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Illustration 3: Union Troops Building Entrenchments on the Road to Corinth, May 1862.

Questions for Illustration 3

1. Examine this sketch closely. It shows the 31st Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which was organized in the summer of 1861. A regiment in the Civil War usually consisted of about 400 men. How many men in the illustration are working on the fortifications? What does this tell you about their importance?

2. Notice the logs lying on the ground on the left side of the illustration. Whenever possible, parapets were built around logs, rocks, or large pieces of lumber. Why do you think this would have been done?

3. Notice the zigzag section of the parapet on the left. Based on Reading 3, why do you think it was built that way?

4. Corinth was the 31st Ohio's first major engagement. In his books, Mahan taught that field fortifications were most appropriate for "green," or inexperienced, troops. Why do you think he thought that?

* The photo on this screen has a resolution of 72 dots per inch (dpi), and therefore will print poorly. You can obtain a larger version of Illustration 3, but be aware that the file will take as much as 56 seconds to load with a 28.8K modem.