ShilohCorinth: Fighting with Picks and Shovels |
Brochure about Corinth: Fighting with Picks and Shovels at Shiloh National Cemetery at Shiloh National Military Park (NMP) in Tennessee and Mississippi. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
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National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
Corinth
Shiloh National Military Park
Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center
Fighting with Picks and Shovels
Battery Robinett, 1862
Silent Sentinels
Many surviving Civil War battlefields are living testimonials to the extensive use of field
fortifications during that conflict. Fortifications made from mounded soil, baskets, timber, and
even bales of cotton, were proven to be very effective during the war. The area surrounding
Corinth, Mississippi was fortified heavily by the Union and Confederate forces who struggled for
control of the strategically important town. Today, those earthworks stand as silent sentinels,
bearing witness to the bloody affairs of war. They are some of the best preserved earthworks in the
country, and are designated National Historic Landmarks. Viewing these fragile remnants is a
highlight of touring Civil War Corinth.
The Use of Field
Fortifications
Field fortifications had several purposes.
The first, and most obvious, was to provide
protection against incoming fire. Projectiles
would bury themselves in earthworks,
inflicting little damage to the soldiers inside.
Second, fortifications were meant to place
obstacles in front of an attacking force in
order to impede and slow the assault. Abatis,
trees felled in the direction of the enemy with
sharpened ends, offered such obstacles. The
last purpose was to provide an open field of
fire in which the defenders could shoot down
attacking soldiers. This fire was most
effective when it could be poured into the
enemy from more than one direction. The
shape of fortifications was intended to
provide for such enfilading (cross) fire.
For example, after serving as commander of
Confederate forces in and around Corinth
during the spring of 1862, General P.G. T.
Beauregard had this to say of his army and
fortifications, ”They had come to fight, and
not to handle the pick and shovel….Before I
had left that gallant army, however, I had
learned how readily the humbler could aid
the nobler duty.”
Army officers of both Northern and Southern
forces understood early in the war the
importance of using field fortifications for
both defensive and offensive operations.
Advances in weapons technology
necessitated a shift in warfare. The officers
educated at West Point had completed
courses on the science of field fortifications
under the direction of Dennis Hart Mahan.
Mahan’s classes had their desired effect, and
his influence was seen in strategy developed
by his pupils throughout the war.
Soldiers constructing earthworks during the war
The men on the front lines found they could
improve their chances for success, and more
importantly, for survival, by digging in.
Simple rifle pits could be dug by infantry
soldiers in earnest, even under fire. These
crude pits could be improved to form
trenches with headlogs and ditches in front.
Fortified Corinth
Following the retreat from Shiloh, the
Confederate Army spent the majority of April,
1862 constructing and occupying a defensive line
of earthworks on the northern and eastern sides of
Corinth. As Federal forces under the command of
Henry Halleck advanced on Corinth, they put on
The fight for Battery F
one of the more elaborate displays of offensive
entrenchments in the entire war. As the army
advanced, it sent out skirmishers to clear the way,
then constructed a new line of earthworks to
occupy. This cautious strategy transformed the
landscape between Shiloh and Corinth, and turned a
22 mile journey into a 30 day exercise in field
fortification science. The strength of these
fortifications, as well as the size of force, convinced
Beauregard his Southern army could not defend
Corinth. The use of offensive fortifications aided
National forces in capturing Corinth on May 29,
1862 without the calamity of a large battle.
Fortifications for the artillery were much more
difficult to build. The size of artillery pieces as well
as the number of men needed to operate them
required larger, more complex structures. Six such
structures were constructed through the summer of
1862 around the southern and western approaches to
the town and named Batteries A through F.
Following their completion, Union General William
S. Rosecrans ordered a new series of seven
fortifications built. These positions were meant to
be an inner line of defense for the rail junction and
depot in Corinth that could be garrisoned by a
smaller force. These earthworks were located in a
semicircle within roughly a half mile radius around
the rail crossover, guarding the northern, southern,
and western approaches into town.
Battery Robinett
Battery Robinett, one of the structures ordered
built by Rosecrans, was built on the site just east
of the courtyard behind the Corinth Civil War
Interpretive Center. This wedge shaped work,
called a lunette, was roughly thirty- five yards
wide by forty yards deep, and was open to the
rear. It had seven foot tall parapets, a ten foot
wide ditch in front, embrasures for heavy guns,
and was armed with three twenty-pounder Parrott
rifled cannon.
During the Battle of Corinth, the fight for
Robinett was bloody and desperate. A
Confederate attack against the bastion resulted in
a hand to hand struggle for the position. The
strength of Federal defensive fortifications proved
effective against the Confederate assaults.
Battery Robinett shortly after the battle
The walls were reinforced by gabions (earth filled
baskets) and fascines (woven bundles of brush).A
covered way, or communication trench, linked the
fort with the Memphis and Charleston Railroad
cut to the south. The approach to Robinett was
obstructed by abatis. Rosecrans further ordered
the construction of breastworks between the
seven redoubts that would offer positions in
which infantry troops could fire from a protected
position.
Viewing Civil War
Earthworks
The exhibits within the interpretive center
demonstrate the manner in which earthworks
were constructed. The earthwork outside the
northern end of the building offers an impression
of what a finished fortified battery position would
have looked like.
When examining surviving Civil War earthworks,
it is sometimes difficult to envision the scene
during the 1860’s. These seemingly haphazardly
placed mounds of earth were actually carefully
engineered and constructed field fortifications.
Each structure and angle was erected to enable the
soldiers inside to cover as much ground as
possible with fire. The earthen mounds were
reinforced with wooden planks, logs, or gabions.
To view the remnants of the fortifications in the
area, obtain a map of the driving tour of Civil
War Corinth. Often, the eroded, fading trace of
these works bare little resemblance of the
complex, massive fortifications of the siege,
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battles, and occupation of Corinth. Yet, with just
a little imagination, one can envision how things
would have appeared to those soldiers building,
manning, and fighting in these works during the
Civil War.
Use of gabions and fascines