Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1915-06-04
GLADDENED BY
FALL OF COR|NTH
Thirtieth of May, 1862, Was a
Day of Great Rejoicing in
the North.

made memorable in Civil war his
tory by the evacuation of Corinth,
Miss. The seizure of this Confederate
an event which, estimated by it's re-
suits, may be regarded as the first i'm.
portant event of the war. Since the
first of May Halleck had been trying
to gain possession of this stronghold,
which, at that time, was held by Beau.
regard. In the meantime Old Farm.
ington, the strongly fortified outpost
of the Confederacy, about four miles
from Corinth, had been given up; Mar
maduke, who had been in command
enforce Beauregard. The Union
forces had taken possession of Old
Pennington, had cut off Beauregard's
railroad connections to the north and
east and had, by the twenty-ninth Of
May, succeeded in working their way
to a position near the Confederate
Notifications at Corinth, from which
an assault could be made.
1t was Halleck's intention to make
an assault on the following morning,
and he was expecting to meet with
strong resistance. But Halleck's ex.
pectations were not realized. All night
long the pickets and sentinels heard a
continuous roar Of moving cars in
Corinth. At early dawn Halleck sent
out skirmishers, but no foe appeared
to oppose them. He then ordered
Sherman to advance with his troops
toward the Confederate Notifications
and to feel the enemy" But no en-
envy could be found. Where was he?
Out near Old Pennington there still
stands a tall tree which today is
pointed out to sightseers who visit
Corinth as Lookout Tree" From the
top of this tree the Union spies, at the
time of the siege, with a field glass,
used to observe the movements of the
Confederate troops.
The morning of the thirtieth of May,
1862, these spies saw only the rear Of
Beauregards army far to the south of
Corinth fleeing down the Mobile rail-
road. The enemy whom Sherman had
been sent to "feel' had escaped. The
city had been evacuated and left as a
prize of war to the Union army.
On this thirtieth Of May there was
much rejoicing in the northern states,
for all through the month of May the
people there had been awaiting the
outcome Of this siege. On the follow
ing morning there appeared in the
New York Tribune long editorial be-
ginning thus:
Another stronghold Of the rebels
has fallen. Corinth is reannexed to
the Union, and Beauregard's army is
flying down the Mobile railroad in
anxious search for the last ditch
This tells the story. Soon after the
thirtieth of May of the preceding year
the battle of Bull Run had given the
Confederates a strong footing in the
East, but since the beginning of the
year 1892 the Union forces had been
gaining a series of victories in the
Mississippi valley; Pea Ridge, Shiloh,
Island Number Ten, New Madrid and
Fort Donelson had prepared the way
FOR the victory at Corinth. The result
OF this victory was the establishment
of the power of the Union in the West.
One week later Memphis fell, as it
were, by its own weight. This gave
the Union forces control of the Missis-.
sippi, the only important stronghold
in the Mississippi valley that re-
NAMED secure to the Confederates.
While the people in the North on.
this thirtieth of May were rejoicing:
over the victory of their soldiers at
Corinth and over the results which
they felt would inevitably follow, what
about the people in the South? Nearly
year had now passed since the VIC
tory Of the Confederate soldiers at
the battle of Bull Run. When the news
of this victory had come to the south
ern people many of them thought the
war was over. So general was this
impression that many of the southern
soldiers had gone back to their
homes, thinking that there would be
no further need of their services.
The evacuation of Corinth cast
gloom over the whole South, but there
still remained with the southern peo-
pie an implicit confidence in the army
of northern Virginia, which was, on
that day, holding it's own in defense of