Balfour House is an antebellum

Antebellum architecture

Antebellum architecture is a term used to describe the characteristic neoclassical architectural style of the Southern United States, especially the Old South, from after the birth of the United States in the American Revolution, to the start of the American Civil War...

 mansion located at the corner of Crawford Street and Cherry Street in Vicksburg, Mississippi

Vicksburg, Mississippi

Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the only city in Warren County. It is located northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and due west of Jackson, the state capital. In 1900, 14,834 people lived in Vicksburg; in 1910, 20,814; in 1920,...

. Built in 1835, it was the home of Emma Balfour, celebrated diarist of the Siege of Vicksburg. The red-brick, two-story structure features elements of Greek Revival

Greek Revival architecture

The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...

 and Federalist styles and is listed

National Register of Historic Places listings in Warren County, Mississippi

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Warren County, Mississippi.This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Warren County, Mississippi, United States...

 on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

.

1862 Christmas ball

In a dramatic scene eerily reminiscent of the 1815 Duchess of Richmond's Ball

Duchess of Richmond's ball

The Duchess of Richmond's ball was held in Brussels on 15 June 1815, the night before the Battle of Quatre Bras. The Duchess's husband Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond was in command of a reserve force in Brussels, which was protecting that city in case Napoleon Bonaparte invaded.Elizabeth...

 prior to the Battle of Waterloo

Battle of Waterloo

The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...

, Balfour House played host to a grand Christmas Ball on the night of December 24, 1862. The guests included many Confederate Army

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 officers and their ladies. Among them was Brig. Gen. Martin Luther Smith

Martin Luther Smith

Martin Luther Smith was an American soldier and civil engineer, serving as a major general in the Confederate States Army...

, and Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Lee

Stephen D. Lee

Stephen Dill Lee was an American soldier, planter, legislator, and author. He was the youngest Confederate lieutenant general during the American Civil War, and later served as the first president of Mississippi A&M College...

, who decades later published his own recollections of the fateful ball.

As the Christmas Eve revelry progressed, the telegraph office just across the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 in Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

 received an urgent message from Major L.L. Daniel at Lake Providence, about 75 miles north. Telegraph operator Colonel Philip H. Fall took the call.

The weather was cold and stormy, the river was dangerously turbulent and the only available transport across to Vicksburg was a small skiff. It would mean risking his life, but Colonel Fall felt compelled to deliver the crucial information to General Smith, who he knew would be at the Balfours' Christmas Ball at that moment.

Shortly after midnight, Colonel Fall, exhausted and covered in mud, burst through the door of Balfour House and waded into the crowd of dancers, who gave him a wide berth. When he saw General Smith he went directly to him and told him what he'd heard from Lake Providence. Upon hearing the news, Smith announced loudly "This ball is at an end! The enemy is coming down river. All non-combatants must leave the city!" The men had only seconds to bid loved-ones good-bye as they rushed away and reported to station. Later, on December 26, came the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou

Battle of Chickasaw Bayou

The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, also called Walnut Hills, fought December 26–29, 1862, was the opening engagement of the Vicksburg Campaign during the American Civil War. Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton repulsed an advance by Union Maj. Gen. William T...

, the initial battle of the Vicksburg Campaign

Vicksburg Campaign

The Vicksburg Campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi River. The Union Army of the Tennessee under Maj. Gen....

.

Siege of Vicksburg

During the Siege of Vicksburg, most houses were abandoned in favor of caves dug into hillsides for protection against mortar attacks, but Balfour House remained occupied. Emma Balfour famously refused to leave, and in fact used her home to shelter wounded Confederate soldiers.

With Union forces surrounding Vicksburg on all sides, and the Union Navy occupying the Mississippi River, the feeling of entrapment was palpable. Emma wrote: "What is to become of all the living things in this place when the boats commend shelling—God only knows—shut up as in a trap—no ingress or egress—and thousands of women and children..."

Union headquarters

After the Confederate surrender, Balfour House served as headquarters of Union Maj. Gen.

Major general (United States)

In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...

 James B. McPherson

James B. McPherson

James Birdseye McPherson was a career United States Army officer who served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War...

.