Union General John Pope had arrived in the vicinity of New Madrid, Missouri ten days before with a strong force and began to encircle the stragically important town. The seige ended when the Confederate commander took a final opportunity to avoid complete encirclement and evacuated, leaving most of his artillery and supplies, to consolidate on the Confederate bastion at Island Number 10 nearby. This allowed Pope to seal off and, on April 7, 1862, eventually to capture that fortress and further open the Mississippi River system for the Union. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
David G. Martin, The Shiloh Campaign: March-April 1862 (Cambridge, MA: De Capo Books, 1996), 41-42.
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
Battles/Soldiers
