Crossroads of the Confederacy
Crossroads of the Confederacy
When it came to fighting in the Mississippi Hills, the Confederate Army may have been outgunned, but it was the Union Army that got outfoxed by the Confederates repeatedly. P.G.T. Beauregard sneaked his men out of Corinth in the dark of night to evade capture; in the light of early morning, Earl Van Dorn and his men sneaked up on Grant's forces at Holly Springs to devastate Union supplies. There was plenty of hard fighting especially where two vital railroads converged and two armies clashed in almost record numbers, with the period between the Battle of Shiloh and the Siege of Corinth in 1862 seeing the largest-ever amassing of troops in the Western Hemisphere.
Nathan Bedford Forrest helped make his reputation in a decisive late-war victory at Brice's Crossroads, while U.S. Grant made a blunder nearly fatal to his command when he stretched his army from Holly Springs to Oxford and beyond.
In short, expect a tour with all the belles and whistles, beginning with the seductive wiles of this antebellum beauty:
DAY ONE — HOLLY SPRINGS:
It was the invitation to a ball that helped do in Grant's troops here-the previous evening's festivities left them slumbering happily, so that when Van Dorn's raiders galloped in, 1500 Union troops were captured in no time at all.
Van Dorn Raid Driving Tour
104 E. Gholson * 662.252.2515
www.visithollysprings.com
Walter Place Estate, Cottages, and Gardens
330 W. Chulahoma Ave. * 662.252.2515
www.walterplace.com
DAY ONE — OXFORD:
A town steeped in history, Oxford is also a great place to soak up Southern culture at its finest. Don’t miss the University of Mississippi Campus where you’ll find a c. 1889 home which features three stained glass windows depict a mustering of the Greys, students from the University of Mississippi who fought valiantly during the Civil War.
Ventress Hall
University of Mississippi Campus
800.758.9177
Confederate Cemetery
Behind Tad Smith Coliseum
800.758.9177
DAY TWO — TUPELO/BALDWYN:
The Tupelo/Baldwyn area saw a lot of late-war action with Nathan Bedford Forrest's determined but ultimately unsuccessful bid to take down Sherman's rail supplies. It was a rare failure for these parts. Generally speaking, this area is known for its notable successes-even the Confederate general himself enjoyed a legend-cementing upset victory here at Brice's Crossroads.
Brice's Crossroads National Battlefield Site
607 Grisham St. * 800.305.7417
www.bricescrossroads.com
Tupelo National Battlefield
Hwy 6 * 800.305.7417
www.nps.gov/natr
DAY TWO — CORINTH:
Highly prized as a junction for the Mobile & Ohio and Memphis & Charleston railroads, Corinth, the "Crossroads of the Confederacy," was besieged and seized, but only after the battle of Shiloh was fought over it. Tradition here runs as deep as the nation's largest and best preserved example of military earthworks which still line the landscape.
Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center
501 W. Linden * 731.689.5696
www.nps.gov/shil
Corinth Contraband Camp
North Parkway St. * 800.748.9048
www.corinth.net
Battery F & Civil War Earthworks
Davis St. * 800.748.9048
www.corinth.net
Corinth National Cemetery
Horton St.* 800.748.9048
www.corinth.net
ADD A DAY: COLUMBUS
Columbus was home to Confederate General Stephen D. Lee, who ordered the first shot at Fort Sumter- the man who, in effect, started the Civil War. Yet it was also the women of Columbus who, in their way, brought an end to the war, showing a grace in their treatment of the graves of war dead that set a new standard, and eventually led to new holiday for the entire nation.
Friendship Cemetery
4th St. South * 800.327.2686
www.columbus-ms.org
Lee Home/Museum
316 Seventh Street North
800.920.3533 * www.columbus-ms.org
Twelve Gables
220 3rd Street South
1.800.327.2686 * www.columbus-ms.org
Annual Pilgrimage
March/April
1.800.327.2686 * www.columbus-ms.org
- Confederate President Jefferson Davis calls for March 27 to be a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer.
- Following the Underground Railroad Route By Bicycle
- March is Women's History Month! Read the fascinating accounts of women spies hiding coded messages in women's hair, conductors of the Underground Railroad, soldiers disguised as men, surgeons, and advisors to the President!
- Teachers tackle race, economic disparity and history
- The President's Hymn: 'Give Thanks All Ye People'
- Thanksgiving Day during the Civil War
- Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation in a divided time: ‘one heart and one voice by the whole American People’
- What Abraham Lincoln found reading the Book of Job amid civil war
- Civil War stories on display at Lincoln Highway museum in Unity
- Who was Henry Benning, for whom Fort Benning in Columbus was named?
- Fort Gordon Army Base: Who was John Brown Gordon?
- From the Civil War to the football field, we have been celebrating the wrong values
- History and Healing: Removing Controversial Artifacts from the Civic Landscape
- How to Reframe the Civil War in the Classroom
- Man scores Abraham Lincoln autograph in box of trading cards
- Native Americans' role in the Civil War
- Abraham Lincoln Healed a Divided Nation. We Should Heed His Words Today.
- An escaped slave was the 'Florence Nightingale’ of Indiana's Civil War regiment
- A Southern Democrat survived impeachment trap and came to be in charge of Reconstruction
- New Statue Unveiled In Response To Richmond's Confederate Monuments