NPS Brices Cross Roads Website; NPS Tupelo Website
WHAT IS IT?Two tiny Civil War-related National Park Sites commemorating two debatable Confederate victories due largely to the skill of Confederate cavalryman Nathan Bedford Forrest.
BEAUTY (3/10)
Gab thinks that these two Parks are what Battlefield Sites should be: a placard explaining the fight and one memorial to honor those who served. They both are only one acre in size, a complete contrast to most other Civil War sites.
The Monuments at both Sites are identical except for the engravings commemorating the Battle. They are both topped with the same Eagle. The NPS clearly got a two-for-one deal.
The Tupelo NB acre is located on Main Street, a four lane commercial avenue that cuts through the center of town. Across from the simple granite memorial is a Pizza Hut and a check-cashing store. The Tupelo NB is often named the most endangered Civil War Battlefield Site, whatever that means.
The Brices Cross Roads NBS acre is located, of course, at a rural Mississippi highway crossroads. Local residents have acquired much of the actual Battlefield site and have created a few hiking trails and interpretive panels on the grounds. The same residents have also built a non-affiliated Brices Cross Roads Visitor Center that is well done, but not included in this review because it is not technically a National Park Site.
HISTORICAL INTEREST (4/10)
The National Park Service seems to have wiped its hands clean of these two Battlefield Sites. There is no updated National Parks Brochure, no Visitor Center - the Tupelo Natchez Trace VC is supposed fill this role but has nothing dedicated to the Battles - and only two acres of parkland. These sites’ omission from the NPS eye is especially striking given the tremendous Museums afforded to other Civil War parks.
Some might also argue that Confederate victories still get the Federal short shrift. We think the reason is Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Born an impoverished farm boy, Forrest, among other entrepreneurial efforts, traded slaves in Memphis and became rich. He still entered the Confederate Army as a private. He swiftly rose up the ranks to General, becoming the only person in either army to achieve this heady climb. By most accounts, he was the greatest of all Confederate fighters, military tacticians and cavalrymen. Tupelo and Brices Cross Roads are among his most daring hours and evidence of his strategic brilliance.
In 1877, Forrest also became the first Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan. Forrest, the cult that has recently developed to venerate him and the NPS’s complete disregard of such an integral and, at the same time, representative Southern figure are much more interesting than the Battles themselves. Tupelo and Brices Cross Roads may contain esoteric evidence of strategic genius but they were largely inconsequential to the overall southern War effort. The fights both occurred late in the War, in 1864, represented no military gains and did not help the South’s already dim prospects.
CROWDS (6/10)The two Parks are on a combined two acres. There is really nothing to see. If other people had been there, they may have cramped us in the five minutes it takes to read the panel and look at the monument.
EASE OF USE/ACCESS (2/5)
The Tupelo NB acre is easy to find, located on Main Street in downtown Tupelo. We got lost three times trying the find the Brices Cross Roads NBS acre. There are no brown NPS signs that lead you to the Site. In addition, rural Mississippi back roads are not marked well. We do not remember how we finally found the place. Our advice is to go first to the Baldwyn Brices Cross Roads VC, located just off U.S. Route 45 about 15 miles north of Tupelo. Ask them for directions.
CONCESSIONS/BOOKSTORE (1/5)
The Tupelo Natchez Trace VC bookstore had a few books regarding the Battles. If you are itching for Nathan Bedford Forrest books the NPS Sites at Stones River NB, Shiloh NMP, the Corinth Interpretive Center, Vicksburg NMP and Fort Donelson NB have more than enough.
If you want cute and kitschy memorabilia about the KKK’s first Grand Dragon, the independently run Brices Cross Roads VC in Baldwyn is the place to go. Included in their stock are numbered pen and ink Forrest sketches, figurines and T-shirts emblazoned with his visage and infamous quotes. We were tempted to buy a pen that cycled through these quotes when the clicker is depressed. The sayings included "War means fighting and fighting means killing." and "get there first with the most men".
COSTS (4/5)
They are both free, but you get nothing. Entry into the Baldwyn VC is $3 per person; the National Parks Passport is, of course, not valid here.
RANGER/GUIDE TO TOURIST RATIO (1/5)
There are no National Park Rangers related to these two Sites.
TOURS/CLASSES (1/10)
The NPS offers only an exhibit panel at both Sites. The Brices Cross Roads Visitor Center, not related in any way with the Park Service, has a nice museum, a video narrated by Shelby Foote and an extremely knowledgeable woman working behind the desk. They are not constrained by any Federal guidelines in interpreting the controversial Forrest.
FUN (3/10)
Getting lost on the unmarked back roads of Mississippi is NOT fun.
Finding a book you have been wanting to purchase $8 cheaper than retail at the Brices Cross Roads VC is pretty fun. Confederates in the Attic is a must read for this leg of the journey.
Spending a total of ten minutes at two NPS Civil War sites is tremendous fun.
WOULD WE RECOMMEND? (3/10)You will most likely drive past the Tupelo NB on your way to Tupelo’s more famous attraction, the birthplace of Elvis Presley. You will most likely never find yourself at the Brices Cross Roads crossroad. Depending on how you feel about Nathan Bedford Forrest, these federally funded monuments are either a wasted two acres or important historical tributes to one of America’s most contentious figures. We fall somewhere in between.
TOTAL 28/80
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