Monument and graves on the Battery Robinett site in Corinth, Mississippi

CORINTH CIVIL WAR DRIVING TOUR STOP 4

The fourth stop on the Corinth Civil War Driving Tour is the former site of Battery Robinett, a Union battery named for its commander, Lieutenant Henry Robinett. The site is located just east of the courtyard behind the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center. I don’t know why this is Stop 4 on the tour since the tour starts at the Interpretive Center and you can just walk out the back to see it, but that’s the way it is listed on the tour brochure. A few monuments and six Confederate graves now mark the site. Nothing exists of the battery today, as it was bulldozed in the 1920s to make way for development.

After occupying Corinth on May 30, 1862, the Union Army set out to defend the city from a Confederate attack from the south. They first built a series of six outlying batteries to the south and west. These were named Battery A through F. Once completed, an inner line of batteries was constructed. These were only about a half mile from the town center and defended against attacks from the north, south, and west. Battery Robinett was one of the seven inner circle batteries.

Location of Union batteries at Corinth (map rotated to North-South direction)

Battery Robinett was constructed as a half-moon shaped battery called a lunette. It was 35 yards wide, 40 yards deep, and was open to the rear. A ten foot wide ditch was dug in front to slow any attacking forces, and downed trees and other debris, termed abatis, were placed all around the fort, again to slow any attacker. It was defended by three 20-pounder Parrott rifled cannon (pounder refers to the weight of the projectile that it could shoot).

Battery Robinett was the scene of some of the most intense fighting during the Battle of Corinth. Confederate troops launched an attack from the northwest, taking the Union by surprise—an attack from the south was anticipated. As Union troops from the outer batteries were overrun, the men fell back towards Corinth. Being northwest of the town, Battery Robinett was directly in the path of the oncoming Confederates. It occupied the center of the Union line.

On the second day of fighting, the Confederates reached Robinett. Hand to hand combat ensued, and after taking heavy losses, the Confederates were forced to retreat. Confederate troops on the right flank had better success, actually entering Corinth until being driven out by heavy artillery fire from the other Union batteries.

A partial reconstruction of a battery wall built by the National Park Service shows how earthen forts from the Civil War-era were constructed (the park used concrete so the exhibit would last, but during the Civil War this would have been wood). This exhibit is located at the rear of the Interpretive Center.