The Chattanooga Campaign

While Grant was taking Vicksburg, Rosecrans advanced on Chattanooga, Tennessee, another vital point in the Confederacy’s communication.  He out-manoeuvred Bragg, forcing Bragg to abandon Chattanooga without a battle.  But Bragg was reinforced with Longstreet’s Division from the east & attacked Rosecrans at Chickamauga a few miles south of Chattanooga. 

The initial battle lines ran north-south each side of the Chickamauga Creek.  On day 1 Bragg concentrated his attack on the Union left trying to cut the Feds off from Chattanooga but failed to break through.   

On Day 2 had some indecisive fighting along the line.  Overnight the Union fortified while the Rebs received reinforcements.  

On Day 3, the Rebs again attacked the Union left.  It held, but one of Rosecrans orders to reinforce it was misinterpreted & a gap was left just south of the Union centre.  At just the right time Longstreet’s division happened to attack that very spot & his men poured through the gap.  The Union right retreated in disorder taking Rosecrans with it.  Thomas, the ranking General left on the field, cobbled together a defence on Snodgrass Hill behind the Union centre.  He eventually had to retire, but he gained enough time for the Union army to retreat to Chattanooga in reasonable shape & he became the Rock of Chickamauga in the Union press.    

Bragg followed up, but declined to attack the fortified town.  When Bragg held Chattanooga & Rosecrans took Lookout Mountain, Bragg decided he had to withdraw.  Now that positions were reversed he assumed that the Feds would think the same as he did.  So he declined to attack the fortifications he’d had built & laid siege.

But Grant removed Rosecrans & put the Rock of Chickamauga in charge & he was made of sterner stuff.  He hung on grimly despite the difficulty of getting supply past the Confederate guns on Lookout Mountain until Grant arrived.  Grant immediately found a way to open a better supply line able to supply not only Thomas, but reinforcements as he prepared to break the siege.

Grant sent Hooker west, to cross the Tennessee River on a pontoon bridge & attack Lookout Mountain from the west. The Union soldiers had to scrabble up an extremely steep slope & avoid cliff lines.  But shielded by fog & the impossibility of the guns on top being able to fire down at them because of the slope, they easily drove the outnumbered defenders from the top.  Hooker then had to get his men over the mountain & down into the valley to support the attack on Missionary Ridge, not an easy task.

On the east side of Chattanooga Grant sent Sherman over another pontoon bridge to attack the west end of Missionary Ridge.  The terrain turned out to be rougher than expected & included a hidden ravine.  As a result Sherman’s advance was also slower than expected.

In the centre Thomas’ division faced the seemingly impregnable Missionary Ridge position.  Grant ordered them to take the rifle pits at the foot of the Ridge & they did that easily.  But they didn’t stop there.  Still smarting from their defeat at Chickamauga two months before they were after revenge.  They charged off up the hill in hot pursuit of the Reb’s forlorn hope.  With the Reb’s fire inhibited by their one retreating men and the steepness of the slope Thomas’ men were unstoppable & carried their works in one charge.   Grant’s flanking attacks, though stalled, had dragged all the reserves off to the flanks & the Confederates had no choice but to retreat.

There is a large visitor’s centre at Chickamauga with a good doco & exhibits & a smaller one on Lookout Mountain.  You can get the driving guide at either. 

The Chattanooga battlefield is largely built over, but the terrain features are so strong it doesn’t matter much.  That Lookout Mountain was so named is no surprise.  The view is tremendous.  It dominates the western approach to Chattanooga & provides a great view of Missionary Ridge on the other side of the valley of Chattanooga Creek.  We drove right along the crest line of Missionary Ridge, but the views were difficult to get because of the houses & trees.  The slopes are heavily wooded now, even the parts built over have the houses among trees, but in 1863 the photos show they were largely denuded then.  So while it would have been hard going in rough ground uphill, over most of the battlefield there was probably little cover for attackers.  The ground at Sherman’s end was very steep, broken & heavily wooded & from the descriptions of Sherman’s difficulties that seems to also have been the case in 1863.  The battlefield is very different from all the others we have visited.  Not only is it unique in have seriously steep hills that really stand out as geographic features but it’s huge.  Missionary Ridge alone is about 12 km long & there were separate actions on Lookout Mountain & the northern end. 

The Chickamauga Battlefield, like Shiloh, has been largely preserved in its original state.    It is also a similar size & similar in character – mainly woods with patches of cleared land.  (As is Murfreesboro).

An added bit of interest was added by my e-pal Jeff Berry who writes the Obscure Battle Blog.  His Great Great Grandfather was there & was captured on Snodgrass Hill when his regiment, the 89^th Ohio didn’t get the order to retreat & was captured.   We found the monument to the 89^th Ohio on Snodgrass Hill.  Jeff’s GGGF escaped from the POW camp & rejoined the army in time take part in Sherman’s advance to Atlanta.  He was later wounded, but survived the war with a limp.

 Chattanooga from Lookout Mountain.

Hooker crossed the Tennessee River, looped around to the left & attacked up this wooded slope to take Lookout Mountain.

Looking over Chattanooga at Missionary Ridge from Lookout Mountain.

 Typical Chickamauga woods.

Typical Chickamauga fields.  This view towards Snodrass Hill where Thomas made his stand.

The monument to Jeff Berry's GGGF's regiment.