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.

Camp Cromwell at Murfreesboro

Murfreesboro, which seems to better known here as Stones River was fought over 3 days from Dec 31 1862 to Jan 2 1863.   Rosecrans was pushing south through central Tennessee towards Chattanooga.  Bragg moved north to meet him & made a surprise attack on New Years Eve.

The Union right was pushed back 90 degrees hinging about the Slaughter Pen - a patch of forest with rocky ground that favoured the defence.   

The Feds in the Pen held out long enough for Rosecrans to form a new defence line at right angles to his initial position. 

The next day both sides reorganised themselves & there was no fighting.   

On Jan 2 the Rebs attacked again thinking the Feds were beaten.  This time they attacked the Union left which was bent back at 90 degrees.  The Rebs were initially successful & drove the Feds back across Stones River.  

Then they discovered that Rosecrans had anticipated their attack & had assembled a battery of 57 guns on the rise above the river.  The Reb attack shuddered to a halt & Brag ordered a withdrawal.   

The battle had many similarities to Shiloh. The battlefield had the same feel, being mainly wooded, but with fields scattered about.  The Rebs won the first day & telegrams went to Richmond claiming crushing victory.  But again the Union General did not concede defeat.  Rosie seems to have learned a thing or two from Grant.  The Union army didn’t retreat as the Rebs expected & when the battle resumed, the Rebs were whipped.

The battlefield today isn’t in quite as good shape as Shiloh, but has enough left to get the feel of it & it has a good informative visitors centre & self-guided drive around. 

Near the battlefield there are remains of Fort Rosecrans – a huge Union supply base used as the starting point for the Chattanooga campaign later in 1863 & the advance on Atlanta in 1864.

Wargaming Shiloh on the road

Before we set off I made set of counters to allow us to play wargames on the road while memories of battles visited were fresh.  Before we left we did Champion Hill to test the system (see below).   Two days after we visited Shiloh we set it up as a wargame. The first thing that stood out was that Shiloh was actually a very small battlefield for over 40,000 men a side.  At a scale of 6"=1km Champion Hill covered two A1 sheets: 8km x 5m.  Shiloh fits in a 5km square.  The green wrapping paper I got at Dollar General was 750mm wide so perfect.  But Shiloh had over 42,000 men a side while Champion Hill had 22,000 Rebs & 32,000 Union.  To make the Shiloh simulation practical I had to make the units brigades of 1,600 men rather than demi-brigades of 800 as at Champion Hill.  Thus the units represented 2 lines of regiments not one.  This works as the counters are to scale with the ground scale in frontage, but way too deep.

I didn't try to put the intricate pattern of open fields on the map - too hard without my big screen PC & a printer.  But at this scale minor tactics is not the main game.  Pittsburg Landing is in the corner near my cold tea.  We simulated the surprise by saying the Union were Disordered for the first two turns.

The Rebs have mixed success along the line, generating a jagged front line & opportunities for flanking attacks. 

Some Reb units break , but many more Union have done so.  Normally we remove broken units.  We do this for two reasons: 1) It is arguable that in most periods troops that break seldom comer back. 2) It shortens the game - allowing a decision with an prolonged end game that can get tedious.  But clearly at Shiloh broken troops did rally & return to the fight.  So we said that broken units fell back to a rally point. 

The gains of the Rebs in first shock were never got back & more & more Union units broke & ran back to their rally line.  As did a few Reb units.

 Things just got worse & worse for the Union.

Almost all the Union units have now broken & fallen back.  The Rebs have only lost a few units broken, but many of their units are shaken or nearly so.  By now it was judged to be nightfall.  The Rebs have taken the ground fought over, though not their objective, Pittsburg Landing.  By our normal rules it is a clear Confederate victory.  But when Sherman said to Grant.  "They've whipped us today Sam." Grant replied.  "We'll whip them tomorrow." 

We didn't continue the battle the next day, but the Union would have rallied their units, plus received reinforcements so a repetition of the historical result looks pretty sure.

It is clear that for a valid simulation of a large ACW battle rules must allow broken units & formations to rally.  Otherwise our Mini Hail Mr Lincoln works pretty well.  As we travel we are also debating issues regarding command & control in the densely wooded terrain of the western battlefields.

Camp Cromwell takes Fort Donelson

Grant's first significant achievement as a commander was to take the riverside forts that prevented the Union using the Tennessee & Cumberland Rivers as routes into Tennessee.  Fort Henry on the Tennessee fell easily as it was poorly sited, not finished & not fully garrisoned.  The Union gunboats silenced the guns & Grant took it without undue difficulty.  Visiting Fort Henry is a bit tricky now as it is under a hydro lake.

