Corinth 1862: Siege, Battle, Occupation
Timothy B. Smith, University Press of Kansas
Just as the Eastern Theater battles tended to receive more attention during the war, the battles in the more remote theaters are still mostly overlooked today. Tim Smith’s book helps fill the void of scholarly research available on these important struggles. His work is unique in that it places the October 1862 Battle of Corinth in context and gives a greater sense of what happened before, during and after the fight.
Corinth was a logistical centerpiece first for Mississippi and then the Confederacy in early 1862, as its railroads played an essential role in the battle for Shiloh. Once the Union secured the city, it became a vital logistical point, as the railroads provided support for the Union advance into the Mississippi River Valley, ultimately leading to the fall of Vicksburg the following July. What’s more, after gaining Corinth the Union enlisted thousands of runaway slaves into the Army—an influx of manpower that the Confederacy could not hope to match.
Smith goes beyond the military aspects of the siege and battle of Corinth, providing a glimpse of the important contributors and looking at the brutal fighting and natural anomalies that also affected the outcome.
Corinth 1862 is well researched and documented, and provides a missing piece of Corinth’s Civil War history. It’s recommended reading.
Originally published in the December 2012 issue of Civil War Times. To subscribe, click here.
