In accordance with the decision that had been made at Windsor Plantation, the Union Army of the Tennessee turned east on the Rodney road at the Bethel Church on the afternoon of April 30, 1863. Up to this point, the men in the ranks feared that they were en route to reinforce Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks' army which had besieged Port Hudson, Louisiana. When they realized they were heading for Vicksburg, morale soared.

The extant small white clapboard-sided church is the original building. The chuch is on the east side of the modern road, but in 1863 the road ran east of the church.

This site has local significance because of its association with military activities and events that achieved or affected important local objectives of the Vicksburg campaign.