Iuka: Fall in love with a spring.
With all of today’s “designer” waters, most of which are just plain tap water that come “fresh” from a treatment plant, it’s almost hard to recall that once upon a time, clear, cool water did indeed bubble up from underground springs. In Iuka, the waters from Mineral Springs won the 1902 World’s Fair award for best mineral water, and today the spring lends both its name and its charm to the Mineral Springs Park, where you can soak up the old fashioned ambience that includes a pioneer cabin and covered bridge.
Nearby, at the Old Courthouse Museum (yet another Tishomingo courthouse, built in 1870, burned in 1885 and rebuilt in 1888), you can delve into the city’s history, which, like Corinth’s, has been marked by Civil War strife.
At the Battle of Iuka, the Confederate and Union armies clashed, but it was the wind that carried the day—literally. After Corinth was seized, Confederate General Sterling Price marched on Iuka. At that, General U.S. Grant sent two forces to battle Price, one force from the west commanded by General E.O.C. Ord, and one from the southwest commanded by General William Rosencrans. It was crucial, Grant believed, that the battle be engaged in a single coordinated strike. He commanded Ord not to attack until he heard Rosencrans engage with the Confederates. In fact, Rosencrans did engage Price, in fierce fighting that went all day and long into the night, yet because of a fluke in the wind patterns, Ord and his men never heard a sound, and they stood by waiting, as the battle raged only a few miles away. Eventually the Confederates were able to slip away and join Earl Van Dorn in his attempt at retaking Corinth. Today, 263 Confederate soldiers are buried at Iuka’s Shady Grove Cemetery.
From Iuka, continue your own southward march, toward Tishomingo State Park. But be forewarned: You’re about to be taken by surprise.