Battle of Iuka Facts

September 19, 1862

Key facts about the Battle of Iuka.

Portrait of Ulysses S. Grant

Some historians believe that the Battle of Iuka may have been the source of differences between Union generals Ulysses S. Grant (pictured here) and William S. Rosecrans that ultimately led to Grant relieving Rosecrans of his command at Chattanooga a little over one year later. [Wikimedia Commons]

Date:

  • September 19, 1862

Location:

  • Iuka, Mississippi

Campaign:

  • Iuka and Corinth Operations (1862)

Principal Union commander(s):

  • Major General William S. Rosecrans

Principal Confederate commander(s):

  • Major General Sterling Price

Union forces engaged:

  • Army of the Mississippi

Confederate forces engaged:

  • Army of the West

Number of Union soldiers engaged:

  • Roughly 4,500

Number of Confederate soldiers engaged:

  • Roughly 3,000

Estimated Union casualties:

  • 790 (144 killed, 598 wounded, 40 captured/missing)

Estimated Confederate casualties:

  • 1,516 (263 killed, 692 wounded, 561 captured/missing)

Result:

  • Union victory

Significance:

  • Failure to coordinate the Union attack and involve Major General Edward Ord’s 8,000 soldiers at the Battle of Iuka enabled Confederate Major General Sterling Price’s Army of the West to escape and join Major General Earl Van Dorn’s Army of West Tennessee in an assault on Corinth in October 1862.