It was generally proclaimed that we were to capture Corinth with all its garrison of sixty or seventy thousand men.  The civilian observers could not understand how this was to be accomplished, as the Rebels had two lines of railway open for a safe retreat.  It was like the old story of “bagging Price” in Missouri.  Every part of the bag, except the top and one side, was carefully closed and closely watched.  Unmilitary men were skeptical, but the military heads assured them it was a piece of grand strategy, which the public must not be allowed to understand.

During the siege, there was very little for a journalist to record.  One day was much like another.  Occasionally there would be a collision with the enemy’s pickets, or a short struggle for a certain position, usually ending in our possession of the disputed point.  The battle of Farmington, on the left of our line, was the only engagement worthy the name, and this was of comparatively short duration.  Twenty-four hours after it transpired we ceased to talk about it, and made only occasional reference to the event.  There were four weeks of monotony.  An advance of a half mile daily was not calculated to excite the nerves.

The chaplains and the surgeons busied themselves in looking after the general health of the army.  One day, a chaplain, noted for his advocacy of total abstinence, passed the camp of the First Michigan Battery.  This company was raised in Coldwater, Michigan, and the camp-chests, caissons, and other property were marked “Loomis’s Coldwater Battery.”  The chaplain at once sought Captain Loomis, and paid a high compliment to his moral courage in taking a firm and noble stand in favor of temperance.  After the termination of the interview, the captain and several friends drank to the long life of the chaplain and the success of the “Coldwater Battery.”

Toward the end of the siege, General Halleck gave the journalists a sensation, by expelling them from his lines.  The representatives of the Press held a meeting, and waited upon that officer, after the appearance of the order requiring their departure.  They offered a protest, which was insolently rejected.  We could not ascertain General Halleck’s purpose in excluding us just as the campaign was closing, but concluded he desired we should not witness the end of the siege in which so much had been promised and so little accomplished.  A week after our departure, General Beauregard evacuated Corinth, and our army took possession.  The fruits of the victory were an empty village, a few hundred stragglers, and a small quantity of war materiel.

From Corinth the Rebels retreated to Tupelo, Mississippi, where they threw up defensive works.  The Rebel Government censured General Beauregard for abandoning Corinth.  The evacuation of that point uncovered Memphis, and allowed it to fall into our hands.

Beauregard was removed from command.  General Joseph E. Johnston was assigned to duty in his stead.  This officer proceeded to reorganize his army, with a view to offensive operations against our lines.  He made no demonstrations of importance until the summer months had passed away.