In the meantime Beauregard, in view of the heavy odds against the Confederates, had decided to evacuate Corinth. He had no desire that the enemy should see into his mind. Without the knowledge of either Halleck or Grant, therefore, he quietly withdrew his army on the night of April 29th, with a loss of neither men nor stores. Beauregard's retreat was masterly in every respect. It became known only at sunrise, and may stand for a model as the march from the front of a prudent commander. His army reached Tupelo, Miss., on the 9th of June. Beauregard had already begun to feel the effects of ill health at Corinth, and on the 14th of June he left Tupelo for Claiborne Springs in search of temporary recuperation. He had, before leaving, turned the command of Department No. 2 over to General Bragg. As early as May 7th Maj.-Gen. Braxton Bragg had assumed command of the Confederate army of the Mississippi. Braxton Bragg had been a resident of Louisiana for several years before the war. In 1861, the general assembly provided for organizing the Louisiana State forces, and under that law General Bragg was appointed brigadier-general, March 7th. It seemed, at the opening of the Tennessee campaign, of good augury that the Louisiana troops should have been placed under the command of so distinguished a soldier, who was also a representative of their own State.
Before leaving Tupelo, Bragg had practically reorganized his army. Among the Louisianians whom he left with Price were Mouton's brigade, consisting of the Eighteenth Louisiana regiment, and the consolidated Crescent
