VICKSBURG, Miss. (WJTV) – The Vicksburg National Military Park (VNMP) will host a rededication ceremony for the Rhode Island Memorial on Saturday, November 18.

On April 13, 2019, Vicksburg, experienced two different severe weather events. Two of those tornadoes passed through the park leaving multiple trees and limbs down throughout the park. Despite the widespread affected area, the only monument with significant damage was the Rhode Island Memorial. 

Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park & Campaign helped fund the full restoration of the memorial through the support of donors and partnerships with veterans’ groups in the State of Rhode Island.

The Rhode Island State Memorial, sculpted in bronze by Frank Edwin Elwell, depicts the figure of an infantryman who has picked up the fallen colors. The memorial was originally dedicated on November 11, 1908.

Officials said the monument memorializes the 7th Rhode Island Infantry. During the siege, the regiment served on Major Gen. William T. Sherman’s exterior line; fortifying the line first from Skillikalia Bayou to Templeton’s and then from Haynes’ Bluff to the railroad crossing of the Big Black River where they remained until the surrender of Vicksburg. 

The rededication ceremony will take place at 10:00 a.m. at the memorial on Grant Avenue.