A Civil War message in a bottle only decoded after almost 150 years.

The message itself is dated July 4th, 1963, and reads: “You can expect no help from this side of the river.” It is believed to have been written by Major General John G. Walker of the Texas Division to Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton.

Pemberton was surrounded and stuck in Vicksburg, Missispi, during the Civil War by Union forces. The message was dated with the same date as Pemberton’s surrender, although it clearly never reached him. It was held at the Museum of the Confederacy since that museum was founded in 1896 but it was never opened and decoded as they believed it was just a random scattering of letters. The message also had a bullet with it, believed to have been used to weigh it down if the messenger was caught and had to throw it into a river.

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It is my understanding that there were Confederate forces to the north of Jackson that could have came to the aid of Pemberton, but was it Joe Johnston who was not known to be an aggressive commander in charge? Can't remember

GP