516

VISIT TO IUKA BATTLE-GROUND.

night, expecting to renew the conflict in the morning; but when Stanley went forward at dawn for the purpose, he found that Price had fled southward along the Fulton road, under cover of the darkness, leaving behind him the guns of the Eleventh Ohio battery. A pursuit was immediately commenced that lasted all day, but Price had too much the start, and escaped. Marching to Ripley, in Mississippi, he joined the larger force under Van Dorn, a detachment of which had been menacing Corinth, as we have seen, on the day of the battle at Iuka. Ord returned to Bolivar, and Rosecrans remained a few days in Iuka,

a Sept. 23, 1862.

ROSECRANS'S HEAD-QUARTERS.

making his head-quarters at the house of R. C. Brinkley, situated upon a hill a little eastward of the village.'

The writer visited Iuka toward the close of April, 1866, and went over the battle-ground with Major George, a resident of the village, who had

been one of the most active of the scouts of Forrest and Roddy in that region, and participated in the battle just described. We rode out in a carriage drawn by a span of spirited horses, driven by a colored boy only eight years and a half old, who managed them and the breaks of the vehicle, when going down steep hills and gullied ways, with all the skill of an experienced man. We passed along the Jacinto road to the crest of the hill on which the Eleventh Ohio battery was planted. It had been cleared of trees and underbrush, but a new growth nearly covered the ground, which at one place was white with the bleached bones of one hundred and fifty horses. Near by were the graves of the slain men of the Ohio battery, at the head

OUR COACHMAN.

1 The disparity in numbers in this conflict was very great. "I say boldly," reported General Hamilton on the 23d of September, " that a force of not more than 2.500 men met and confronted a rebel force of 11,000 on a field chosen by Price and a position naturally very strong, and with its every advantage inuring to the enemy." In another part of his report he says: "My division marched nineteen miles, fought a desperate battle with seven regiments against a rebel force, under General Price, of not less than eighteen regiments, won a glorious victory, lying at night on their arms, and the following morning chased the fleeing enemy fifteen miles." In a general order, issued on the 26th, Rosecrans repeats this substantially, and told them that they might well be proud of the battle of Iuka. He reported his loss at 782, of whom 144 were killed, 598 were wounded, and forty were missing. Among the wounded was the gallant Colonel Boomer, of the Twenty-sixth Missouri. We have no official returns of the Confederate loss. Pollard says it was about 800; but Rosecrans estimates from various data, such as 265 of them buried by his troops and over 700 wounded left in the hospitals, their total loss at 1,488. He captured from them 1,629 stand of arms, 138,000 rounds of ammunition, and a large quantity of equip

ments and stores.

THE GRAVES OF OHIO SOLDIERS.

517

of many of which were rude boards, each bearing the name of the sleeper beneath. The kind-hearted major showed much feeling, as he leaned on one of them and mused, while the writer was making the annexed sketch. "Poor fellows!" he said, "they fought bravely. The war is over, and we are now friends. If you meet with any of their relatives, tell them to write to Major George, and he will do every thing in his power to restore to them the remains of their friends." After visiting every part of the battle-field, and making the sketches herewith given, we returned to Iuka, and the next morning the writer journeyed toward Nashville.

Corinth, where stirring events occurred at the close of May,' became the theater of more stirring events early in October. Rosecrans arrived there from Iuka on the 26th of September, and prepared to meet an expected attack upon the post by the combined armies of Price and Van Dorn. Ord, as we have seen, returned to Bolivar. Grant made his head-quarters at Jackson, in Mississippi. Sherman was holding Memphis, and Rosecrans, with about twenty thousand men, was left to hold Corinth

and the region around it. The earth-works constructed there by Beauregard and Halleck had been strengthened under the direction of General Cullum, but they were modified, and new ones were constructed by Major F. E. Prime, Grant's Chief-Engineer, which were better adapted for the use of a smaller force than occupied them in May. The new line was made especially strong westward of Corinth, from which direction the foe was expected, and was much nearer the town than the old ones.

Immediately after their junction at Ripley, a point about half way between Jacinto and Holly Springs, Price and Van Dorn prepared to march upon Corinth, the key to the military possession of Tennessee and co-operation with Bragg. If Corinth could be taken, and the force there driven back on the Tennessee and cut off, Bolivar and Jackson would easily fall, and then, upon the arrival of the exchanged prisoners of war, West Tennessee might soon be in possession of the Confederates, and communication with Bragg be established through Middle Tennessee. So reasoned Van Dorn. Regarding "the attack on Corinth as a military necessity," he moved forward" in command of the combined forces

a Sept. 29, 1862.

