Alfred Roman, The military operations of General Beauregard in the war between the states, 1861 to 1865

[256] regiment of General Chalmers's brigade. The brigade proper, composed of about two thousand five hundred men, was stationed at the time at or near Iuka, on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, and five or six miles back from the river. Sherman's force then retired a few miles, to the mouth of Yellow River, intending to move thence to destroy the railroad company's shops at Beirnsville, a small village eight miles west of Iuka. After landing and making an abortive attempt to reach Beirnsville, with nothing to oppose him but high water, General Sherman hurriedly reem-barked his troops and dropped down to Pittsburg Landing, on the night of the 14th, having made a useless demonstration, but one which confirmed General Beauregard in the opinion that Corinth would be the final objective point of the Federal movement.

On the 13th, General McClernand's division of C. F. Smith's forces was crossed over to Crump's (or McWilliams's) Landing, on the west bank of the river, five or six miles above Savannah, to destroy the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, between Corinth and Jackson. But no more was effected than the burning of a small bridge near Bethel Station, twenty-four miles north of Corinth. After this the division fell back to the landing and re-embarked, showing the same degree of nervousness that characterized the Sherman expedition.

General Pope, in co-operation with these movements on the Tennessee, had appeared before New Madrid, about the end of February, and attacked that place with artillery. Not being defended with the tenacity which afterwards distinguished the defence of Island No.10 and its neighboring batteries, that important position was abandoned during the night of the 14th. Its garrison was transferred to the opposite bank of the river, and a portion of it sent to reinforce the troops supporting the batteries at and about Island No.10. The guns left in position at New Madrid, not having been properly spiked, were immediately put in condition to cut off, from escape down the river, eight transports and the gunboat used by General McCown in the evacuation.

General Beauregard's instructions to that officer had been to hold those defences to the very last extremity, in order to give time for completing the works at Fort Pillow; to sink some of his transports in the Missouri-shore channel, so as to narrow it still more, or render it impassable; and to anchor a fire-raft in the middle of the wider Tennessee-shore channel, so as to prevent the enemy's