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![Mississippi sites A-C](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20080922160239im_/http://www.nps.gov/archive/vick/camptrail/graphics/A-C.gif) |
![Mississippi sites D-I](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20080922160239im_/http://www.nps.gov/archive/vick/camptrail/graphics/D-I.gif) |
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 nmbered 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 norning. 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.
![Recommendation](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20080922160239im_/http://www.nps.gov/archive/vick/camptrail/graphics/Recomoval.gif)
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.
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