Last updated: June 30, 2024
Place
Corinth Tour #2, Stop #1 - Rail Crossover
NPS Collection
The Siege of Corinth
Corinth was placed under siege between April 29, 1862, and May 30, 1862. Only once during the siege did the Union armies fire their heavy siege guns. The shells those guns fired landed near the rail crossroads, wounding four trainmen and killing a locomotive engineer. The shelling convinced Beauregard that holding the town was untenable, and the Confederates chose to abandon the city. The railroads were used in a successful ruse to cover their withdrawal; throughout the night empty trains would arrive and blow their whistles to signal the arrival of reinforcements and were later used to haul away the sick and supplies.
Corinth was placed under siege between April 29, 1862, and May 30, 1862. Only once during the siege did the Union armies fire their heavy siege guns. The shells those guns fired landed near the rail crossroads, wounding four trainmen and killing a locomotive engineer. The shelling convinced Beauregard that holding the town was untenable, and the Confederates chose to abandon the city. The railroads were used in a successful ruse to cover their withdrawal; throughout the night empty trains would arrive and blow their whistles to signal the arrival of reinforcements and were later used to haul away the sick and supplies.