Marathon Pundit: My Mississippi Manifest Destiny: Corinth

Thursday, May 29, 2008

My Mississippi Manifest Destiny: Corinth

The Battle of Shiloh began when Confederate soldiers led by General Albert Sidney Johnston marched from the railroad crossroads town of Corinth (emphasis on the first syllable), Mississippi with the goal of driving Union forces under Major General Ulysses S. Grant from Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River. Johnston, as I noted earlier, was killed in the battle, and General P.G.T. Beauregard withdrew what remained of the Southern troops back to Corinth after the second day of the battle on April 7, 1862.

Because of the shockingly high casualties at Shiloh, General Grant was temporarily pushed aside by his commander, Major General Henry Halleck, and Halleck made his way to Corinth, waging a cautious "siege" that allowed Beauregard's army to retreat on May 30 to Tupelo unscathed. Halleck constructed a number of batteries, the one the right is Battery F, one of only redans left of the six built.

But Corinth remained too valuable of a possession to be left in control of the Northerners, and on October 3 a Confederate army led by Major General Earl Van Dorn attacked the town. Major General William Rosecrans was responsible for defending the vital village, and on the second day of fighting, just as the Southerners reached the railroad crossroads, the Federals drove the Confederates from Corinth, and the North had won a major victory. On the left is how the crossroads looks today, with the Crossroads Museum in the background.

As I mentioned a couple of times, the Corinth Interpretive Center, located in between Battery F and the crossroads, is the ideal place to begin your visit to the Shiloh battlefield.

While visiting the interpretive center, I learned of the Corinth Contraband Camp, a refugee center set up in the town for freed slaves. Young men received military training, others in the camp attended schools and received religion lessons.