Corinth

City in extreme northeastern Mississippi, USA, 24 km/15 mi southwest of Shiloh, Tennessee; seat of Alcorn County; population (1990) 11,800. Corinth is an agricultural trade centre with textile and other light industries.

Its strategic position at a railroad junction made it important during the Civil War both for Confederate forces, who fell back after Shiloh, in April 1862, and for Union forces who occupied it soon after. The Battle of Corinth occurred that October, when Confederates attempted, but failed, to retake the town, in the bloodiest battle fought in Mississippi. Six thousand soldiers, most unidentified, are buried in Corinth National Cemetery.