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After the Battle of Iuka,
Confederate Maj. Gen. Sterling Price's Confederate Army of the West marched
to Baldwyn and on to Ripley, Mississippi, where it joined Maj. Gen. Earl Van
Dorn's Army of West Tennessee. Van Dorn was senior officer and took command
of the combined force that numbered about 22,000 men. The Confederates
marched from Ripley to Pocahontas on October 1, and then moved southeast
toward Corinth, hoping to seize Corinth and then sweep into Middle
Tennessee. Since the siege of Corinth, in the spring, Union forces had
erected various field fortifications, an inner and an intermediate line, to
protect Corinth, an important railroad crossroads and transportation center.
With the Confederate approach, the Federals, numbering about 23,000 under
the command of Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, occupied the outer line of
fortifications and placed men in front of them. Van Dorn arrived within 3
miles of Corinth at 10:00 a.m. on October 3, and moved into some fieldworks
that the Confederates had erected for the siege of Corinth. The fighting
began, and the Confederates steadily pushed the Northerners rearward. A gap
occurred between two Union brigades which the Confederates exploited around
1:00 p.m.. Price then attacked and drove the Federals back further to their
inner line. By evening, Van Dorn was sure that he could finish the Federals
off during the next day. This confidence - combined with heat, fatigue, and
water shortages - persuaded him to cancel any further operations that day.
Rosecrans regrouped his men in the fortifications to be ready for the attack
to come the next morning. Van Dorn planned to attack at daybreak, but Brig.
Gen. Louis Hebert's sickness postponed it till 9:00 a.m.. As the
Confederates moved forward, Union artillery swept the field causing heavy
casualties, but the Confederates continued on. They stormed Battery Powell
and closed on Battery Robinett, where desperate hand-to-hand fighting
ensued. A few Confederates fought their way into Corinth, but the Federals
quickly drove them out. The Federals continued on, recapturing Battery
Powell, and forcing Van Dorn into a general retreat toward Chewalla,
Tennessee. Rosecrans postponed any pursuit until the next day. As a result,
Van Dorn was defeated, but not destroyed or captured, at Hatchie Bridge,
Tennessee, on October 5.
In 1993, the Civil War
Sites Advisory Commission designated the Battle of Corinth as one of the
Civil War's 384 principal battlefields. One the Civil War's most bitter
episodes, the Battle of Corinth, along with the Battle of Davis Bridge the
following day, is nationally significant, because the Union victory at this
strategic rail transportation center consolidated Federal control over
northern Mississippi and southwestern Tennessee as part of the North's
converging campaign to wrestle the Mississippi River from Confederate hands.
Van Dorn's failed attempt to recapture Corinth, the last Confederate
offensive in Mississippi, seriously weakened the only mobile Confederate
army in the state. Thus, the Battle of Corinth was not only a major battle
that had a direct, observable impact on the outcome of the Vicksburg
campaign, but it was also a decisive battle that had a direct, observable
impact on the direction, duration, and final outcome of the Civil War.
The battlefield site at
Corinth retains much of its pastoral character that was present on October
3-4, 1862. Some of this property has been acquired by the Friends of the
Siege of and Battle of Corinth for eventual transfer to the National Park
Service. This site also includes Battery Robinett, long a public park
commemorating the battle. the Corinth Battlefield site would constitute the
core of the Corinth unit of Shiloh National Military Park. A visitor center
is under construction and would be the principal experience at Corinth as
well as serving as a gateway to Shiloh. The battlefield further would be
developed to facilitate an experience of the fighting field itself through
the construction of trails, modest parking lots, waysides, etc. The remnant
earthworks would also receive a preservation treatment and be a featured
element of the visitor use package at Corinth. Onsite staff would also be
available to manage resources and provide for visitor use. |
Highway Hypodermics
