Wexford Lodge (Shirley House) - Civil War - Vicksburg, MS - Field Hospitals on Waymarking.com

During the Civil War, the Union army occupied the house and in 1864 used it as a small pox hospital for the troops. The white-painted house was the most conspicuous structure on the Vicksburg battlefield prompting both Union and Confederate soldiers to refer to it as the "White House." Use of this structure as a temporary war hospital was abandoned the same year it was first used as a hospital (1864).

An historical marker at the site provides the following information about the history of this structure: "Built in the late 1830s, Wexford Lodge is the only surviving wartime structure in the park. Better known as the Shirley House, the building was the home of James and Adeline Shirley. Although they were both northern born, their three children, Frederick, Alice, and Quincy, were all born in Vicksburg. The Shirleys owned twenty-five slaves and made Wexford Lodge the center of a successful farm. Upon the secession of Mississippi, the Shirleys, who remained ardent supporters of the Union, kept to themselves for safety. During the siege of Vicksburg, the family fled first to a cave located in the ravine to your right, and then to an empty slave cabin several miles away. The house -- badly damaged by shot and shell -- was later converted by the Union army to a smallpox hospital. In 1864 it was abandoned altogether. This house and 60 acres were sold to the Federal Government in 1900 by Alice Shirley Eaton. James and Adeline are interred behind the house."

Address: Vicksburg National Military Park 3201 Clay Street Vicksburg, MS 39183 USA Name of War: Civil War Type of Documentation: Historic Marker/Interpretive

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