During the Siege of Corinth, on May 22-23, 1862, a Federal force conducted a reconnaissance mission to Burnsville and Iuka, both of which were located southeast of Corinth along the strategic Memphis & Charleston Railroad.

During the late summer of 1862 Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg launched his plan to invade Kentucky. Having received reports that the Federals were pulling troops out of northeast Mississippi to reinforce Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell, Bragg called on Maj. Gen. Sterling Price to cross the Tennessee River and threaten Nashville. Price was also being pressured by Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn - his immediate superior - to join the force Van Dorn was concentrating at Holly Springs and march into West Tennessee. Confronted by these contradictory orders, Price hesitated for several days. He then marched as Bragg directed. Advancing northeastward from Baldwyn and Guntown, Price's column entered Iuka on September 13 where he hesitated.

Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant took advantage of Price's pause. Reinforcements were rushed to Corinth and a converging attack from the northwest ant southwest on Price planned. The attack from the northwest would be led by Grant with three divisions under the immediate command of Maj. Gen. Edward O.C. Ord. This force advanced from Corinth on the Memphis & Charleston Railroad to Burnsville. After a skirmish between the Federals and Price's outposts on September 14, Grant remained in Burnsville, while Ord marched his force southeastward some 6 miles toward Iuka.

Following the Confederate defeat in the Battle of Corinth on October 3-4, 1862, Grant issued General Orders No. 2 creating the Districts of Memphis, Jackson, Corinth, and Columbus under his Department of the Tennessee, which extended across northeast Mississippi and portions of Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky. Although the Union army occupied the Corinth area until late January 1864, minor skirmishes occurred periodically between small detachments of Northern and Southern soldiers. One such skirmish occurred at Burnsville on January 3, 1863.

This site has local significance because it is associated with military activities and events that achieved or affected important local objectives of the Vicksburg.