THE ‘VERTEBRAE OF THE CONFEDERACY’ BIG HILL POND AND THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR Jacob York
THE BATTLE OF CORINTH, MS (OCT. 2-3, 1862)
Big Hill Pond State Park in Southwestern McNairy County has a long, intricate history stretching back to the founding of the nation. In the 1860s, this area was no different than the rest of the torn South and country. At the onset of the Civil War, friends and families were split over the institution of slavery and the conservation of the Union. In McNairy County, and especially the area known as Big Hill, the pairing of the diverse geography and the perfectly positioned Memphis-Charleston and Mobile-Ohio rail lines created a hotbed of wartime activity. Following Earl Van Dorn’s crushing defeat during the October 3rd and 4th Battle of Corinth, MS in 1862, Union forces followed the retreating Confederates into West Tennessee, culminating in the Battle of Davis Bridge, or the Battle of Hatchie Bridge in McNairy and Hardeman Counties on October 5th. After these bloody days, the Union army held control in the District of Corinth, encompassing the railroad towns of Pocahontas, Chewalla, La Grange, Bolivar, and Moscow in Tennessee, and Holly Springs, Farmington, Kossuth, Corinth, and Iuka in Mississippi, just to name a few. All of these towns were crucial in protecting the critical railroad junction of Corinth where the Memphis and Charleston and the Mobile and Ohio Railroads met.
Along the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, which passes through Pocahontas and Chewalla, in McNairy County, Tennessee, Union forces constructed numerous entrenchments for protection and prevention of another Confederate attack. One of the entrenchments was a significant earthwork on top of a ridge between the Tuscumbia River and Cypress Creek meant to provide a large western view of the Memphis and Charleston R.R. The two waterways hugging the area provided the perfect space for Confederate guerillas to launch surprise attacks, leading to the construction of the earthworks. These earthworks stood as a testament to the importance of defending Corinth, the “vertebrae of the Confederacy,” a name given by Confederate Secretary of War LeRoy Pope Walker. Following the Battles at Corinth and Davis Bridge, Companies A, B, C, and E of the 18th Missouri Infantry were moved into the area to establish a post at Chewalla over the month of October 1862. It is highly possible that the earthworks were constructed in this time frame. The remainder of the 18th Missouri followed from Corinth by mid-January 1863. Colonel Charles Sheldon Sargeant of the 18th Missouri said of this area:
