518 a Oct. 1 1862. 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. October. e Oct. 3. 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 road; and Armstrong's cavalry on the extreme left. 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. 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. The 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. 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 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 house of the Widow Hayes, and Hardee's at the house of Dr. Stont. BRAGG'S HEAD QUARTERS. BATTLE OF CORINTH. speedily hurled back in great disorder, and casting away all incumbrances, fled to the woods, closely pursued by the victors with shouts of triumph. In the mean time Lovell, whose attack on the National left was to have been simultaneous with that of Price on the right, had done his best. He 522 sent forward a heavy skirmish-line, and with four columns. of attack, composed chiefly of Texans and Mississippians, he pressed on in the face of the artillery fire from two batteries, and fell upon Fort Robinett and the adjacent lines. A bloody battle ensued, and great bravery was exhibited on both sides. Forts Robinett and Williams swept the approaching lines fearfully with grape and canister. Steadily those lines moved on and reached the ditch, where they paused for a moment-a fatal moment-before making the contemplated charge. Then Colonel Rogers, a brave actingbrigadier of Texas, with the new Confederate flag' in one hand, and a revolver in the other, leaped the ditch, scaled the parapet, and, with five companions, fell forward dead within the fort. There was CONFEDERATE FLAG. It was a power behind that parapet unsuspected by the Confederate leader. the Ohio brigade of Colonel Fuller,' which had lain prone until the foe was 1 By a recent act of the "Congress" at Richmond the design of the Confederate flag had been changed. Instead of the Stars and Bars" first adopted (see page 256, volume I.), it was a white flag, with the Union represented by stars on a blue field, arranged in the form of a cross. This was the style of the flag until the close of the war. 2 Composed of the Twenty-seventh, Thirty-ninth, Forty-third, and Sixty-third Ohio, and Eleventh Missouri, Colonel Mower. |