1 Many of the boards had fallen down or been removed. Those standing, and seen in the picture, contained the following names:-Lieutenant R. Bauer, Sergeant M. V. B. Hall, Corporal S. C. Gilmore, Privates W. H. Bolser, C. Schefteni, C P. Olsen, W. Crawford, J. Ettle, J. W. Brewer, J. H. Ingersoll, J. T. Malson, J. Dean, J. Casey, J. Taylor.

2 See page 298.

See Van Dorn's Report, Oct. 20, 1862.

518

a Oct. 1 1862.

& October.

CONFEDERATES THREATENING CORINTH.

(he ranked Price), numbering about twenty-two thousand men, and struck the Memphis and Charleston railway at Pocahontas," about half way between Corinth and Grand Junction. On the night of the 2d the Confederate Army bivouacked at Chewalla, only ten miles from Corinth. It was difficult for Rosecrans to determine whether Van Dorn's destination was Corinth, Bolivar, or Jackson. He was prepared for any emergency. His cavalry-"the eyes of the army," as Rosecrans called themwere on the alert in every direction, and troops were thrown out toward the foe, to meet his advance. Skirmishing ensued, but it was not until the morning of the 3d' that Rosecrans felt assured that Corinth was Van Dorn's objective. Then, before dawn, he disposed his troops to meet him. Hamilton's division formed the right, Davies's the center, and McKean's the left; and a brigade of three regiments, under Colonel Oliver, with a section of artillery, was thrown well forward beyond Beauregard's old works, on the Chewalla road, along which it was ascertained the Confederates were advancing. The cavalry was disposed so as to watch every highway radiating from Corinth, for the commanding general, being unable to find a map of the country, was illy informed concerning the northwesterly approaches to the town. Such was the position of Rosecrans's army for battle on the morning of the 3d.

e Oct. 8.

Colonel Oliver felt the pressure of the advancing force early that morning. It was their vanguard, under General Mansfield Lovell,' which at about half-past seven encountered Oliver, who was well posted on a hill, with orders to hold it so firmly that the strength of the foe might be developed. He was soon hard pressed, when General

McArthur was sent to his support. McArthur found the foe numerous, and he, too, was soon heavily pushed, and the Confederates moving to outflank him; but he called up four regiments from McKean's division to his assistance. Meanwhile Rosecrans, informed that the foe was in strong force, had directed Davies to send up two regiments. By this time a skir mish that seemed to be a feint to make a more important movement was developing into a regular battle, when the Confederates made a desperate charge, drove the Nationals from the hill, and captured two guns. It was now evident that the Confederates had come to recapture Corinth, with its immense stores, and that this was the beginning of the struggle. McKean's division was accordingly drawn back to the ridge next beyond the inner intrenchments, in front of the town, with orders to close with his right

WILLIAM S. ROSECRANS.

1 It consisted of the brigades of Villipigue, Bowen, and Rust. Van Dorn's army advanced in the following order:-Lovell's corps, with its left resting on the Memphis and Charleston railway; Price's corps, composed of the divisions of Maury and Hebert, with its right resting on the same rad; and Armstrong's cavalry on the

extreme left.

BATTLE OF CORINTH.

519

on Davies's left. Hamilton's division was moved so as to touch Davies's right, and Stanley took position in close échelon with McKean, near Corinth.

While these movements were going on, the Confederates were pressing heavily on the National center. Davies was pushed back. He called upon Stanley for aid. Colonel Mower was sent with a brigade, and had just arrived, and Hamilton was coming in through a thicket on Lovell's left, when darkness fell, and the struggle ceased. Many brave men of the National army had fallen. General Oglesby was severely wounded, and General Hackelman was killed. The Confederates, elated by seeming success, enveloped Rosecrans's front, and rested on their arms with assurance of victory in the morning. Van Dorn believed Corinth would be his before the rising of the sun. So early as three o'clock, when McKean fell back, he had sent a shout of triumph to Richmond by telegraph,' that was followed by a melancholy moan thirty hours later.

a Oct. 4, 1862.

