| VICKSBURG | Last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi in the American Civil War, besieged by forces led by Ulysses S Grant |
| LEWIS | Meriwether, US explorer who, with Clark, led an expedition to explore the lands to the west of the Mississippi in the early 19c (5) |
| TOWEROFLONDON | Fortified medieval stronghold on the Thames (5,2,6) |
| KEEPOUT | Prevent from approaching stronghold on the opposite side (4,3) |
| KEEPOFF | Prevent from approaching stronghold on the opposite side (4,3) |
| MUMPS | One of the M's in the MMRV vaccine |
| BLACKVELVET | Chart-topping song by #11-Down that starts "Mississippi in the middle of a dry spell...": 2 wds. |
| ARGONNEFOREST | Natural barrier faced by American forces led by Pershing, in one of the First World War’s last battles |
| GULF | ? War, 1991 conflict between coalition forces led by the United States and Iraq (4) |
| AQABA | City taken by Arab forces, led by Lawrence of Arabia, in 1917 (5) |
| CHEROKEE | The vast majority of this native North American people were forced to move to a reservation west of the Mississippi in 1838 (8) |
| LASALLE | The Chickasaw were waiting for this French explorer when he made his way down the Mississippi in 1682 (2,5) |
| OHIO | River which rises in western Pennsylvania and joins the Mississippi in Illinois (4) |
| RICHMOND | City in Virginia that became the Confederate capital in the American Civil War (8) |
| LEE | Robert E., commander-in-chief of the Confederate armies in the American Civil War (3) |
| ROBERTELEE | General who was commander- in-chief of the Confederate armies in the American Civil War (6,13) |
| THREAVECASTLE | 14th-century stronghold on an island in the River Dee west of Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway |
| CASTLE | 14th-century stronghold on an island in the River Dee west of Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway (7,6) |
| THREAVE | 14th-century stronghold on an island in the River Dee west of Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway (7,6) |
| RIORIVER | Tributary of the Mississippi in Texas and Louisiana (3,5) |
