Monday, 20 January 2020
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| today's route |
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| it was quite cool this morning |
Between Tupelo and Corinth, I passed the town of Saltillo, which I'd thought was in northern Mexico, not northern Mississippi. And it turns out that the MS version was named for the Mexico version, though I don't know why. The town's slogan: Where "Away From It All" Is Closer Than You Think!"
I also passed a town named Guntown, which they think was named for an early settler named Gunn, but if that's so, why do they spell it with only 1 "n"? So many things I'll never know.
I passed a Euclatubba Road, which I thought an odd combination of ideas. And I passed a road called Suitor's Crossing, which conjures all kinds of images.
I passed lots of cotton fields and a sod farm.
On the radio I heard the Pun of the Day: "Did you hear about the guy who fell into the Infinity Pool? It took him forever to get out."
Google's bizarre instructions took me out of my way by about half the town, so I got to drive around a bit (old town, looks like it's seen better days, but maybe I just didn't see the nice section). If I'd followed the town's signs, I'd have gotten to the NPS site in about 3 blocks.
Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center
Since I don't seem to retain information for very long any more, I hadn't realized until I saw their literature that I'd already learned a lot about this place when I was in Tennessee, at the Shiloh National Battlefield. I've looked back at what I posted about that visit, and I'm actually impressed with what an accurate job I did describing what was happening both at Shiloh and here at Corinth, 22 miles away.
That post was on 27 November 2019, and it's so complete I won't bother repeating much of that information here but instead suggest you go back and take a look to understand what I saw there and here as well.
Probably the main difference is that the focus here was on Corinth and the war from the perspective of the town. They also have a fairly decent summation of the background of the Civil War that I didn't put in my November post, so I'll put a little of that here.
Where the US stood in 1860:
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| the North had a paid workforce and a diversified economy; the South had slave workers and an economy based on cotton, sugarcane & rice |
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| transportation & freight: the North had a vast interconnected system; the South had independent lines from agricultural centers to nearby ports |
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| population: the North was far more urban than the South (still is) |
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| The United States in 1860 |
Another reason the South wanted to expand slavery to new states was to keep the balance of power between the North and South; they expected the North to abolish slavery if they ever had a majority in Congress (and they may have been right).
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| compromises dating back to the Constitution |
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| no 1860 presidential candidate had nationwide support |
When Lincoln won the election, the South believed (wrongly at the time) that he'd abolish slavery and refused to have him as president.
The beginning of MS's declaration of secession explains the thinking.
The siege of Corinth:
After the staggering loss of life at Shiloh (23,700+ including dead, wounded, missing on both sides), Union troops under Maj. Gen. Halleck advanced the 22 miles from Shiloh toward Corinth (where Southern troops had retreated). They built miles of corduroy roads, dug many tiers of trenches, established communication systems, and moved supplies. The result was a month-long siege of Corinth.
By May 28th, CSA Gen. Beauregard noted his supply lines had been cut, 3 Union armies were about 1,000 yards away with cannons, and he was seriously outnumbered: the Union had brought in 111,000 men while he had 70,000 and no hope of reinforcements. He ordered his army to retreat to Tupelo, leaving the critical rail crossing at Corinth in Union hands.
The battle of Corinth:
The following October, CSA Maj. Gen. VanDorn decided to retake Corinth.
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| his rationale |
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| the 2 days of battle |
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| 7,200 casualties from this battle, following the 23,700 in Shiloh |
With the Confederate army seriously weakened in MS and the transportation hub of Corinth firmly in the Union's grasp, Gen. Grant was free to take aim at Vicksburg, where the South commanded the Mississippi River. It took 9 months and a vicious siege of the town, but in July 1863, Vicksburg too fell to the Union. Five days later, the last Southern hold on the Mississippi River at Port Hudson, LA, surrendered and the river was controlled by the Union.
Gen. VanDorn counted the cost of winning, but not that of losing, and the decisive loss of Corinth was a turning point of the war.
Other thoughts:
In early 1862, Gen. Braxton Bragg apparently believed the Union army was composed of mercenaries and slaves or indentured men, unable to choose whether to fight for the North.
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| "the mercenary invader who pollutes the sacred soil of our beloved country" |
If this belief was widely held among Southerners, I find it less surprising that they'd expect a quick victory from the Civil War. Without wishing to take away for a second the bravery and spirit of those fighting for the Confederacy, they still seemed to place inordinate faith in the superiority of Southern aristocracy and to scorn what they believed to be lack of skill and enthusiasm in the Union troops.
The South was relying, with reason, on their troops to defend their homes, but they were so quick to tear the Union apart, they seemed unable to believe that Northerners passionately wanted to keep the Union together.
And yet again I'm appalled at the utter waste of life to support a system that relied entirely on the enslavement of human beings.
I'll go to the Visitor Center at Vicksburg to see the end of this campaign, and then I think I'll have seen enough carnage and futility to last me a lifetime.
Back on the road
Southeast of Corinth is a town named Iuka, which I've been thinking is a mistake or a typo or a joke. That's capital I, u-k-a. Today I learned that it's pronounced, logically, eye-OO-kah.
From Corinth I went due west for a while along Route 72, where I mostly saw 2 small herds of horses, low hills and straight road.
I'd intended to stop at the Ida B. Wells Museum in Holly Springs, but I just wasn't up to it today. Just walking the dogs is a challenge in this very cold, windy weather, and that Civil War museum took a lot out of me. I'll see about Ms. Wells tomorrow.
Tonight's campground is in a state park 7 miles south of Holly Springs.
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