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Used With Permission From: CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER OF EVENTS LEADING By Northeast Mississippi Museum Association April 7, Shiloh The Confederate Army, under command of Beauregard, is April 11, Pittsburg Landing General Halleck arrives from St. Louis. Orders General John Pope's army at Island No. 10 on the Mississippi to join Buell and Grant at Pittsburg Landing. April 15, Corinth General Earl Van Dorn's army arrives from Arkansas, increasing Confederate forces to 56,000--five miles of earthworks being constructed in semi- circle north of the town. April 21 General Pope's Army of the Mississippi arrives at Pittsburg Landing and forms the Federal left wing at Hamburg; Buell's Army of the Ohio the center; and the Army of the Tennessee, now under General G. H. Thomas, the right wing. Halleck now has 120,000 troops to fight the entrenched Confederates at Corinth. It was thought by many, including Halleck, this would be the last battle of the war. April 30, Pittsburg Landing Halleck begins his "siege of Corinth." Takes thirty days to travel twenty miles. May 29 Beauregard evacuates Corinth, retreats to Tupelo. Federals occupy Corinth next day. June 10, Corinth Halleck breaks up his huge army. Buell sent East to Chattanooga; Pope transferred to Virginia; Sherman occupies Memphis. Next day Halleck leaves for Washington, leaving U. S. Grant in charge. June 27, Tupelo Jeff Davis replaces Beauregard with Bragg. Bragg begins transferring troops to Chattanooga by rail. Van Dorn sent to Vicksburg, his two divisions left at Tupelo under Sterling Price. September 1 Bragg, now at Chattanooga, orders Price to cross the Tennessee River to prevent Federals at Corinth from cooperating with Buell at Nashville. September 13 Price enters Iuka, twenty miles east of Corinth and eight miles south of the river. Upon arrival, the Eighth Wisconsin, commanded by Col. Murphy, evacuated the town. September 19, Battle of Iuka Price, attacked by two divisions under W.S. Rosecrans from the south and threatened by Ord's Division from the north, retreats to Baldwyn, 30 miles south of Corinth. September 28, Ripley Van Dorn, having moved up from Vicksburg with Mansfield Lovell's Division, was joined with Price's Divisions at Ripley, thirty miles southeast of Corinth. Styled the Army of West Tennessee, the three divisions totaled 23,000 men of all arms, commanded by Van Dorn. September 29 The effort to retake Corinth begins. Van Dorn moves north on the Pocahontas Road. October 1 Van Dorn reaches the State Line Road, rebuilds Davis Bridge over the Hatchie River. October 2 Confederates take up line of march toward Corinth, skirmish at Young's Bridge over the Tuscumbia River, bivouacs at Chewalla, eight miles northeast of Corinth. October 3 Confederates move out at daybreak--Lovell's Division in front, skirmishes with Federal pickets. At 10:00 a.m. Lovell's Division is deployed south of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad and Price's Division on the north. The coordinated attack drives the Federals from the old Confederate works and by late afternoon the Union soldiers are behind the inner defenses of the town. October 4 Van Dorn's plan to resume the battle at daybreak is delayed by the illness of one of Price's Division Commanders. Confederates break through the Federal lines about 10:00 a.m. and enter Corinth from the north, fighting in the streets all the way to the Tishomingo Hotel. At the same time the 42nd Alabama, 35th Mississippi, and 2nd Texas Infantry along with the 6th and 9th Texas dismounted cavalry broke away from the main body to attack Battery Robinett. Battery Robinett was a three-gun redan, commanded by Lt. Henry C. Robinett, supported by the 37th, 39th, 43rd, and 63rd Ohio and the 11th Missouri regiments. The three separate charges on the position fail as well as the assault on the town. By 2:30 p.m. Van Dorn is forced to abandon the field. Northeast Mississippi Museum Association Corinth, Mississippi |
