Siege of Corinth 1862
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1862 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | United States | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | North America | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | American Civil War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Henry Halleck, P. G. T. Beauregard | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 34.9376, -88.5299 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Corinth, also known as the first battle of Corinth, was an American Civil War engagement lasting from April 29 to May 30, 1862, in Corinth, Mississippi. A collection of Union forces under the overall command of Major General Henry W. Halleck (in his only field command of the war) engaged in a month-long siege of the city, whose Confederate occupants were commanded by General P.G.T. Beauregard. The siege resulted in the capture of the town by Federal forces.
The town was a strategic point at the junction of two vital railroad lines, the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. Former Confederate Secretary of War LeRoy Pope Walker called this intersection "the vertebrae of the Confederacy." Halleck argued: "Richmond and Corinth are now the great strategic points of the war, and our success at these points should be insured at all hazards." Another reason for the town's importance was that, if captured by Union forces, it would threaten the security of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and render Southern control of the track west of that East Tennessee bastion meaningless.
The siege ended when the outnumbered Confederates withdrew on May 29. This effectively cut off the prospect of further Confederate attempts to regain western Tennessee.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Corinth (revision 1381214073), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Second Battle of Corinth 1862 · 4 km
- Battle of Hatchie Bridge 1862 · 27 km
- Battle of Shiloh 1862 · 30 km
- Battle of Booneville 1862 · 32 km
- Battle of Iuka 1862 · 33 km
- Battle of Brice's Cross Roads 1864 · 51 km
Other battles of the American Civil War
- Battle of the Head of Passes 1861
- Bog Wallow Ambush 1861
- First Battle of Mesilla 1861
- Siege of Tubac 1861
- Skirmish at Blackwater Creek 1861
- Battle of Albuquerque 1862
- Battle of Antietam 1862
- Battle of Apache Pass 1862
- Battle of Augusta (1862) 1862
- Battle of Baton Rouge (1862) 1862
All 498 battles of the American Civil War →
Browse more: battles in United States · North America · 19th century battles