Patrick G. Whalen

General Summary

The Siege of Corinth, also known as the First Battle of Corinth, was waged between April 29 to June 10, 1862.

To capitalize on the costly victory at the Battle of Shiloh (aka the Battle of Pittsburgh Landing),Battle of Shiloh, the Union armies under command of Major General Henry W. Halleck, set their sights on the important rail center of Corinth, Mississippi.

Because of the high cost of winning the battle of Shiloh, Halleck chose a slower, more cautious approach. His plan was a campaign of offensive entrenchment in which he would fortify his position upon the completion of any advance.

In a matter of three weeks, Halleck’s men had only advanced five miles. On May 25, 1862, Halleck chose to lay siege to the city of Corinth rather than to attack it head-on.

Concerned for the strategic survival of his Confederate command, General P.G.T. Beauregard set in motion an elaborate hoax in order to attempt to slip away for a more advantageous time and place of battle.
Knowing there were spies in his midst, General Beauregard issues three days rations to a number of his men and ordered them to make preparations to defend Corinth. The general’s suspicions where correct as an unknown number of men took that information into the Union lines.

General Beauregard set his plans in motion as the Union batteries began their bombardment. As trains arrived to recover the wounded soldiers, supplies and artillery, the Confederate troops cheered wildly in order to convince the Union Army that reinforcements were arriving to defend Corinth. Under cover of darkeness on May 29, 1862, the Confederate Army withdrew undetected from Corinth.

When Union patrols arrived in an eerily silent Corinth, all they could report were Quaker guns and unattended camp fires. The Confederate Army had successfully withdrawn to Tupelo, Mississippi.

Records and Correspondence Related to the 53d Illinois

Right-Wing - Corinth, Mississippi