Term: Corinth, Siege of
Definition:
Date(s): April 29-May 30, 1862
Location: Corinth, Mississippi (Google Map)
Other name(s): none
Campaign: Federal Penetration up the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers (February-June 1862)
Outcome: Union victory
Summary
This Union victory stopped the movement of Confederate troops and supplies throughout much of the South.
Following their victory at Shiloh on April 7, 1862, Union armies totaling ca. 110,000 men marched to the vital railroad center of Corinth, Mississippi. The city was the junction of rail lines that stretched from Alabama and Florida in the south to Kentucky and Virginia in the north.
Approximately 66,000 Confederate troops were inside Corinth. They put up a determined resistance, and it took nearly a month for Union forces to cover the last 20 miles. On May 25th, Union forces advanced close enough to bombard the town with artillery. On the evening of May 29-30, Confederates evacuated.
Wisconsin’s Role
Seven Wisconsin units took part in the Siege of Corinth: the 8th, 14th, 16th, 17th, and 18th Infantry regiments and the 5th and 10th Light Artillery batteries.
Learn more
Read a four-page account of Wisconsin soldiers at the Siege of Corinth on pages 495-499 of William D. Love's "Wisconsin in the War of the Rebellion" (Chicago, 1866).
Battle Map
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View original documents
[Source: Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields (Washington, 1993); Estabrook, C. Records and Sketches of Military Organizations (Madison, 1914); Love, W. Wisconsin in the War of the Rebellion (Madison, 1866).]
