Second Battle of Corinth

Second Battle of Corinth
Part of the American Civil War
Rebels killed on the assault on battery Robinette. On the foreground far left is Col. William Rogers of the 2nd Texas infantry, wearing body armor. Next to him is Col. John Daly of the 18th Arkansas
Date October 3–4, 1862 Location Corinth, Mississippi Result Union victory
Belligerents
United States (Union)	Confederate States
Commanders and leaders
William Rosecrans Ulysses S. Grant	Earl Van Dorn Sterling Price
Units involved
Army of the Mississippi	Army of West Tennessee
Strength
c. 23,000[1]	c. 22,000[1]
Casualties and losses
2,520 (355 killed; 1,841 wounded; 324 captured/missing)[2]	4,233 (473 killed; 1,997 wounded; 1,763 captured/missing)[2]

The Second Battle of Corinth (which, in the context of the American Civil War, is usually referred to as the Battle of Corinth, to differentiate it from the siege of Corinth earlier the same year) was fought October 3–4, 1862, in Corinth, Mississippi. For the second time in the Iuka–Corinth Campaign, Union Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans defeated a Confederate army, this time one under Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn.

After the Battle of Iuka, Maj. Gen. Sterling Price marched his army to meet with Van Dorn's. The combined force, known as the Army of West Tennessee, was put under the command of the more senior Van Dorn. The army moved in the direction of Corinth, a critical rail junction in northern Mississippi, hoping to disrupt Union lines of communications and then sweep into Middle Tennessee. The fighting began on October 3 as the Confederates pushed the U.S. Army from the rifle pits originally constructed by the Confederates for the siege of Corinth. The Confederates exploited a gap in the Union line and continued to press the Union troops until they fell back to an inner line of fortifications.

On the second day of battle, the Confederates moved forward to meet heavy Union artillery fire, storming Battery Powell and Battery Robinett, where desperate hand-to-hand fighting occurred. A brief incursion into the town of Corinth was repulsed. After a U.S. counterattack recaptured Battery Powell, Van Dorn ordered a general retreat. Rosecrans did not pursue immediately and the Confederates escaped destruction.