This article is copyrighted by Carole E. Scott, 1999.

The Confederate victory at Chickamauga, Georgia turned a tide on the Western Front that had steadily gone against the Confederacy, lifting hopes dashed by the Confederacy's recent, first significant defeat on the Eastern Front at Gettysburg. This battle takes its name from Chickamauga Creek, where the Confederate and Federal armies met late in the day on September 18, 1863.

Flowing near the the site of this battle is the Tennessee River, which rises in East Tennessee. From its origin it flows generally Southwest into Northeastern Alabama. Along the way it cuts through the mountains West of Chattanooga in a massive canyon. South of the Tennessee the land rises sharply to the Sand and Raccoon Mountains. From there the land drops off sharply into a valley through which Lookout Creek flows. Lookout Mountain forms the other side of this valley.

An ancient sea to the West created a series of ridges running from the Northeast to the Southeast where Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama meet. These mountains are distinctly different from the rounded mountains that lie to the East in Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Both coal and iron and iron were being mined in Tennessee - Georgia -Alabama border region prior to the War. (Birmingham, originally a coal and steel town that lies to the Southwest of Chattanooga, was not founded until after the War.) Lookout Mountain is the largest of the ridges that slant across the Tennessee - Georgia - Alabama border area.

In 1863, only three roads crossed the Northern end of Lookout Mountain: the main road West of Chattanooga that paralleled the River; a road 14 miles Southwest of this road through Stevens Gap; and a road over the mountain more than 20 miles farther South at Winston's Gap in Alabama. Lying beyond Lookout Mountain to the East of Chattanooga was Missionary Ridge.

The Battlefield

This rugged terrain was not plantation country. It was a region of small farms. The names of some of them: Kelly, Poe, Brotherton, and Snodgrass, are used to identify some of the most bloody fighting that took place during the War. Chickamauga Creek flows along the East side of the battlefield. It was readily fordable. The few, poor roads made it difficult to mass and move troops. Missionary Ridge formed the Western edge of the battlefield. It is a large mass of rock that runs 30 miles Southwest from the Tennessee River. Two gaps in it, McFarland's and Rossville, provided access from the battlefield to Chattanooga. The battlefield was bisected by the LaFayette Road, which connected LaFayette with Chattanooga via the Rossville Gap. If the Confederates gained control of this road, the Federals would be cut off from Chattanooga. Some of the features of the battlefield can be seen in the map below.

This drawing of the battlefield is from: Edward P. Shanahan, "Chickamauga Staff Ride Briefing Book," USARC Staff Ride Briefing Book Series, Office of the Command Historian, United States Army Reserve Command, Camp Creek Business Center, Atlanta, Georgia, September 1995.

Located in Georgia not far from the site of the Chickamauga battle, Lookout Mountain lies very close to Chattanooga, Tennessee.  Today a natural rock formation on Lookout Mountain located near its summit is a major tourist attraction (Rock City). Another tourist attraction, Ruby Falls, is located in a cave inside the Mountain. A road and an incline railway runs to the top of the Mountain, where there is a park containing fortifications dating from the "Battle Above the Clouds" fought a few months after the Battle of Chickamauga. On a clear day, it is said that seven states can be seen from the top of the Mountain. Nearby to the South is the Chickamauga National Battlefield Park.

Chattanooga, Tennessee was an important target for the Federals because of its position as a gateway through the Appalachian Mountains into the heart of the Confederacy. Although its population was only 2,500, it was a central rail junction. Meeting there were the Memphis and Charleston Railroad (linked Chattanooga to the Mississippi River); the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad (linked Chattanooga to Middle Tennessee); the East Tennessee Railroad (linked Chattanooga to Knoxville, Tennessee and Bristol, Lynchburg, and Richmond, Virginia); and the Western and Atlantic Railroad (linked Chattanooga to Atlanta, Georgia).

In August and September of 1863, the Confederate Army of  the Tennessee was forced  out of Tennessee and into extreme Northwestern Georgia near Chattanooga. After some confused maneuvering during which some Confederate officers refused to obey the orders of  their commanding general, Braxton Bragg, the Confederates met the Union forces along the banks of Chickamauga Creek. (Prior to this battle all of Bragg's senior generals told President Jefferson Davis that he should be removed from command.) This was one of the few battles fought during the War in which the Confederate troops outnumbered Union troops.

