Description

The Battle of Corinth simulates the battle that occurred on 3-4 October 1862 near Corinth, a Mississippi town just south of the Tennessee border. The town was a vital cross-link for the two main Southern railroads: the Mobile and Ohio (the north-south line) and the Memphis and Charleston (the east-west line) railroads. The Union had captured Corinth shortly after the Battle of Shiloh, and Confederate General Earl Van Dorn was ordered to keep the Union troops tied down while General Braxton Bragg struck into Kentucky.

Van Dorn, his reputation damaged at Pea Ridge the previous spring, planned to hurl his 20,000 man army at an equal number of Federals who who held Corinth. Using a circuitous route to successfully confuse Union General William S. Rosecrans, Van Dorn marched on the town under the blazing hot sun of an Indian Summer. After two days of vicious fighting, in which they managed to take part of the town, the Confederate forces were forced to withdraw under the onslaught of the emplaced Union guns and Rosecrans’ fresh troops. Corinth marked the effective end of the Army of the Trans-Mississippi and brought about the unsuccessful court-martial of Van Dorn.

Each Game-Turn represents 30 minutes of real time, and each hex covers about 135 yards from hexside to hexside. Each Strength Point is the equivalent of 100 men or 1 gun.

Published with Jackson at the Crossroads: Cross Keys & Port Republic, June 8-9, 1862.