Mississippi – I Blu In

So I’ve made it. I’m here, flesh and blu, in Mississippi.

From Ann Arbor, to Ohio, Tennessee, to the ‘Sipp. Our journey down South, although seemed never ending, was time well spent – teleports of all the little towns and rural communities we passed.

Once we crossed the Tennessee-Mississippi state-line, it was important that I took in as much as possible. Passing through Prentiss County I shifted in my seat at the sighting of a town named Thrasher, then entering Lee County a town called Guntown – both places I am interested in finding out their history.

No longer strategically planning our pit stops and restroom-rests, we found relief once we landed in Tupelo, MS. 

After a good nights rest, we woke up refreshed and rejuvenated, eager to explore this town. The birthplace of Elvis, and the stage for the Civil War’s Battle of Tupelo, today, it is full of traffic and diversity.

Our first stop, Tupelo National Battlefield site. 

In 1864, the mission of the federal army was to expand the North to Chatanooga to Savannah with hopes of capitalizing on Atlanta. In order to do so, Sherman, Georgia’s Major General at the time, recognized that Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad was the only way – yet was highly guarded by Confederate soldiers.

In order to advance this land, the Confederate soldiers had to remain in Mississippi.

Although the Federates attempted to take-out the confederate soldiers manning down the Nashville and Chattanooga Raildroads, they were not successful. 

From Tennessee to Mississippi, this battle at Tupelo, led Gen. Andrew J. Smith and the Federal army, to leave Memphis into north Mississippi.

Sherman, ordered Smith "to make up a force and go out to follow the Confederates to death, if it cost 10,000 lives and breaks the Treasury." With a force of 14,000, General Smith pursued this wish, in which the Battle of Tupelo is now recognized. Smith was defeated. Below you will see a small sign that maps and describes a short description of the battle, this excerpt describes the battles ending:

The next day, Smith withdrew his command to the north and returned in good order to Memphis. The pressure on Sherman’s flank had been reduced.

Good order, yet the confederate flag still prevails.     

Our next stop, Elvis’ birthplace.

Elvis Presley and the Blues .. Yet my research of the blues starts with black. This is something I need to further understand, my scope of Elvis in the context of that.

So many things to further dissect, my newness, my blu-ness in the context of Southerness. Neither good nor bad, rather on the spectrum of life, liberty, and the pursuit of comfort.

Photo taken by my dad.

May 6, 2010.

Somewhere on Tennessee 22 – on our journey South.