May 27, 1863, The Charleston Mercury
Jackson, the capital of Mississippi, contains about 10,000 inhabitants, and is situated on Pearl River, about forty-six miles east of Vicksburg, and about two hundred miles north of New Orleans. The Southern Mississippi Railroad, from Vicksburg to Meridian, Miss., and the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad to Memphis and the North, cross each other at Jackson.
Vicksburg is situated on elevated uneven ground, on the east bank of the Mississippi, about forty-six miles west of Jackson, and by the course of the river about four hundred miles from New Orleans. Railroads are projected and partly completed to Shreveport, in Louisiana, on the west, and to Selma, Ala., on the east. The latter road (Southern Mississippi) crosses the New Orleans, Jackson and Northern Railroad at Jackson, and the Mobile and Ohio Railroad at Meridian, Mississippi.
Meridian is a small place, 234 miles west of north of Mobile, situated on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, where it is crossed by the Southern Mississippi from Vicksburg to Selma. It is about 140 miles east from Vicksburg, and 94 east from Jackson.
Grenada is situated at the head of steamboat navigation on the Yalabusha River, one of the tributaries of the Yazoo, and 113 miles north by east of Jackson, on the New Orleans, Jackson and Northern Railroad.
Canton is a flourishing town in Madison County, Miss., of which it is the county seat. It is situated on the New Orleans, Jackson and Northern Railroad, about twenty-five miles northeast of Jackson.
Raymond is a village about sixteen miles southwest of Jackson, and about eight miles south of the Southern Mississippi Railroad, with which it is connected by a branch road, and about the same distance from the New Orleans, Jackson and Northern Railroad.
Okolona is a small town in Mississippi, on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, about 170 miles north northwest from Jackson, and about 75 a little north of east of Grenada, and 260 miles by the railroad from Mobile, and 67 miles south of Corinth. At present the cars on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad do not run beyond Okolona.
Grand Gulf is a small town on the east bank of the Mississippi River, two miles below the mouth of the Big Black, and about 60 miles southwest of Jackson.
Port Gibson is a flourishing town on the Bayou Pierre, a small stream which enters the Mississippi about ten miles below the Big Black, and is situated about 28 miles from the mouth of the Bayou, about 10 miles southeast from Grand Gulf and 65 miles southwest from Jackson.
Port Hudson is a town of some importance in the parish of East Feliciana, La., and is situated on the east bank of the Mississippi, 155 miles above New Orleans, and about 250 below Vicksburg, by the course of the river, and is distant about 130 miles southwest of Jackson by land.
Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana, situated on the east bank of the Mississippi, 25 miles below Port Hudson by the course of the river.
Pearl River rises in the northern central part of Mississippi, and flowing in a southerly direction past Jackson, a distance of 250 miles, passes through Lake Borgne into the Gulf of Mexico.
Yazoo River is a deep, narrow, sluggish stream, 290 miles long from the junction of the Tallahatchie and Yallabusha (which form it) to its mouth on the Mississippi, about twelve miles above Vicksburg. In navigable qualities it is said to be unsurpassed by any river of its size.
Yalabusha River rises a little to the westward of Okolona, and pursuing a westward course, unites at Leflore with the Tallahatchie, and forms the Yazoo. In the winter it is navigable by steamboats to Grenada on the New Orleans, Jackson and Northern Railroad, a distance of ninety miles.
Tallahatchie River rises in the extreme northern middle part of the State, and running first a southeast and then southerly direction, forms a junction with the Yalabusha at Leflore, about 100 miles by land north of Jackson, and forming the Yazoo. Its length is about 250 miles, and it navigable to the mouth of the Coldwater Creek, a distance of 100 miles.
Sunflower River is a small stream rising near the Mississippi River, and after flowing about 250 miles enters the Yazoo about 75 miles from its mouth.
Big Black River rises in Northern Central Mississippi (in Choctow County), and flowing about 200 miles in a southwesterly direction, passing between Jackson and Vicksburg, empties into the Mississippi River two miles above Grand Gulf.