On Friday, Rick and I borrowed the marina’s courtesy van to visit Shiloh National Military Park and Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center.
If you are ever in this area, I highly recommend a visit to both sites, these sites are exceptional and provide a wealth of information on the civil war.
Civil War History (April 12, 1861 – May 9, 1865)
Both the Union and Confederate armies considered Corinth, MS, crossroads of the Memphis & Charleston and the Mobile & Ohio railroads, vital to their success. At the beginning of the war, the Confederate Army utilized Corinth as a mobilization center for Confederate troops. By March of 1862, Gen P.G.T. Beauregard had gathered nearly 44,000 troops at Corinth.
In March 1862, fresh from his successes at Forts Henry and Donelson, Maj Gen Grant disembarked his troops at Pittsburg Landing, TN with plans to advance on Corinth. However, on April 6th, the Confederate army seized the initiative and attacked the Union camps in the forest and fields around the Shiloh Meeting House. At the end of two days of fierce fighting, 23, 746 union and confederate soldiers were killed, wounded or missing. By the end of the war, approximately 620,000 soldiers would die from combat, accident, starvation, and disease.
After Shiloh, the Union advanced to Corinth. The Siege of Corinth, April 29th through May 30th, 1862 came to an end when the Confederates retreated and the Union took control of Corinth. As a result, the union also controlled the entire Mississippi River valley.