The National tribune., 1900-12-27
BATTLE OF CORIATH.
ing the second day Of the battle. makes til
lContInaed Irom airst pase.l


ing the second day Of the battle. makes the
/ following statemeut in his report:
The battery and redoubt to the left of
the 6th7&is., as Well as the whole line,
now seemed to be III possession of the
| enemy, and the ftgitivcs came pouring on
III great nupbers through and oyer the
lines of the 10th Mo. and 56th ILL.,, which
| still bravely held their ground under the
most terrific fire.
"lmmell's 18th Wis Battery. at the
! White House, as soon rs the enemy had
1 obtained possession of the crest. opened
upon them with great effect. and aided by
| the well-directed fire of the 10th Mo. and
| Jjth ILL.,, repeatedly drove them back ont
of sight and prevented the removal of the
gun. Never did any battery do more eff
! fcctiTc service at Il more critical period.
| The enemy had now advanced in large
numbers from the direction of the redOubt,
| under cover of the houses, toward the front
of the oGth Ill. and left OF the 10th Mo,
and were pouring upon them a most gal
| ling fire. Seeing that Lieut.. Col. Raum, of
| the 56th Ills was wheeling his regiment to
the left preparatory to making charge,
L gave the order to Maj. Homer, com
handing the 10th Mo, TO retake the 9th
| Wis. Battery with the bayonet, and away
went these regiments to their work at
double-quick in the most splendid style
Gen. Grant must always lie recognized
as Il great master in the art of war. His
orders caused the concentration of Rose
Grams army in time to meet Van Dorn's
movement against Corinth, but he was hot
| content with THISTLE ordered Maj.-Gcn.
5. A. Hurlbut, at Bolivar, to move upon
! Corinth and fall upon the Confederate
army. AT daylight on the morning of Oct.
4 Hurlbut started with i regiments of
infantry, one regiment of cavalry and live
| batteries of artillery.
Gen. Grant also ordered Maj.-Gen. J. Il.
| Mcpherson, who arrived at Jackson on The
| evening of Oct. :, to assume command of Il
| provisional division, composed of two regi-
ments, under Col. J. ID. Stevenson. then at
Jackson, and two regiments, under Col.
NJ. *. Lawler, and two companies of West
Tennessee cavalry. under Col. +. Hurst,
| then at Chambers. These troops were COLI
centrated at Bethel, and on the 4th march
ed into Corinth in the afternoon, after the
battle was oyer.
FIGHTING on THE HATcHIE.
About the time Mcpherson reached
COrinth To reinforce Kosecrans. Hurlbut
met and engaged rebel cavalry on his route
to the crossing of the Hatchie.
On the night of the 4th he went into
camp before reaching the Hatchie. The
next morning, Oct. ), Rosecrans' army,
with Mcpherson iii advance, moved out Of
COrinth in pursuit of the retreating enemy,
while at the same hour Hurlbut's Division
moved forward and encountered part OF
the fleeing troops, which had crossed
Hatchie River. Heavy fighting occurred.
Hurlbut drove the rebel troops before him.
They recrossed the Hatchie, closely fol-
lowed by their pursuers.
Hurlbut took up a strong position on the
east side of the Hatchie. a severe en-
gagement was the result, with consider
able loss on both sides, but Van Dorm and
Price were not hunting fight. The Con-
federate forces We're actually. oyerwhelm-
ing in numbers, but being in full retreat
from q lost battlefield, they were i'll no
mood to meet so active and enterprising an
antagonist as Gen. Hurlbut, and so they.
made a detour to the left and continued
their retreat, crossing the Hatchie at
Crum's Mill, six miles up the river.
On the morning of Oct. D, as before
stated, Rosecrans army moved out in pur-
suit of the foe, with Gen. Mcpherson in
the lead. The march was rapid. In good
time the rear guard of the Confederate
able force of both infantry and artillery
had been organized as rear guard to hold
in check the advancing columns, led by
Mcpherson, the evidences on every hand
indicated great decentralization on the part
of the rebel forces The road everywhere
contained articles of camp equipment, and
the hillSides were covered with wagons,
tents, cooking utensils and broken arms and
ammunition. The pursuit continued to
Ripley with the infantry, and for con-
siderable distance beyond with cavalry.
During the progress of this pursuit, after
the second days march, L was ordered
with my regiment to make a night march
of II miles eastward to take and hold the
town of KosSuth. Gen. ROsecrans con-
ceiyed the idea that it might be possible
that the Confederates would dispatch n
portion of their force and make detour
and again attack Corinth from the south,
and | was sent to intercept any force that
might be sent in that direction.
After the excitement and fatigue of 4
twO-days' battle, followed by hard two
days march, it was not an agreeable UNI
dertaking to make a forced march of l.
miles in the night time. but it was a thing
that was necessary to be done, and the
18th entered upon the task without q muir
muir. The road lay for the most part
through timber, and no one was familiar
with the route. There was Il road, how
ever, and although the night was dark, we
kept in it, resting from time to time, and
by daylight we entered the town. When
morning came the good people of that quiet
village found. to their surprise, Il regiment
of Yankee troops occupying it.
The suspected movement of the COnfed-
crates was not made, and 50 we occupied
our encampment at Kossuth in peace and
quiet.
The battle of Corinth was a splendid
exhibition of courage on both sides. IT.
was desperately fought battle.
The Confederate loss was exceedingly
heavy. Upon those two fatal days 1,i51
men went down to death. OF these ,.i23
were Confederate and 32S were Union sol
diers. Gen. Rosecrans reports the rebel
wounded at 1902; prisoners, 2.26S; while |
the Union wounded was 1,I26; prisoners, |
32S.
In the battle of the Hatchie Hurlbut's |
loss was killed, 46: wounded, 593; missing, |
81. The Confederate loss, no doubt equally |
as heavy, is not separately given.
The victory was one of the most COM |
plete of the war. The Confederutes never |
again disputed with us the possession of |
Corinth, whenever we chose to hold it.
There is one additional feature in con-
nection with this subject which is exceed
ingly interesting TO record. 1t is this:
Thirty seven of the military organizations
which took part in the battle of COrinth |
were with Gen. Grant at Nicksburg and /
with Gen. Sherman in his march TO the re-
lief of Chattanooga. and in the battle of |
Missionary Ridge. They took part in the
Atlanta campaign, marched with Sher
man to the sea, and participated in the
great campaign through the Carolinas.
They marched with Sherman from RAJ
Iaiyb tbrnuyh Ricbp,onI Wnshin,rtnu