The Siege and Battle of Corinth:
A New Kind of War

(Courtesy of Corinth Area Tourism) T he tracks still cross in the center of town, and trains still use them, but no one fights over them any more. During the Civil War as many as 300,000 soldiers moved through this tiny town in northeastern Mississippi as the Union and the Confederacy fought to control a critical railroad crossover. The evidence of their presence is everywhere. A reconstructed earthen redoubt commemorates the men in grey who marched with slow and steady steps against its walls and the men in blue who defended it in fierce hand-to-hand combat. And if you look carefully, you can see miles and miles of earthen fortifications, some built to protect the crossover and some to help seize it. These trenches testify to a new kind of warfare that was tested here and would become common before the war ended in 1865.

TABLE OF CONTENTS About This Lesson Getting Started: Inquiry Question Setting the Stage: Historical Context Locating the Site: Maps 1. Major Railroads, 1860 Determining the Facts: Readings 1. The Siege of Corinth 2. The Battle of Corinth 3. The Dirty Work of Fortification Visual Evidence: Images 1. Fortifications at Corinth, October 1862 2. Typical Field Entrenchment 3. Troops Building Entrenchments 4. Corinth after the Confederate Retreat 5. View Toward Batteries Robinett and Williams Confederate Dead, October 4, 1862 Putting It All Together: Activities 1. How to Fight a Battle 2. Eyewitness to History 3. Transportation in the Local Community Supplementary Resources

RELATED INFORMATION How to Use a TwHP Lesson Lessons on Related Topics TwHP Home National Register Home About the National Register How the National Register Helps Teachers Contact TwHP Shiloh National Military Park The lesson is based on the Siege and Battle of Corinth, one of the thousands of properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Siege and Battle of Corinth has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

Continue

Comments or Questions
Privacy & Disclaimer
Site optimized for V4.0
& above browsers

TCP