Summary
The Siege of Corinth took place across two phases: a wet phase (April 11-May 5) and a dry phase (May 6-June 12).
The siege’s wet phase was very rainy, precipitation falling during all or part of 14 of the 25 days (56%) between April 11-May 5. This rain was often heavy or consistent, the sky cloudy and dark. The days between the battle and Halleck’s arrival on April 11 were also rainy.
The campaign’s dry phase featured increasingly hot weather that, when combined with area soils and geology, eventually created a water deficit. Initially the drier conditions at the beginning of this phase initially improved health and morale. But as temperatures began to climb, drying water sources eventually caused new problems. From May 6 to June 12, precipitation fell on 12 of 38 days (32%). Significantly, this rain was less intense than earlier; only four days saw more than light showers. Aside from a short shower on May 11 that touched only John McClernand’s reserve of Halleck’s army, no rain fell for nearly two weeks after May 5. In many places water became difficult to find, forcing soldiers to imbibe scummy water or walk great distances to reach cleaner sources. The water deficit in some areas became so bad that soldiers began to dig wells. The likelihood of dehydration by insufficient water intake and by chronic diarrhea grew as the temperature rose and water quality worsened. Mosquitos grew more numerous, increasing the likelihood of malaria, and men were kept in a near-constant state of alert while performing grueling labor. High levels of illness common in the wet phase continued through the campaign’s dry phase.
Siege of Corinth Weather Database
- Conclusions about precipitation for individual days in the calendar graphic above were made collating data from the database. Some of the weather descriptions in each manuscript collection are highly descriptive. In others soldiers used subjective language like “cool and wet” or “rainy” that makes drawing conclusions slightly more difficult. In most cases precipitation patterns are clear enough to be able to designate days as a day with Light/Intermittent Rain, Hard/Consistent Rain, or a day with No Rain. Importantly, in cases where a day had any form of rain event – either in terms of time with intermittent rain or a short but intense rain spell – it was designated in the Light/Intermittent Rain or Hard/Consistent Rain categories.