The battle was renewed before dawn the next morning." Both parties had spent the night in preparing for it. Rosecrans and his staff were on the field all night. The National batteries around Corinth were well manned, and a new one, mounting five guns, and called Fort Richardson, was constructed during the dark hours by sappers and miners, composed of negro slaves, under Captain Gau, at the left of Hamilton's division." The Confederates had also thrown up redoubts, one of which was not more than two hundred yards in front of Battery Robinett, that covered the Chewalla road northward from

FORT ROBINETT.3

Corinth. It was that Confederate battery that opened the fight. Its shells fell in the streets of Corinth, producing great consternation among the noncombatants. It was not answered until daylight, when Captain Williams, from Battery Williams (which, with Robinett, protected Stanley's division), opened his 20-pounder Parrott guns upon it, and silenced it in three minutes. The Confederates fled with two of the guns, leaving a third as a trophy for the Nationals.

This disconcerted the Confederate plan of attack, which was for Price on

"Our troops," he said, "have driven the enemy from their position. We are within three-fourths of a mile of Corinth. The enemy are huddled together about the town Some on the extreme left still trying to hold their position. So far all is glorious."

2 The batteries of the new fortifications constructed by Major Prime extended from a point near the railway, close to the southern borders of Corinth, around west of it to a point due north from the starting-point. These were named Battery Madison, Lathrop, Tannrath, Phillips, Williams, Robinett, Powell, and Richardson. See map on page 522.

3 This is a view of Fort Robinett and the ground in front of it, as it appeared on the morning after the battle, with the exception of the dead bodies of the Confederates which strewed the ground. It is from a photograph made that day by G. S. and C. T. Smith, of Jackson, Mississippi, who kindly gave the writer a copy of it when he was there in April, 1866.

their left to open a cannonade (as he did) to attract the attention of the Nationals and keep them employed in that direction, while Lovell, on the right in strong force, should storm the works on the National left. The sudden crushing out of Price's battery changed the plan. It was followed by the severe musket-firing of skirmishers in the thickets between the belligerents, and random thunderings of batteries. Finally, at a little after nine o'clock, the Confederates, in heavy masses, suddenly came out from cover northward of the railway, advanced rapidly along the Bolivar road, and in wedge form fell fiercely upon Davies and Fort Powell on the National right center, intending to penetrate Corinth. The struggle was very severe. Grape and canister shot made fearful lanes through the Confederate ranks, yet they pressed up most gallantly in the face of the storm.' A portion of Davies's division gave way, but was soon rallied.

ROSECRANS'S HEAD-QUARTERS.2

The sudden weakness encouraged the assailants, and they pressed forward, captured Fort Powell, and a score of them penetrated the town to the head-quarters of Rosecrans, on the public square, which they captured. Sheltered by its portico and angles, they fired upon the Nationals on the opposite side of the

square. But their triumph was short lived. The column that had pushed Davies back was in turn assailed by a section of Immell's battery, supported by the Tenth Ohio and Fifteenth Minnesota, and driven toward the forest, when Sullivan coming to the aid of Davies, Fort Powell was retaken. This was accomplished by a charge of the Fifty-sixth Illinois. At the same time, the guns of Hamilton (who had fallen back with Davies) on the extreme right were making dreadful havoc in the Confederate ranks. The foe was

1 An eye-witness (correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial) says the soldiers" marched steadily to death, with their faces averted, like men striving to protect themselves against a driving storm of hail." 2 This was the appearance of the house when the writer sketched it, late in April, 1866. It was the residence of Hampton Mark. During the battle, at the time mentioned in the text, it was much injured; but at the time of the writer's visit it was in good order. The correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial, who was present, says, "Seven rebels were killed within the little inclosure in front of the General's cottage." Obliquely across the square was the public-house, known as the "Verandah Hotel," kept by Dr. Gibson, the post-master of Corinth, when the writer visited that place. This was the head-quarters of General Bragg at the time of the siege of Corinth, at the close of May, 1862, and was one of the few dwellings in that village that survived the storms of the war. It was used as a hospital, and bore many scars made by the conflict. During the occupation of Corinth by the Confederate Army, General A. S. Johnston's quarters were at the Tishamingo Hotel (which was burned), Polk's were at the honse of the Widow Hayes, and Hardee's at the house of Dr. Stout.