The Oak Home, Leonidas Polk's midtown Corinth headquarters.
The city of Corinth grew as a railroad town in the 1850s around the railroad crossing point of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad (opened 1857) and the Mobile and Ohio Railroad (opened 1861). This railroad junction, whose planning began in the mid-1850s, made Corinth a key economic junction point in the southern United States, and made it of critical military importance when the American Civil War broke out. Following the bloody Union victory at Shiloh in early April 1862, Confederate forces withdrew to Corinth, which they heavily fortified with earthworks and other defenses, in order to protect the critical railroad lines. The month-long Siege of Corinth followed, in which Union forces again compelled the Confederates to retreat. Confederate reinforcements from the west made an attempt to recapture Corinth in the Second Battle of Corinth, but were repulsed with significant casualties. During their retreat, the Confederates were attacked in the Battle of Hatchie's Bridge, near Pocahontas, Tennessee, by Union forces headed to support those at Corinth.[3]
Landmarked sites
The landmark district includes a number of discontiguous resources associated with these military movements and actions. Most of these are located in or near Corinth, and include earthworks, rifle pits, and other defensive features erected both by the Confederates (before the siege) and also the Union (after its capture). A few buildings occupied by military commanders are included, as is the actual railroad junction that was the key element of interest.[3]
The district includes the following separate areas:[3]
Union Siege Line A: Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's and Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Davies' Divisions, 105 acres (42 ha).
Union Siege Line B: Army of the Tennessee (Brig. Gen. Thomas McKean's and Brig. Gen. T.W. Sherman's Divisions); Army of the Ohio (Brig. Gen. T.J. Wood's and William Nelson's Divisions), 36.5 acres (14.8 ha)
Union Siege Line C: Army of the Mississippi (Paine's Division), 6 acres (2.4 ha)
^ a b"Siege and Battle of Corinth Sites". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
^ a b c dPaul Hawke; Cecil McKithan; Tom Hensley; Jack Elliott & Edwin C. Bearss (January 8, 1991). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Siege and Battle of Corinth Sites". National Park Service. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) and Accompanying 15 photos, from 19 90. (1.70 MB)
^John Linn Hopkins (June 1, 1993). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Midtown Corinth Historic District". National Park Service. Retrieved October 18, 2016. without "attached map", but with 31 photos (see photo captions pages 68-70 of text document)
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Siege and Battle of Corinth Sites.
Corinth Interpretative Center, a National Park Service site. Includes a map of the NHL Siege and Battle of Corinth Sites, but the map is poorly scanned.
"The Siege and Battle of Corinth: A New Kind of War", a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan