After
the Battle of Iuka, Gen Grant moved his headquarters to Jackson,
Tennessee, leaving Gen Rosecrans with four
divisions to guard Corinth.[1]
Meanwhile, Confederate Gen. Price took his battered army 35 miles south
to Ripley, Mississippi, where he was joined by Gen. Van
Dorn and his army, bringing their combined strength up to 22,000 men.[2] Van Dorn
felt that an attack on Corinth was a military necessity, owing to the
importance of the railroads that intersected there. Gen Price agreed that prize was big enough to
try the increased dangers of an assault on the now-completed inner
defenses. The Rebel armies began moving
towards Corinth
in force, planning to surprise Rosecrans and overrun the Federal defenses
quickly.[3]
On the 29th of September,
while the Battery was encamped at Jacinto, Mississippi, Capt. Dees received a
telegram via the South Western Telegraph Company[4], ordering him to return to
Corinth to appear as a principle witness in the court-martial of Col. Murphy,
8th Wisconsin Infantry, for his behavior at Iuka[5] and his failure to prevent
the Union provisions from falling into the Rebels' hands. While there, Capt. Dees suffered a relapse of
dysentery which sent him to the hospital for the next two weeks. Command of the Battery
during a crucial moment in its history thus devolved upon Lt. Lamberg.[6]
That same day, Col. John W. Fuller marched his Brigade, including Dees
Battery, from Jacinto to the rebel sandbag breastworks and on through Rienzi
on the Mobile & Ohio Railroad. For thirteen days, the brigade marched
towards Corinth on a reconnaissance and screen to watch the movements of the
rebel army.
On October 1, a march of
thirteen miles was made past Bone Yard and towards Crum’s Bridge to cover the
Hatchie River crossing. This was a region of few settlements, poor log cabins,
rolling oak ridges and sluggish streams that dried up during summer. The troops
suffered terribly from thirst, the roads were dusty, the sun shone down very
hot and it was ninety-four degrees in the shade.
At noon the soldiers halted and hurriedly cooked their rations of bacon
on the ends of sticks and their coffee in their tin cups, then fell into
line to continue the march towards Corinth, a total distance of thirty-seven
miles without camping…On October 3, they marched to the
breastworks southwest of Corinth, after having skirmished all day through
heavy timber and thick underbrush…At nightfall, with colors flying and bands playing,
the men covered with dust, their faces bronzed by exposure and long service
under the rays of the sun, moved in columns of companies right in front,
through the streets and joined the lines at Corinth.
General
Rosecrans and his staff sat on their horses by the Kossuth Road, waiting to
welcome them. The soldiers of Hamilton’s, Davie’s and McKean’s Divisions
gathered in platoons, cheering and shouting for the “Buckeye Boys”…The position
first assigned was north of the Tishomingo House and the junction of the two
railroads, to support Davie’s Division. It was here that we saw the Eighth
Wisconsin Regiment with their live eagle carried on a standard.[7]
It
was now late at night and the men were almost parched for water. To prevent capture by the enemy, the commissary department
caused all the barrels of whisky to be opened. The surgeons added a
quantity of quinine and the troops were allowed to fill their canteens with the
mixture. This was the first and only time that liquor was given to Fuller’s
Ohio Brigade.[8]
Meanwhile, aware that Rebels were advancing on Corinth, Rosecrans tightened up his lines of
pickets and posted three divisions within the old Confederate earthworks
surrounding the town to the west and north.
The remaining division, Gen. Stanley’s 3500 men, was posted between
Batteries Williams, Robinett, and Powell.
By October 1, Rosecrans had over 18,000 men in Corinth, making it one of the best fortified
towns in the South.[9]
Gen.
Price's men advanced and drove the Union pickets to within one-half mile of the
inner line of works by the evening of October 2. The temperature remained in the 90s and
water was scarce.[10]
Lt. Lamberg reported:
On the morning of the 3rd of
October - 1862, the Battery with a section of
the 8th Wisc Battery under Lt. McLean -
temporarily under my command, marched from a camp 4 miles from Corinth on the Kossuth Rd. with
the 1rst Brigade 2nd Division, Army of the Miss - Col. John W. Fuller commanding - towards Corinth and took position fronting
southwest of town. After remaining a
short time in the position the Battery
was again ordered forward and entered town about sundown and parked for the night north of
the Memphis & Charleston RR depot.
[The 5th Minnesota and 2nd Iowa Battery were encamped
here.]
Tishomingo Hotel near the Memphis & Charleston RR
depot
He continues:
About 4 am on
the Morning of the 4th the enemy commenced shelling the town and threw several
shells in to the Battery without causing loss
or damage. I marched the Battery to a
position a short distance to the right and halted - whereupon I was ordered
into position by Lt. Col. Lothrop Chief of Artillery, in rear of Gen. Rosecrans
headquarters, fronting west, one Ohio Battery immediately on my right and the
Memphis & Charleston railroad on my left.
Seeing the enemy's skirmishers in
the woods in my front I commenced firing about 8 AM and shelled the above named
woods about ten minutes, when the enemy disappeared without giving me any
reply.[11]
2.9” Parrott shell found 300yds west of Battery
Robinette by Dale Bass December 1999
The
Rebel troops facing the Battery's cannon were soldiers from Gen. Louis Hebert's
division (temporarily under the command of Gen. Martin Green) consisting of
three Missouri
infantry regiments and the 43rd Mississippi Infantry, commanded Col. William
Moore.[12] Gen.
John Moore's men from Alabama, Arkansas and Texas, and
Gen.
William Cabell's Arkansas troops, all in
Gen. Dabney H. Maury's division, were also to feel the effects of the Michigan
Battery's fire.[13]
The attack commenced at one hour before daybreak, with
the Confederate artillery, located about 600 yards from the Union lines,
opening fire first. Alonzo Brown, a
private in the 4th Minnesota Infantry, reported that ". . . it
was a great sight to behold the long streaks of flame as they darted out in the
darkness"[14], and Charlie Crowell, Co.
I, 9th Illinois Mounted Infantry, wrote in his diary:
About 3 o'clock the Rebels began to
shell the town. . . The shells
were flying through the air like mosquitos of a summer night, and I thought
they were the prettiest thing abursting in the air I ever saw, most especially
when they did not come close.[15]
At daybreak the Union artillery, including the cannon of
the Third Michigan Battery, opened fire.
Gen. Green reported:
About daylight, leaving our skirmishers out, we
fell back about 100 yds under cover of the hill, in order to get some
refreshments. Before we were done
eating, the enemy opened their batteries upon us most furiously.[16]
By 10 am, the assault began. One
Confederate column moved against Gen. Davies, to the right of the Third
Michigan Battery's position, and a column under Col. Elipah Gates came up the
crest of the hill into a line of battle.
The Rebels swept through Davis's
troops and captured a large number of cannon at bayonet point. Green's troops poured through the gap in the
Union lines, fighting down Polk, Jackson and Fillmore Streets almost to the
railroad depot.[17]
We had been previously notified by Gen. Maury
that we would advance when Hebert's Division made the attack on our left. Our brigade being supported by Cabell's on
our right and Phifer's on our left. . . We had not gone 100 yds
before the enemy seemed to discover our designs and at once opened on us, and
kept up the severest fire I ever imagined possible to concentrate on one point
in front of a fortification, yet we suffered but little, being protected by
timber until we reached the fallen timber and open space which extended about
100 yards in front of their works. On
reaching this point we charged and carried the enemy's works the whole extent
of our line, and penetrated to the very heart of Corinth, driving the enemy from house to
house and frequently firing in at the windows and driving them out. The enemy were driven from the breastworks in
great confusion,
leaving their guns, some with the teams still hitched, while others had their
horses cut loose and ran off.[18]
The fighting became violent
in the streets near the Tishomingo Hotel, the train depot and around Gen. Rosecrans'
headquarters. Gen. Green's report
continues:
I could see
the enemy had two lines of fortifications, bristling with artillery and
strongly supported by infantry. Our
lines moved across the railroad, advancing slowly and steadily, our skirmishers
constantly fighting with those of the enemy, driving them back. When within 200 yds, the command was ordered
to charge at the double quick. The whole
line now moved forward with great rapidity.
Officers and men all seemed eager to be foremost in reaching the
fortifications. . . masked batteries of the enemy opened upon us at
almost every step with great slaughter, but nothing daunted, the divisions
pressed forward. The first brigade, Col.
Gates commanding, arriving at the fortifications drove the enemy from their
entrenchments, taking about 40 pieces of artillery. . . Reinforcements being sent for Gen. Cabell
came up with his Brigade, but before he could get into the fortifications Col.
Gates's ammunition was exhausted and he fell back. The fire then became terrific. . .
the whole line fell back on the hill in the rear of the [Rebel] batteries.[19]
Green's
Division, along with Cabell's Brigade had succeeded at first. Gen. Moore captured a battery of light
artillery where he had crossed the Memphis & Ohio, had driven the Union
infantry through the town, and had come close to entirely crushing the Federal
right.[20]
Lt. Lamberg
continues in his report:
Later in the day a large force of
the enemy appeared advancing on my right and front when I again opened fire driving them back into the
woods
but they
reappeared in greater force advancing towards the Battery
and I gave the order for cannister in
double shots. The enemy continued to advance. The infantry on the right of the Ohio Battery
broke. The Ohio Battery
limbered up and retreated leaving my right flank unprotected and the Battery
entirely without support. The enemy now
being within 20 yds of my Battery
I ordered to limber to the rear and retired to the street in front of Gen. Rosecrans headquarters.[21]
Brigadier General David S.
Stanley's report concerning the actions of the Second Division mentions:
At
4 o'clock, it being still quite dark, the enemy opened upon our position with
four batteries at close range, one, firing grape, being not more than 300 yards
distant. The flight of shot and shell
and the crashing of houses was trying to our young soldiers, but they took it
quietly, and fortunately, being under the crest of the ridge, met few
casualties. At break of day Captain
Williams and Lieutenant Robinett opened upon the enemy's batteries, and
Lieutenant Lamberg, of the Third Michigan Battery, opening a flank fire, the
enemy fled leaving a gun and caisson. . . In a few moments the plan of the
enemy was apparent. Three deep columns
burst simultaneously from the wood north of Corinth and pushed rapidly for the position
of the batteries. . . At this instant I sent the Fifth Minnesota to attack the
flank of the second column of the enemy counting from his right, and I am happy
to bear testimony to the gallant fight of the little
regiment, commanded by Colonel Hubbard.
Few regiments on the field did more effective killing than they. . .[22]
In Colonel Lucius F.
Hubbard's report on the actions of the Fifth Minnesota Infantry on the same
day, Hubbard indicates that perhaps not all of the Michigan guns were repositioned according to
Lieutenant Lamberg's report as set forth above; Hubbard states:
I was ordered
by General [David] Stanley
. . . to support a battery, which had been in position about 400 yards toward
the front and right, but which was being driven from the field. . . By this
time the battery mentioned [the Ohio
battery] had retired from the field entirely.
Captain Dees' Michigan Battery, occupying the crest of a ridge near the Memphis & Charleston
toward the left, had been abandoned and had fallen into the hands of the enemy,
our line for the distance of several hundred yards had been repulsed, became
scattered, and was rapidly retreating. . . I moved on outside the town and
halted on the crest of a ridge to the left of and on a line with the former
position of the battery I was ordered to support, regaining meantime,
possession of the abandoned guns of the Michigan
battery. . .[23]
Private Sanford Smith a 17
year old watchmaker and jeweler from Wayne
County received a bayonet
wound in the lower left back as he attempted to save his cannon from capture.[24]
The least successful of the
Rebels' assaults on October 4th was also the most bloody and gallant - a
furious attack on Battery Robinett and its infantry support, on the western
edge of Corinth. Fuller's Brigade was positioned around the
earthworks, with parts of the 63rd Ohio on
either side, the 43rd Ohio on its left, and
the 27th and 39th Ohio
on its right. Col. Mower's 11th Missouri was immediately
behind Robinett as reserves, and could support the troops on either side.[25] Battery Robinett had been situated on a large
hill north of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad close to the Chewalla Road, and
bristled with heavy cannon and regular army artillery.
As Gen. Maury prepared for
his assault on the Union left, Gen. Stanley
would later describe the battlefield:
Should God
spare me to see many battles I never expect to see a more grand sight than the
battlefield presented at this moment.
The enemy had commenced falling back from the town and the batteries
before our advancing infantry. The roll
of musketry and flash of artillery was incessant as the enemy tried in vain to
form a line under fire. As the smoke
cleared up I can safely say I could see every fighting man on the field, but we
were no longer spectators of the fight.[26]
Gen.
Maury then ordered an attack against Battery Robinett. The Rebel troops assigned to take the Battery were led by the 2nd Texas Infantry, Col. William
P. Rogers commanding. Col. Rogers and
his men blasted through the fire of musketry and cannon. The 63rd Ohio melted away, losing half its men. As the Rebels gained the works, they began to
fire into the backs of the 43rd Ohio;
Col. J. L. Kirby Smith rapidly swung his regiment around to face the invading
Confederates, only to be cut down himself by a musket ball.[27]
Simultaneously,
the 9th Texas hit the left of the 27th Ohio, driving it back to
where the survivors from the 63rd had withdrawn. For a brief moment it appeared that Battery
Robinett was lost, but up rose the 11th Missouri
and with Bayonets fixed, counterattacked, joined by the remnants of the 27th,
43rd and 63rd Ohio. The Rebels fought desperately but Col.
Rogers, who had personally planted a flag on the parapet, was killed and
Fuller's overwhelming counterattack resulted in a Confederate rout. The Rebels sustained almost 1300 casualties,
and over 1000 men were captured, including nearly the entire 42nd Alabama.[28]
The battle was over in two
hours; the entire Confederate army was in full retreat by 1 pm.
The
victorious Federals then commenced with the demoralizing job of burying the
dead. Because of the unseasonable heat,
the Rebel dead were buried hurriedly in trenches
so shallow that arms and legs protruded from the soil after heavy rains.[29] A soldier
in Battery B, 1st Michigan Light Artillery, wrote:
Bethel is much cleaner and healthier than Corinth, for the latter place is a vast
charnel house. Tens of thousands of
friends and foes lie buried together in and around it, while the dead bodies of
horses and mules cover the ground.[30]
Col. Rogers was buried where he fell, attended with full
military honors.
In his report to John
Robertson, Adjutant General for the State of Michigan, Lt. Lamberg provided a list of men
and horses killed, wounded and missing:
Killed men -
none.
Wounds men
Cpl. Angus Frazer - wounded in the hip slightly
Pvt. Peter Desnoyer - " in the right arm or hand
"
Philip O'Brian - " in the arm - amputated
Wounded men
temporarily attached to the Battery
Sgt. W. Riley - 8th Wis. Battery - in the hip slightly
Pvt. George Beck - 39th Ohio - arm broken
"
---- Miller - " " - shoulder severely
"
W. Harwood - "
" - in the thigh slightly
"
---- Squires - " "
- in the loin "
"
---- Curles - 27th Ohio - in the
wrist "
On the 5th, the Battery marched with Gen. Stanley's Division, 1st
Brigade, in pursuit of the enemy taking the Smith's Bridge Road. Lamberg reports:
We
continued the pursuit during the 5th, 6th, & 7th, and on the 8th we camped
about 2 miles from Ripley. On the 9th we
marched through Ripley. . .
During the 5th we passed many of the enemys hospitals filled with dead
and wounded. During the 6th & 7th we
passed over several
miles of road
strewn with camp and garrison equipage, guns, artillery, ammunition and in fact
everything belonging to an army in full retreat, whereof can be concluded that
this enemy was badly defeated.
It gives me great pleasure to say
that all the officers and men under my command acted with the greatest bravery
and coolness during the action. . .
