which will be open to the public.

There is no charge for the 148th Anniversary event other than the lunch, but donations to the Champion Heritage Foundation to further battlefield preservation will be accepted, with gratitude, at the gate. For additional information e-mail RBDrake@comcast.net. 

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