CHAPTER IV.

SHERMAN AND THE SIEGE OF CORINTH.

MARCH TOWARD CORINTH- SKIRMISHING AT MONTEREY AND PURDY-SIEGE OF CORINTH COMMENCES-BATTLE OF RUSSELL'S HOUSE EVACUATION OF CORINTH OCCUPATION OF THE CITY BY THE UNION TROOPS PURSUIT BY GENERAL M. L. SMITH TO TUSCUMBIA CREEK- -SHERMAN'S CONGRATULATORY ORDER-INCIDENTS -TAKES POSSESSION OF HOLLY SPRINGS APPOINTED THE MILITARY COMMANDER OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.

After the battle of Pittsburg Landing, cavalry skirmishes occurred at intervals, along the outposts of the Union army, but nothing of importance transpired, until the movement was made toward Corinth, on the 17th of April, 1862. All along the line of march, from Pittsburg Landing to Corinth, the advance of our army was signalized by reconnoissances and skirmishes. On the 27th of April, a cavalry skirmish took place near Monterey, ten miles from Corinth, at which time several rebel prisoners were taken. Two days after, skirmishing occurred again, resulting in the capture of more prisoners, and of the rebel camps. On the

30th day of April, Purdy, on the Jackson and Corinth Railroad, which place had been abandoned a few days previous, was occupied by the Union army, they succeeding in cutting off all railroad communications between Corinth and Northwestern Tennessee.

The siege of Corinth, may be said to have commenced on the 30th of April. The Union commanders were continually sending out reconnoissances, and on the 8th of May, we find their cavalry within a mile and a half of Corinth. The rebels made several dashes on the Union lines, causing some of the forces on the left to retire.

On the 11th of May, it was decided by the general officers, that an advance of the whole army should take place, and they accordingly pressed forward to Corinth, where all felt that a terrible battle would soon occur. The Union troops met with resistance as they proceeded on their march, and on the 17th of May, the Fifth Division under General Sherman, encountered the rebels near Russell's house, causing them to fall back, while the Unionists took possession of the position.

We learn from General Sherman's official report that in compliance with the purpose of MajorGeneral Halleck, he made all possible inquiry as to the topography of the ground in his front, with its water courses, fields, and roads, and on the

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17th made disposition to drive the enemy from his position at Russell's house.

He requested General Hurlbut to put in motion two regiments and a battery of artillery, at three o'clock P. M., on the road which passes the front of his line, and runs to Russell's house. He ordered General Denver to take a right-hand road with two regiments of his brigade and one battery of light artillery, namely, the Seventieth and Seventy-second Ohio, and Barrett's battery, and gave him a guide so to conduct his march as to arrive on the left of the enemy's position by the time he was engaged in front; and ordered General Morgan L. Smith's brigade, with Benton's battery, to follow the main road, drive back a brigade of the enemy's forces that held a position at Russell's with their skirmishers and pickets, down to the causeway and bridge across a small stream, about eight hundred yards from Russell's house, supposed to be a branch of Bridge Creek.

All these forces were put in motion at three P. M., General Denver's forces taking the right-hand road, and General Smith's the direct main road. On reaching the causeway, General Smith deployed his skirmishers forward, and sent out his advanceguard. The column advanced, and the skirmishers became engaged at once. The firing was brisk, but the enemy's pickets were driven steadily back,

till they reached the position of their brigade at Russell's house, where their resistance was obstinate.

The ground was unfavorable to artillery till the skirmishers had cleared the hill beyond the causeway, when Major Taylor, chief of artillery, advanced first one of Benton's guns, and very soon after, the remaining three guns of the battery. These, upon reaching the hill-top, commenced firing at Russell's house and outhouses, in which the enemy had taken shelter, when their whole force retreated, and the position occupied three hundred yards in advance, where the roads meet. This was the limit to which Sherman had ordered the brigade to go, and there it halted. The head of General Denver's column reached its position as the enemy was beginning to retreat.

General Morgan L. Smith conducted the advance of his brigade handsomely, and the chief work and loss fell upon his two leading regiments, the Eighth Missouri, and Fifty-fifth Illinois. To General Smith was due the full credit of conducting the advance, and of carrying the position at Russell's. He held the ground till about daylight next morning, when, by order of General Sherman, he left a strong picket there, and placed his brigade back a short distance in easy support, where it remained until relieved by another brigade.

From Russell's could distinctly be heard the drums beating in Corinth. The house is nearly a mile and a quarter from the enemy's outer intrenchments.

There was no loss sustained by Generals Hurlbut's or Denver's commands in their flank movements on Russell's; but the loss in General Morgan L. Smith's was pretty heavy-ten killed and thirty-one wounded. The confederates left twelve dead on the ground. They removed their wounded, of which many traces were on the ground and in the house. Among their dead were one captain, and two lieutenants.

General Sherman's division was again brought in action on the 27th of May. The rebels, although outnumbering our forces, retreated, and it was thought the contest was for the purpose of detaining the advance of the Union army. On the 28th, a portion of the troops advanced to within gunshot of the rebel works, causing the rebels to retreat, with considerable loss. On the 30th of May, the Union army marched into Corinth, the enemy having withdrawn the last of their forces about midnight the night previous. A portion of our army followed the retreating rebels.

General Sherman, in his official report of the occupation of Corinth, says that after driving the enemy away from Russell's house, they found the