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Corinth 1862: Siege, Battle, Occupation. By Timothy B. Smith. Modern War Studies. (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, c. 2012. Pp. [xxii], 441. $39.95, ISBN 978-0-7006-1852-1.)
Within months of the outbreak of the Civil War, Corinth, Mississippi, which was situated at the junction of two important railroad lines, became one of the most logistically and strategically significant towns in the western theater. In Corinth 1862: Siege, Battle, Occupation, Timothy B. Smith offers gripping analysis of the town's importance to the Confederate and Union war efforts and of the Confederacy's failed attempt to retake the city after it fell to the Union. Smith's balanced assessment of the decisions made (and not made) by leading Confederate and Union officers- Henry W. Halleck, P. G. T. Beauregard, Ulysses S. Grant, William S. Rosecrans, Sterling Price, Earl Van Dorn-and of the movements carried out by subordinates and common soldiers is grounded in impressive archival research and a firm understanding of prevailing historiography. This superb study will delight academics...