After the Union Army victory at Shiloh,
Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck moved his forces slowly toward Corinth, an important rail center. By May 25, 1862, after traveling in three weeks, Halleck was positioned to lay siege to the town. But on May 29, the Confederate forces under General
P.G.T. Beauregard slipped away undetected and moved toward
Tupelo, Mississippi. In late June, Halleck ordered his forces south and learned that the Confederates, by then under Bragg, were advancing toward Corinth. The 31-year-old Union
Col. Philip Sheridan established a fortified position to the south at Booneville on June 28 to await the Confederate attack. Lead elements of 4,700 troops under the Confederate
Brig. Gen. James R. Chalmers, who was also 31 years old, encountered Sheridan's pickets on the morning of July 1, three and to the southwest of Corinth. The pickets fell back and established a sound defensive line at the intersection of the roads from Tupelo and
Saltillo. Aided by the superiority of their new
Colt revolving rifles, the line withstood the initial Confederate assault before withdrawing to a backup position closer to the town. Chalmers' effort to turn the left flank of this new line was thwarted when Sheridan's main force joined the battle. The bulk of the Union force stayed on the defensive while Sheridan ordered
Lt. Col. Edward Hatch in command of the
2nd Iowa Cavalry to select two companies of the
2nd Michigan Cavalry under
Capt. Russell Alexander Alger and company "B" and company "F" of the 2nd Iowa Cavalry to circle around the enemy in secret and attack the rear of Chalmers' forces with saber and pistol while the remainder of the dismounted 2nd Michigan Cavalry and 2nd Iowa Cavalry attacked the Confederate forces from the front. The cavalry forces pushed Chalmers to retreat and Sheridan called off the pursuit after , when his fatigued troops encountered swampy terrain. ==Aftermath==