Corinth Civil War History

Corinth was considered strategically important during the Civil War because of the railroad crossing there. The Union Army wanted to capture the area and cut off the Confederate re-supply chain. 

The walkway up to the Civil War Interpretive Center in Corinth meanders through all of these Civil War artifacts that are embedded in the walkways and grounds, evoking in a small way how the battlefields became littered with artifacts (minus all the carnage, of course).

Inside the center, I watched a couple of films about the bloody battles fought at Shiloh and Corinth. 

I told some fellow riders that we should have to use these bedrolls on our trip:

As slaves learned that the Union Army was in Corinth, some of them ran away from their plantations to get behind Union lines. They hadn't been officially freed yet,  but they established their own community (including a church and a school), and worked for the Union Army in different capacities for wages. These escaped slaves were referred to as "contraband," so their community became known as Contraband Camp. Corinth commemorates the site of Contraband Camp with statues situated around a walkway depicting everyday life scenarios in the community.