Virginia-born Federal General George H. Thomas in his official report described the scene of the battle as "original forest timber, interspersed with undergrowth and in many places so dense it was difficult to see 50 paces ahead." Further obscuring the battlefield was the thick smoke the black powder used in those days produced. More smoke and a terrible death for some of the wounded resulted from sparks from rifles and cannon setting fire to the underbrush. Soldiers were wounded or killed both by bullets and splinters sent flying through the air when trees were hit by shellfire. For two days, September 19 and 20, a "soldiers fight" raged. It is called a soldiers fight because the smoke, thick underbrush, and rugged terrain reduced the effectiveness of artillery, so most of the fighting was done by small infantry units operating largely independent of their officers because the thick woods and smoke prevented officers from seeing both ends of the line of men they commanded.

Officers, Men, and Equipment

While some generals on both sides were graduates of West Point and had fought in the Mexican War, many officers of this rank and lower had little or no relevant education or experience. Nonetheless, some of them made excellent officers. Confederate Brig. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest is an excellent example of such an officer. He had barely six months of formal education. Before the War he rose from semisubsistence to planter status and held various public offices. Initially enlisting as a private, he soon became an officer. Today he is recognized as one of the foremost cavalry raiders of the war.

Thomas Hooke McCallie, a Presbyterian minister in Chattanooga was unwilling to fight for the Confederacy because he opposed secession and thought the slaves should be freed, but was unwilling to fight against his own people, was pleasantly suprised by the behavior of the Federal soldiers who took Chattanooga. "Not a child was hurt, not a woman assaulted, not a man was killed," he said. However, he noticed several significant differences between Federal and Confederate soldiers.

"The Confederate soldiers were far more polite than the Union. The Confedrate would come in at the front gate, knock at the front door, lift his hat to the lady that went forward to meet him, and even to the servant he would speak politely. But the Union soldier would cross the fence wherever he struck it, would come in at the back door and the first you knew of him he would be standing before you in the kitchen without a bow or so much as a good morning. There was a rough and ready rudeness about him that seemed to be as inborn as politeness in the other. Another difference that we soon noted was the industry and obedience in the Union army surpassing in both these respects decidedly the Confederate. The Confederate soldier did not like to work, neither was he as obedient to discipline as he should have been. The Union army threw up breastworks, built bridges, felled trees and wrought prodigiously with his hands for the attainment of his ends. This was the biggest element in his makeup. He moved like an army. He drilled with the precision and regularity of a clock. We soon perceived that there was tremendous strength in the Northern army."

He found out, too, that "While the Confederate soldier respected private property and would not take a shoestring without asking for it, the Union soldier thought everything belonged to him. Our garden and yard fences went down for the purpose of making barracks for the men. Our corn was about to be carried off from the crib when Mother, Nellie and Sallie Hooke and Miss Alexander went out with sacks and...lugged into the house as much as they could. The rest went... Our large stable, cow house and corn crib all went. The quartermaster drove up his wagons and with a lot of hands tore them down and carried them off. Away went our turkeys too. Even our cows were driven off and disappeared. By and by when the last picket was pulled from the fence, the last outhouse swept away, the last chicken, turkey and cow gone, and our edifice was left standing alone as in a desert, we felt a sense of relief and rest. A kind Providence was watching over us and never suffered one of them to enter our dwelling as a marauder."

A wide variety of small arms were used by the soldiers on both sides. The Federals used Springfields, Enfields, Austrian rifles, Spencers, Austrian muskets, Belgian muskets, Henry rifles, French rifles, Colt revolving rifles, Whitney rifles, and Minie rifles. Besides using some of the same arms, the Confederates employed Mississippi rifles, Hall rifles, Brunswick rifles, Sharps, Maynard, Smith, and Austrian Bokers. The artillery used solid projectiles, shells (fused, hollow projectile with powder and a number of small iron round balls that exploded in all directions), and canister (a cylindrical tin can filled with iron balls packed in sawdust).

Federal soldiers carried about 46 pounds of gear including a musket and bayonet, 3 to 8 days rations, canteen, blanket or overcoat, shelter half, ground sheet, mess gear, and personal items such as a sewing kit, razor, Bible, etc. Confederate soldiers carried a bit less. They had less meat, coffee, vinegar, and salt. Federals were issued 2 caps, 1 hat, 2 dress coats, 3 pair of trousers, 3 flannel shirts, 3 flannel drawers, 4 pair of stockings, and 4 pair of booties (high top shoes) a year. Artillerymen and cavalrymen were issued jackets and boots instead of booties. Confederates were supposed to have about the same equipment, but they did not, and many wore home-dyed butternut jackets and trousers. Shortages of shoes was a constant problem for the Confederates.

