The Confederates in Mississippi would not be able to put up any resistance to Grants forces until they did so at the Battle of Coffeeville in early December '62. The Condition of the majority of Van Dorn's forces, both physically and mentally was decimated by the combination of the Battle of Iuka and Corinth. The moral of the officer corps is this district was so low, over the preceeding weeks, legal charges were filed and a court proceedings on the conduct of Van Dorn and his staff took over the priority of fighting the war.

I still question the validity of the assumption that the Union forces could not have pursued Van Dorn, if Van Dorn could retreat his army to Holly Springs I believe Union forces could have chased him down, to some point prior, and gave him battle. Van Dorn was in much worse shape for supplies than Rosecrans and an aggressive move at that moment by the Union forces would have changed the course of the war in the West. This was not the Grant we see later in April-May 63 it is clear by his timid actions and weak excuses. My opinions of here were formed before I read Cozzen's book, just by reading the O.R., as I'm doing now, cover to cover.

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David Upton