It was my expectation to march against that army as soon as Buell, who had been ordered to reinforce me with the Army of the Ohio, should arrive; and the west bank of the river was the place to start from.

Pittsburg is only about twenty miles from Corinth, and Hamburg landing, four miles further up the river, is a mile or two nearer.

I had not been in command long before I selected Hamburg as the place to put the Army of the Ohio when it arrived.

The roads from Pittsburg and Hamburg to Corinth converge some eight miles out.
This disposition of the troops would have given additional roads to march over when the advance commenced, within supporting distance of each other.
Before I arrived at Savannah, Sherman, who had joined the Army of the Tennessee and been placed in command of a division, had made an expedition on steamers convoyed by gunboats to the neighborhood of Eastport, thirty miles south, for the purpose of destroying the railroad east of Corinth.

The rains had been so heavy for some time before that the low-lands had become impassable swamps.