By late spring 1862, United States forces in the West threatened to cut the Confederacy in two after capturing New Orleans and Memphis on the Mississippi River and the vital railroad hub at Corinth, Mississippi, severing the Memphis & Charleston Railroad, the South's only east-west connection linking the Atlantic to the Mississippi Valley. Efforts to complete that split stalled during the summer when Union naval forces failed to capture Vicksburg and field armies struggled to control the vast territory occupied in the spring offensive. The Confederates used this lull to launch General Bragg's invasion into Kentucky and, in early October, sent an army to capture Corinth. After being repulsed there with heavy losses following two days of brutal fighting, the southern force retreated toward Davis Bridge on the Hatchie River. With the southern army blocked by Federals advancing from Bolivar, Tennessee, fierce fighting engulfed the crossing. The daylong conflict ended east of the river with the Confederates escaping to the south. The failure to retake Corinth proved the last Confederate offensive in Mississippi, as Union forces seized the initiative and began a final relentless nine-month offensive to capture Vicksburg and take control of the Mississippi River.