Grenada Lake

After the battles of Shiloh, Tenn., and Corinth, Miss., Union General Ulysses S. Grant planned to capture Vicksburg, Miss., by following the Mississippi Central Railroad. Confederate General John C. Pemberton established a strong defensive line, known as the Yalobusha Line, along the Greenwood & Columbus Railroad. The city of Grenada is located at the intersection the Central MS Railroad and the Greenwood & Columbus Railroad, where eight forts were constructed during the winter of 1862 to protect this vital rail center. Two of these Confederate Forts are located on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Property on Grenada Lake, and are open to the public. One of these forts has been restored and is occasionally visited by Civil War reenactors. A major Civil War Battle would have taken place at Grenada if it were not for General Earl Van Dorn's successful cavalry raid on Grant's Base of Supplies in Holly Springs, Miss., on December 20, 1862.