General Grant sent for Mrs. Grant and their children in July 1862. At that time, he was making his headquarters at the 900-acre Whitefield plantation, the current location of the Industrial Park in Corinth.

In her memoirs Mrs. Grant wrote that the Union encampment extended from the depot to far beyond Grant’s headquarters. The evening she arrived, campfires were burning and the men around them were singing, “John Brown.”

She said the General’s headquarters were in a handsome, very comfortable country home situated in a magnificent oak grove. The house was a two-story frame, surrounded by wide piazzas, sheltered by maderia vine. On the grounds were mimosa, magnolia and plantation trees. A wide dirt walk extended around the house. This walk was kept in fine order as it was sprinkled and raked morning and evening.

Nellie and Jess, the Grant children, delighted in making footprints on this walk. In the evenings after mother had bathed and dressed them for the night, they begged to make footprints. The General always allowed them to do so. Yet, he would admonish them to always mind what Mamma tells you to do.