He immediately pushed on to Fort Donelson on the Cumberland about 15 miles away across the ridge between the rivers.  This fort was well sited, well constructed & defended by a force that was initially bigger than Grant's.  After the navy arrived with reinforcements Grant ordered a naval attack.  This time the fort won.  It had more & better guns than Fort Henry & they were in better works at a better elevation.  There was also a line of entrenchments around the fort manned by about 20,000 men & at least 2 too many Generals.

The gun boats retired with significant damage.  While Grant was having a conference with his admiral on board ship, the Confederates tried to break out to the east.  He arrived back at the front to find his right wing in chaos.  His reaction was to order an attack on the western side of the defences.  He figured that if they were attacking in such strength in the east, their other flank must weak - typical Grant logic.  The Union took the line of entrenchments on that flank by nightfall & camped in them.

The victorious Confederates on the east side may have been able to break out, but exhausted & short of ammo they rallied back.  Grant reorganised his right to bottle them back up again.

Overnight the Confederate Generals argued about what to do next.  The 2 most senior ones decided to escape on a river boat.  Buckner, left in command, decided to surrender with his men & sent a message to Grant asking for terms.  Grant's reply is famous.  "... no terms but unconditional & immediate surrender. I propose to move immediately upon your works."    Bedford Forest decided to escape down the river bank with his cavalry & got away, 13,000 Confederates were captured along with much equipment the South could not afford to lose. 

We wargamed Fort Donelson about a year ago.  In our game the breakout did not go so well & though Smith's attack on the Union left did not break through, the Rebs failed to break out with none able to escape.  I think we got the terrain pretty right, the Union just did a lot better before Grant showed up.

Much of the battlefield is not built over & a lot of the entrenchments are plain to see, though badly eroded.  The river forts have been partly reconstructed with real cannon barrels on replica mounts.  As with many other places the fields of view are now hidden by trees whereas in 1862 the ground had been cleared by the Rebs. As at Shiloh there is a very informative visitors centre, friendly rangers, a good drive around guide & good info boards.

Camp Cromwell goes to Shiloh

We drove from Vicksburg to Corinth in a day, well placed to get to Shiloh the next day.  We followed the back roads to see the real country you don't see from the Interstates & checked out some minor sites on the way.  At Corinth we found some of the old fortifications surviving in the woods around the town.  An interesting day, but not much worth blogging.

Our first stop at Shiloh was the interpretation centre where we picked up a pamphlet/guide to a drive around the battlefield.  Before we set off we caught Rangers' doing demos on loading & firing artillery & muskets.

This ranger with the coolest Tennessee accent went right through the drill of firing a cannon, including the roles of all the 10 crew & where they put the limber & horses.  He really knew his stuff.  Lots of food for thought re artillery rules.

This bloke was all kitted out as a Reb lucky enough to have a good rifle.  He demonstrated the loading & firing drill.  He fired two shots in 1 min 18 secs (I timed it).  But he was a new recruit for the summer season so still learning.  You could see 3 a minute from a veteran would be possible for a short time. 

The battlefield was made a reserve in the 1890's while vets were still around to help restore it & the whole field is in the National Park.   The woods are probably a bit more overgrown than in the battle, but still in the right places with the fields shaped as they were.  The self guided battlefield car-tour was brilliant.  The pamphlet & signs guided you from significant point to significant point with very informative interp panels at each point.  There are cannons placed in important battery locations (all genuine barrels, but on new carriages).

The interp panels were great.  They clearly showed what happened in front of them & exactly when & on which day.  Despite the complex nature of the battle with attacks & counterattacks generally going north on day 1 & then south on day 2 they made it all easy to understand. 

Here is the Confederate battery of 50 guns lined up to bombard the hornets nest from across the field south of it.

This is the view from the hornets nest to the south across the field.  You can't see the guns deployed in front of the trees on the other side, but they are there.

This is looking into the hornets nest.  Generally the woods are fairly free of undergrowth, but visibility distance is limited by the density of trunks.  We are thinking a lot about rules for fighting in woods.

As we followed the route around the battlefield the course of the battle emerged more clearly than in any book or doco.  The command & control problems in the woods must have been terrible.  Tactically, the random distribution of fields which were not mapped made following any order a lottery.  Many units got cut down coming onto a field & a deadly crossfire.

