April 28,1862 To May 30,1862

 

 
 

Forces

Losses

 

Union

N/A

N/A

 

Confederacy

N/A

N/A

 

Total

N/A

N/A

 
 

Battle Location:  Hardin County and McNairy County, Tennessee; Alcorn County and Tishomingo County, Mississippi

 

Campaign:  Federal Penetration up the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers
 

Theatre:  Main Western Theater
 

Winner:  Union

 


 
Maj. Gen. Henry Wager Halleck Gen. Pierre Gustave Beauregard
Union Commander Confederate Commander
 


Battle Writeup   1

Four days after the battle of Shiloh, Gen. Henry Halleck arrived at Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., and took command of the Union forces that had been surprised and nearly defeated there. He removed the commander of the forces, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant from duty and made him second in command, a position with few duties or responsibilities. Halleck also called in massive reinforcements and soon had an army of 120,000 men in 15 divisions and more than 200 guns. His target was the 70,000 Confederate soldiers commanded by Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard who were camped 22 miles to the southwest at Corinth, Miss.

On April 28, all was ready, and the ponderous blue army set out slowly and cautiously to capture the strategical important railroad center at Corinth. There was skirmishing almost every day, and at each occurrence and also every night Halleck would have his entire army entrench. He was determined that he would not be caught off guard as Grant had been--even if it meant the army moved less than a mile a day.

The Rebels at Corinth were in bad shape. After their agonizing journey back to Corinth following their near victory at Shiloh, they used the time Halleck gave them to strengthen their formidable earthworks. But the monstrous Union army approaching was only one of their problems. Since they had been back to the unsanitary camp at Corinth, more soldiers had died of disease than were killed at Shiloh. Food and ammunition were running low, their water supply was contaminated, and the reinforcements they received barely made up for the soldiers stricken by the rampant epidemics.

Beauregard could not hope to hold Corinth given the condition of his army and the size of the enemy. So, when Halleck's men finally arrived within cannon range of the Rebel lines on May 28, Beauregard decided to evacuate, an exercise that was completed flawlessly and without the Yankees' knowing, during the night of May 29.

Fascinating Fact: Beauregard's evacuation from the disease-ridden camps was carefully planned and executed. When the Union troops marched in on May 30, they found , "not a sick prisoner, not a rusty bayonet, not a bite of bacon--nothing but an empty town."

My Source: us-civilwar.com

Battle Writeup   2

After the Battle of Iuka, Maj. Gen. Sterling Price’s Confederate Army of the West marched from Baldwyn to Ripley 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 numbering about 22,000 men. The Rebels marched to Pocahontas on October 1, and then moved southeast toward Corinth.

They hoped to seize Corinth and then sweep into Middle Tennessee. Since the Siege of Corinth, in the spring, Union forces had erected various fortifications, an inner and intermediate line, to protect Corinth, an important transportation center. With the Confederate approach, the Federals, numbering about 23,000, occupied the outer line of fortifications and placed men in front of them. Van Dorn arrived within three miles of Corinth at 10:00 am 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 Yankees rearward. A gap occurred between two Union brigades which the Confederates exploited around 1:00 pm. The Union troops moved back in a futile effort to close the gap. 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 the 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 had planned to attack at daybreak, but Brig. Gen. Louis Hébert’s sickness postponed it till 9:00 am. As the Confederates moved forward, Union artillery swept the field causing heavy casualties, but the Rebels continued on. They stormed Battery Powell and closed on Battery Robinett, where desperate hand-to-hand fighting ensued. A few Rebels 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. 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.

My Source: National Park Service