I take the liberty to mention to the Commanding General's special notice
2nd Lt. George Robinson, 1rst Sgt. Henry Shier (during the action in command of
a section) and Sgt. William Hyzer. . . for their gallant conduct and
strict attention to orders.[32]
The Union forces went through Ripley like a dose
of salts:
One officer "mustered his men in front of Spight's Hotel and dismissed
them saying, 'Boys, do as you please.' They sacked the hotel, taking spoons,
knives, forks, blankets, quilts, bacon, flour, salt, corn, fodder and
everything else they could lay their hands on.
"They broke into the store of A. Brown & Co. and took $2,000 in
goods and $700 in money; they festooned the fence around the courthouse with
tarlatans and muslins from Brown's stock. As the troops continued to pour in,
the pillaging became worse and nearly everything movable was stripped from the
business houses, all the unoccupied dwellings houses, and some houses that were
occupied.
"When (Maj. Gen. William S.) Rosecrans himself reached Ripley on the
9th, things had gotten so far out of hand that the general moved all his troops
out of town and established strict regulations for the protection of citizens
and the discipline of his own troops.' "[33]
Private Frank Higgins wrote to his
father in Allegan, Michigan,
on October 7th from Corinth:
I was talking
with some of the prisoners we took in the recent battle here, they are all in
good spirits. They claim we are perfect
vandals for invading their country and ravishing their property as we do, they
say they do not destroy our property. Do
you know why? They can't get the chance.
. .
When they were going to make the
charge on our battery of siege guns, Gen. Price came forward and spoke to them
as follows "Boys! Look at your
haversacks! They are empty. In Corinth
there is abundance, and the next mouthful you get to eat must come from the
storehouses of the Yankees!" In
making that charge they first had to take a battery of field pieces, coming up
to one of the guns, which was loaded with cannister, a rebel captain put his
hand on the gun and said "This is what we have been after all day". .
. "Take it then" said one of the battery boys, at the same time
firing the gun, which sent Mr. Captain down the hill rather faster than when he
came up, and not half so easy. . .
Our
forces have been in pursuit of the enemy for three days and we have all kinds
of reports as to the results. But the
prevailing one is that nothing but a little rebel cavalry made their
escape. Officers who have
returned
slightly wounded report the road filled with baggage wagons, artillery, and
small arms of all kinds. They admit that
the Rebel army in the West is perfectly anniliated as can be. . . There are a great many rebels in our
hospitals wounded and before many days I think I can give you the number of rebels
we killed as they left the field in such a hurry we had all of their dead to
bury. Their loss is much greater than
ours because we were behind entrechments most of the second day's
fighting. . .
One of our boys that was wounded has
had his arm taken off just below the shoulder.
The ball that hit him was poisoned.
He is doing well.[34]
Pvt.
Phillip O’Brien, the cannoneer whose arm had been amputated, asked that a
letter be sent to his wife:
General Hospital
Miss Corinth
Oct. 11th 1862
Mrs. O’Brien
At your husbands
request I improve this opportunity to write a few lines to you, to inform you
of one of the realities of war. This place was attacked on the 3rd
the Battle
lasting all day & almost all of the next day, which proved disastrous to
your husband. He was wounded in the right arm above the elbow & it had to
be taken off so it leaves it about 3 or 4 inches long, but he is getting along
first rate & I presume he will go north in a few days to some northern
Hospital. There was no one else from Cheboygan that was hurt in this Battle.
The
weather is quite cool now which is favorable for the wounded, you must not feel
uneasy on his account for he is getting along as well as any man and you need
not write until you hear from him again for he won’t be likely to stay here
long enough to receive it.
So
I will bring my letter to a close
With my respects to yourself & family
Medical sketch showing a similar amputation as preformed on Phillip O’Brien
Gen. Rosecrans reported that
of the Federal forces engaged in battle, 315 were killed, 1812 wounded and 232
men prisoners or missing. The
Confederate losses were 1423 killed, 5692 wounded and 2268 prisoners of war.[36]
This disastrous close of the Confederate's campaign in
northern Mississippi, with the nearly simultaneous Union victories at
Perryville and Antietam, would bring to an end the grand scheme for a Rebel
offensive along a front of nearly a thousand miles. For the remainder of the War, Confederate
strategy in the west would be only defensive.
