 The defenders of Grand Gulf then fought at the Battle of Champion Hill on May 16 and the Battle of Big Black River Bridge on May 17, before the start of the Siege of Vicksburg, which ended with a Confederate surrender on July 4.Today, the battlefield is preserved in Grand Gulf Military State Park, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.In mid-1862, Confederate field artillery had periodically harassed Union Navy vessels from Grand Gulf, Mississippi, which was located along the Mississippi River.