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AEMY OPERATIONS. 



NBAR COEINTH, May 30, 1S62. 

 Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War : 



Gen. Pope's heavy batteries opened upon the ene- 

 my's intreuchments yesterday, about 10 A. M., and 

 Boon drove the rebels from their advanced battery. 



Maj.-Geu. Sherman established another battery yes- 

 terday afternoon within one thousand yards of their 

 works, and skirmishing parties advanced at daybreak 

 this morning. 



Three of our divisions are already in the enemy's 

 advanced works, about three quarters of a mile from 

 Corinth, which is in flames. 



The enemy has fallen back of the Mobile railroad. 

 H. W. HALLECK. 



NEAE CORINTH, May 30, 1862. 

 Eon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War : 



Our advanced guard are in Corinth. There are 

 conflicting accounts as to the enemy's movements. 

 They are believed to be in strong force on our left 

 flank, some four or five miles south of Corinth, near 

 the Mobile and Ohio railroad. 



H. W. HALLECK, Major-General. 



HEADQUARTERS CAMP NEAR CORINTH, May 30. 

 Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War 



The enemy's position and works in front of Corinth 

 were unexpectedly strong. He cannot occupy a 

 stronger position in his flignt. 



This morning he destroyed an immense amount of 

 public and private property, stores, provisions, wag- 

 ons, tents, &c. 



For miles out of the town the roads are filled with 

 arms, haversacks, &c., thrown away by his flying 

 troops. 



A large nuntfoer of prisoners and deserters have 

 been captured, and are estimated by Gen. Pope at two 

 thousand. 



Gen. Beauregard evidently distrusts his army, or he 

 would have defended so strong a position. His troops 

 are generally much discouraged and demoralized. In 

 sll their engagements for the last few days their re- 

 sistance has been weak. 



H. W. HALLECK, Major-General. 



The Confederate officers began to remove 

 their sick from Corinth preparatory to an evacu- 

 ation on Monday, the 26th of May. On the next 

 day, Tuesday the 27th, Gens. Beauregard and 

 Bragg were making arrangements for falling 

 back, which process was completed in great haste 

 on Thursday night, the 29th. On Wednesday 

 the entire line of Gen. Halleck was advanced 

 from one half to three quarters of a mile and 

 up into easy range of the enemy's works. The 

 heavy siege guns were put into position on 

 that day on the works thrown up by the 

 advanced column. This movement throughout 

 was hotly contested, the enemy doubtless seek- 

 ing to keep their opponents at a safe distance 

 if possible, until their evacuation should be 

 completed. They continued to show an un- 

 broken front and to work their batteries with 

 energy and without interruption throughout 

 that and the next day. On Thursday morning 

 operations were resumed with the same earnest- 

 ness as on "Wednesday. The enemy appeared 

 Btill in position, and contested every inch of 

 the Union advance with the utmost determina- 

 tion. At nine o'clock on that morning, how- 

 ever, their musketry firing ceased, and was 

 not again resumed. After that hour there 

 were no further close engagements. The bat- 

 teries on both sides, however, were kept in 

 play, though a gradual diminution of the en- 



emy's fire was observable as the day wore 

 away, and before night it had wholly ceased. 

 During the night heavy explosions were heard 

 in the enemy's works, which were conjectured 

 to be the destruction of their magazines and 

 ammunition, which subsequently proved true. 

 Flames were also seen issuing from the town 

 in the latter part of the night. These indica- 

 tions were plain to those in the advance of the 

 Federal lines, and were understood to be the 

 movements for an evacuation. 



As no opposition was made to the advance 

 on Friday morning, some officers dashed ahead 

 to satisfy themselves of the enemy's position. 

 The first party rode into the town at 6h. 30m. 

 in the morning, and then was discovered the 

 whole extent of the success gained. Destruc- 

 tion, waste, and desolation were visible on 

 every hand. Huge piles of commissary stores 

 were smouldering in the flames. The remains 

 of buildings destroyed were conspicuous on the 

 streets. The enemy had fled, taking care that 

 what they could not carry away should at least 

 not be left for the victors. One large ware- 

 house, filled with provisions, was all that re- 

 mained undamaged of boundless stores of sim- 

 ilar goods, sufficient to withstand a much longer 

 siege. Sacks were torn open, barrels broken, 

 hogsheads knocked to pieces, and their contents 

 mixed in common piles, upon and about which 

 huge bonfires had been lit 



So complete was the evacuation that not 

 only was the Confederate army successfully 

 withdrawn, but they took every piece of 

 ordnance. A large quantity of ammunition 

 was left behind in a damaged state. 



At Corinth the Confederate line of fortifica- 

 tions was about fifteen miles long, with strong 

 batteries or redoubts at every road or assailable 

 point. TJetween the fortifications and a marshy 

 stream covering the whole front, the dense 

 timber had been cut down to form a very strong 

 abattis, through which no cavalry or artillery 

 could have passed, nor even infantry except as 

 skirmishers. The lines thrown up by the Fed- 

 eral troops at the end of the day's advance were 

 mere rifle pits, while the fortifications around 

 Corinth were, as stated above, a strong con- 

 tinuous line, constructed with great care and 

 labor, and, independent of their position, were 

 in themselves immeasurably stronger than the 

 mere precautionary defences on the Federal 

 part against any sudden sortie of the enemy. 

 The Confederate works, moreover, were on the 

 brow of a ridge considerably higher than any 

 in the surrounding country, at the foot of 

 which was a ravine correspondingly deep. 

 The zigzag course of the line gave to the de- 

 fenders the command of all the feasible ap< 

 proaches, and hundreds could have been mowed 

 down at every step made by an assailing army. 

 At the time of the evacuation of Corinth the 

 hot weather of summer had commenced and 

 the period of low water in the rivers was close 

 at hand. Even the Tennessee could not be 

 relied upon as a route by which to transport 