[1] Rogers, Margaret Green. Civil
War Corinth 1861-1865. p. 24.
[2] Harris, Charlie. Civil
War Relics of the Western Campaign 1861-1865. p. 76.
[3] Rogers, Civil
War Corinth, p. 24. [4] Military Records of Capt. Alexander Dees,
National Archives, Washington, D. C.
[5] Murphy Court-Martial
[6] Pension Records of Capt. Alexander Dees,
Department of Veterans Affairs, Detroit, Michigan [7]History of Fullers Ohio
Brigade,
Charles H. Smith. 1909 Press of A.J.
Watt, Cleveland, OH. Page 81-82 [8]Ibid Page 82-83
[9] Rogers, Civil War Corinth, p. 25.
[10] Ibid., p. 28. [11] Report of Lt. Carl Lamberg, October 9,
1862. Michigan
State Archives, Lansing, Michigan. [12] Kitchen, Rosecrans
Meets Price, p. 33. The 43rd
provided one of the more unusual sights in Price's army; one of the officers in
Company B owned a camel, which he used to carry his baggage and mess
equipment. Unfortunately, the horses of
the regiment disliked it, and it had to be kept at some distance from the
picket line. The animal stayed with the
army until the Siege of Vicksburg, where it was killed by a Union ball. [13]OR
29(1): 389, 398, 400
[14] Rogers, Civil War Corinth, p. 30. [15] "An Infantryman at Corinth", Civil War Times Illustrated, November 1974, p. 10-14. [16]OR
29(1): 390
[17] Rogers, Civil War Corinth. [18]OR
29(1): 397-400 [19]OR
29(1): [20] Martin Cockrell, editor. The
Lost Account of the Battle of Corinth. [21] Report of Lt. Carl
Lamberg, October 9, 1862. Michigan State
Archives, Lansing, Michigan. [22]OR
17(1): 178 [23]OR
17(1): 200 [24] Pension Record of Sanford Smith, National
Archives, Washington, D. C. - Ed. - Twenty year old Sanford Smith enlisted in
Company E, Third Cavalry, Sept. 17, 1861, at Jackson, MI,
for 3 years. He mustered out Oct. 3, 1861 and transferred to Battery C,
First Light Artillery, Dec. 1, 1861. He re-enlisted December 29, 1863 at
Prospect, TN. While in Corinth, MS,
on Oct. 3, 1862, Pvt. Sanford Smith sustained a bayonet wound to his lower back
when his battery was overrun by the Confederate forces. He never fully
recovered from his injury and was in great pain but continued with Battery C
until he was captured by Confederate forces at Goldsboro, NC,
March 24, 1865. He was paroled on March 30, 1865, and sent to Camp Chase, OH
and mustered out June 10, 1865. There is also a reference in his Military
Record that indicates he spent two weeks in the hospital at the infamous
Andersonville Prison, GA. [25] "The Battle of Corinth",
Civil War Times Illustrated, April
1967, p. 33. [26] Ibid., p. 34. [27] Ibid., p. 36. [28] Ibid. [29] Rogers, Civil War Corinth, p. 33. [30] "Captured at Shiloh", Michigan History Magazine, March/April 1993, p.
41. [31] Report of Lt. Carl Lamberg, October 9,
1862. Michigan
State Archives, Lansing, Michigan. [32] Ibid. [33]The History of Tippah County,"
by Andrew Brown. 1976. [34] Letter from Private Frank Higgins. October 7,
1862, near Corinth, Mississippi.
Allegan Journal, November 10,
1862. [35]Letter from Arron Dodge
regarding Phillip O’Brien. October 11, 1862, Corinth, MS. Private collection. [36]Rogers, Civil War Corinth,
p. 33.
Tishomingo Hotel near the Memphis & Charleston RR
depot
Decision at the Crossroads - Battle of Corinth 
Private Sanford Smith a 17
year old watchmaker and jeweler from Wayne
County received a bayonet
wound in the lower left back as he attempted to save his cannon from capture.
Medical sketch showing a similar amputation as preformed on Phillip O’Brien