The Big Crossing

These crossed railroad tracks were probably the most significant do-or-die location during the Civil War

But first, Yet Another Trivial Accomplishment! We ascended the highest point in Mississippi, Mount Woodall,  803 feet, woo hoo!  Mississippi is 47th highest.

On a barely-researched whim we stopped at Corinth, Mississippi. Corinth's military importance was because two major railroads, the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, running east-west across the whole Confederacy, and the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, the only north-south line, crossed there. These railroads were essential for Confederate army supply lines.  

War stories are usually big on valiant actions, heroes and sometimes cowards, and medals of honor. Traditional wars depended on killing the enemy one by one, up close and personal, with a sword, spear, bayonet, musket or arrow. Death tolls were usually low.

The Civil War was the first "modern" war. New long distance weapons, such as rifles and rifled cannons shot much further and accurately than smooth-bore muskets. Large mobile cannons drawn by horses, warships, or railroad tremendously added to the killing. Gatling guns, the forerunner of machine guns, were being introduced. Telegraph was communicating long distance. Railroads transported war materiel. Big armies could be fielded.

The Civil War depended on boring logistics. Nobody got medals for running the supply railroad on time, or making sure there was enough food and water. Battles are lost when food, water and ammo run out, no matter how brave the soldiers.

US General Ulysses Grant, with 42,000 soldiers, faced Confederate General Johnston, with 40,000  soldiers, on April 6, 1861 at Shiloh, about 20 miles from Corinth. Grant's army was badly hurt, but 20,000 reinforcements arrived that evening. The next day the Union overwhelmed the Confederates, who then retreated to Corinth.

The twenty four thousand casualties in the Battle of Shiloh was more than all American casualties in all prior wars combined. This was modern war. Later Civil War battles had even more horrific death tolls; Gettysburg had over 50,000 casualties. 

Within a month the defeated Confederates ran out of food, had very limited water, and the remnants withdrew. More Confederate soldiers actually died of typhoid, dysentery, and malaria in Corinth than on  the actual battlefield. The Union army captured Corinth.

tl;dr:  The fall of Corinth meant the Union captured Vicksburg and then controlled the Mississippi, cut the Confederacy in half, severed their supply lines, and, eventually, won the war 500,000 casualties later.

(Civil War history is long and complicated. There are over 60,000 books about the Civil War, far more than any other topic in English. I don't think I will read all of them.)

Imagine if the railroad crossing had stayed Confederate and they won the war. Two weakened countries, not one. World history would be very different; who would have won WW II?

If one is visiting Shiloh and Corinth, I advise going to Corinth first. They have an excellent interpretive center, run by the National Park Service. It is a lot more interesting than the one at Shiloh. An especially interesting exhibit highlighted some women of the Civil War - spies, soldiers, and doctors and nurses.

Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was a field surgeon, first female doctor in the US army, and only woman to be awarded the Medal of Honor. She usually dressed as a man because women's dresses were impractical for a doctor. 

Three women served as soldiers without revealing their sex. Seven women were spies. One of the most audacious was Mary Jane Richards. Born enslaved in the North, she was educated and moved to Liberia for missionary work. Returned to the USA, she re-enslaved herself to Jefferson Davis during the Civil War and copied documents from his office.

Corinth was burned by the fleeing Confederates, so essentially nothing is original, except the train tracks. Interesting to me is that 150 years later, both lines are still used and are still single-track. 

This trip is so opening my eyes to the Civil War and related history. I am learning so much of what I didn't have in high school.

Our visit to Corinth was fun. Barbara got her first tamales in a long time - 10 for $5.00. Because she was a first time customer, they were free. Unlike many towns we've seen, the town looked relatively prosperous. No empty storefronts. One street was woman-owned businesses exclusively. 

We passed Crump, the most unnoteworthy town ever. I usually Google town names as we go, and there is nothing on Crump except its location on the map. No Wikipedia, no school news, no advertisements, no population, nada.  The town actually exists, has some commerce and restaurant, a traffic light, a church or two, not run down, but does not exist on the Internet, only IRL! 

Happy Trails,

Krem and Barbara