After our tour we caught a 45 minute recreation movie/doco that was very well done, with the re-inactors doing their stuff on the original battlefield.

As long time Grantophile, I already had a good grasp of the battle & there were no surprises, but there really is nothing like being there.  It was a chaotic battle for everyone but Grant.  With pandemonium all around he calmly plugged the gaps & played for time while he built a wall of guns & men the Rebs were never going to get past.Then he "whipped 'em tomorrow".

Not all battlefields are great to visit - often they are just another patch of ground like any other in the vicinity, but this is one of the best. 
- The terrain is important. 
- It had a lot of complex movement. 
- It is very well preserved. 
- It has by far the best interpretation laid on of any battlefield I've been to.
- It's free. 
- And the good guys won.
Nothing not to like.

Camp Cromwell takes Vicksburg

Our attempt to get to Grand Gulf where Grant's navy failed to silence the batteries, or the spot downstream where he did cross due the Mississippi being in flood.

The first land battle of the Campaign was at Port Gibson.  The Rebs were heavily outnumbered by Grant's advance guard, but the terrain was all wooded ridges with lots of steep gullies.  There's not much to see or features to identify, but we sure got the vibe of the terrain.  The woods usually look passable without a lot of close undergrowth but the trees are close together & visibility usually less than 50m.  Finding the way & coordination must have been a nightmare.  Nevertheless the Rebs couldn't hold the position.

We then followed Grant's route NE towards Jackson along the Natchez Trace - originally an Indian trail, then a rough trade route, now a good road.  Grant advanced with no supply train living off the land - which once you are away from the Mississippi swamps became more & productive & less wooded.  At Raymond a Reb brigade attacked the advance guard thinking it was smaller than them.  They got a nasty shock when they found they had picked a fight with a whole division. 

This battlefield was easy to find with a row of replica cannon deployed on a field beside the road where the Feds deployed it prior to driving the Rebs away.

Here there are still a lot of wooded areas making recon difficult, but also a lot of cleared farmland ground giving fields of fire as well as lots of supplies for the Union army.

After the battle deployed one division covering his rear towards Vicksburg Grant & pursued the Rebs back to Jackson a few miles further east with most of his army.  The large Confederate force there couldn't stop him & withdrew.  He took the town, destroyed the infrastructure & turned back west towards Vicksburg.

The Vicksburg garrison came out to meet Grant, making a stand at Champion Hill.  Grant advanced in 3 columns on wide front.  His right attacked Champion Hill, his front extended several miles to the south.  Champions Hill isn't much of a hill but it is & was heavily wooded.  To the south there are, & presumably were, areas of cleared ground. 

So on the hill the Feds had the difficulty of coordinating attacks in heavily wooded ground & in the south the Rebs had positions with good fields of fire.

 The Rebs put up a good fight, but numbers won.  The Rebs had more men in the area, but Grant's strategy ensured that every battle was fought with the numbers on his side.

The Rebs retreated to Vicksburg & their inevitable doom.

We too advanced to Vicksburg where a large part of the area of the fortifications has been preserved with a drive-thu road and loads of interpretive signs.  The trenches are heavily eroded by the years before any care was taken to preserve them & woods have sprung up obstructing the fields of fire, but enough remains to get the vibe.  The resemblance to WWI is striking. 

12 lb parrot guns were monsters compared with the 6pdr Napoleons.

A feature of the Park was the remains of the USS Cairo.

The Cairo was sunk by mines in the Yazoo in one of the naval actions.  It was raised in the 1960's ina botched salvage operation that damaged much of what remained.  But she has been reconstrcuted on a glulam wood frame with the slavaged original components complimented by new bits to give you a real feel for the size & workings of a Union gunboat.

Camp Cromwell on campaign

Our expeditionary force landed in Houston & successfully got past the US border patrols.  Our first objective was USS Texas a 1912 vintage dreadnought that saw action off Normandy in WWII. Unfortunately we couldn't get aboard because it was closed to riff-raff that day for a D-Day ceremony.  But even from the shore she looked seriously impressive & worth a visit.  We could see the places where the WWI anti-torpedo boat defences had been removed when she was upgraded for WWII with AA batteries everywhere.

However, every cloud has a silver lining & that misfortune gave us an early start on our advance on Vicksburg.  We reached Natchez on the Mississippi that day & stayed there overnight ready to start our Vicksburg campaign the next day.  On the way we began to get an appreciation of the size of the country, the distances, & the difficulties of the terrain, involved in the Civil War campaigns.