Visited Civil War related sites on January 29. Visited Tupelo and Brices Cross Roads along with the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center which is part of Shiloh Military Park. These battles were bloody with massive heavy losses on both sides, and they changed people’s expectations regarding the potential length of the war.
Union soldiers lost the battle at Brices Cross Roads, but they inflicted so much damage on the Confederates that they won the battle at Tupelo the following month and accomplished their main mission of diverting Confederates away from Union supply lines. There’s a Confederate soldier cemetery at the Brices Cross Roads battlefield site. Note 1200 Black Union soldiers covered the retreat of the white Union soldiers from Brices Cross Roads.
The Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center (part of Shiloh National Military Park) has a solid museum covering the Civil War as a whole, with of course a focus on Corinth. Corinth contained a critical train crossroads, and the Union army wanted to capture the area and control the two train lines effectively cutting off Confederate railroad transportation/food/supplies. The Union Army laid siege to Corinth for 30 days, which meant both armies had to deal swampland, mosquitoes, severe lack of hygiene, food scarcity, and terrible heat/humidity. The Confederate Army eventually retreated.
There are a ton of exhibits. My photos below show 0.05 percent of what the museum has to offer.
A statue of Chickasaw chief Piomingo in Tupelo, Mississippi (Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area). A friend of George Washington, he aligned his tribe with the US and enabled the new America to continue westward expansion. Creek leader Hoboi-Hili-Miko considered Piomingo a traitor to Native Americans.
