and fresh regiments from
recruiting depots arrived. The camps were pushed out farther from the
river, and Halleck found 100,000 effective men under his command. The
army was organized into right wing, centre, left wing, and reserve. The
right wing comprised all the army of the Tennessee except the divisions
of McClernand and Lewis Wallace, together with the division of General
Thomas from the army of the Ohio, and was commanded by General Thomas.
The remnants of the commands of Prentiss and W.H.L. Wallace were
incorporated in two new divisions. The centre, composed of the Army of
the Ohio, except Thomas' division, was commanded by General Buell. The
left wing, the Army of the Mississippi, to which General Granger's
cavalry division was still attached, was commanded by General Pope.
General Pope, General Rosecrans having been assigned to him for duty,
divided his command on May 29th into two wings, the right commanded by
General Rosecrans, the left by General Hamilton. The reserve, under
General McClernand, comprised his division and that of Lewis Wallace.
General Grant was appointed second in command, without command or duty
attached to that position, though he still remained commander of the
District of West Tennessee.

Beauregard was reinforced, almost immediately after his return, by Van
Dorn with 17,000 troops seasoned by campaigns in Missouri and Arkansas,
raising his effective strength to 50,000. The Confederate Government at
Richmond and the State governments in the Southwest strained every
resource to increase his force. Unimportant posts were denuded of their
garrisons, new regiments were recruited, and Price, of Missouri, whom
the Government at Richmond had refused to recognize, was appointed
major-general. Beauregard found his force amount on the muster-rolls to
an aggregate of more than 112,000. But sickness and absence were so
prevalent that the return of effectives never quite reached 53,000. The
position at Corinth was naturally strong. Standing on a long ridge in
the fork of two streams, which run parallel to each other nearly to
their junction, protected on the front and both flanks by swampy valleys
traversed by the streams and obstructed by dense thickets, a line of
earthworks running along the crest of the highland bordering the
valleys, it could be approached with difficulty. The difficulty was
enhanced by a belt of timber which screened the works from view.
Railroads coming into the town facilitate