The Hunt:

Answer: Corinth

Explanation:
The image shows a trench with abandoned fortifications, log “Quaker guns” (fake cannons), and rag-stuffed dummy soldiers — a well-documented tactic used by Confederate forces during their evacuation of Corinth, Mississippi, in May 1862.

In the distance, we see the unmistakable crossing of two major railroad lines, a strategic feature that made Corinth critically important during the Civil War. The clue’s title, “May 30 Cipher,” points directly to the date the Siege of Corinth ended — May 30, 1862, when Union forces discovered the city had been quietly abandoned overnight.

All these visual and contextual clues — the railroads, the dummy defenses, the timing — unmistakably identify the location as Corinth, Mississippi.