Each horse required 14 pounds of hay and 12 pounds of grain a day. Mules needed the same amount of hay and 9 pounds of grain. The Federals used  6-mule wagon that could haul 4,000 pounds on good roads. The Confederates used 4-mule wagons with a smaller capacity.

Engineers had no tactical role in this battle. Federal engineers upgraded roads, railroads, and supply depots and built a bridge over the Tennessee River. Little information is available about what the 300 Confederate engineers did, but it is known that they built and maintained a pontoon bridge across the Tennessee River at Chattanooga until Bragg evacuated the city in early September.  (There were about 950 Federal engineers.)

Employed by the  Federal Signal Corps was the telegraph, lanterns, and signal flags. The Federals used Myer's wigwag system.The Confederates used semaphore techniques.

Both sides had hospital systems. After the battle the Confederates, who were short of doctors and medical supplies, had to treat a large number of wounded Federal troops. Confederate surgeons were overwhelmed. It took the Confederates almost two weeks to finish policing the battlefield. Many soldiers lay for six to ten days before receiving any medical attention. The better equipped Federals, who left the field, had far fewer wounded to tend to.

The Confederate Army

Army of the Tennessee (General Braxton Bragg)

Right Wing (Lt. Gen. Leonidas Polk)

Polk's Corps (Lt. Gen. Leonidas Polk)

Cheatham's Division (Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Cheatham)

Hill's Corps (Lt. Gen. Daniel H. Hill)

Cleburne's Division (Maj. Gen. Patrick R. Cleburne)

Breckinridge's Division (Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge)

Walker's Reserve Corps (Maj. Gen. W. H. T. Walker)

Walker's Division (Brig. Gen. States Rights Gist)

Liddell's Division (Brig. Gen. St. John R. Liddell

Left Wing (Lt. Gen. James Longstreet)

Buckner's Corps (Maj. Gen. Simon B. Buckner)

Stewart's Division (Maj. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart)

Preston's Division (Brig. Gen. William Preston)

Hindman's Division (Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman)

Longstreet's Corps (Maj. Gen. John B. Hood)

McLaw's Division (Brig. Gen. Joseph B. Kershaw)

Johnson's Division (Brig. Gen. Bushrod R. Johnson)

Hood's Division (Brig. Gen. E. McIver Law)

Cavalry

Wheeler's Corps (Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler)

Forrest's Corps (Brig. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest)

Both before and after the Chickamauga battle this army suffered from conflict between General Bragg and some of his generals.

Braxton Bragg

Bragg (1817 - 1876) was born in Warrenton, North Carolina. He graduated fifth in his West Point class of fifty in 1837. He served in both the Seminole and Mexican Wars and was promoted for gallantry in the latter. He married and resigned from the Army to become a successful sugar planter in Louisiana. When the Louisiana left the Union its governor made him commander of the State's forces. He became a full general and the fifth ranking  officer in the Confederacy in 1862. In 1864 President Jefferson Davis made him his military advisor, a position in which his performance was better than his performance as a field commander. He was plagued both by poor health and a personality that readily produced enemies.

The Federal Army

Army of the Cumberland (Maj. Gen. William S. Roscrans)

The major units of this army were commanded by Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas, Brig. Gen. Absalom Baird, Maj. Gen. James S. Negley, Brig. Gen. John M. Brannan, Maj. Gen. Joseph J. Reynolds, Maj. Gen. John M. Palmer, Brig. Gen. Horatio H. P. Van Cleve, Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, Brig. Gen. James B. Steedman, Brig, and Gen. Robert H. Mitchell (cavalry).

The Battle of Chickamauga

In early September Federal General Rosecrans forced Confederate General Braxton Bragg to evacuate Chattanooga. Rosecrans pursued Bragg, but he let the distance between his corps become great enough so that they could not support one another. He was fortunatel that the Confederates did not attack before he began to cncentrate his troops. Rosecrans ultimately became aware of the fact that the Confederates had ceased to retreat and that Bragg had concentrated his troops to give battle in order to protect his supply train and artillery park.

In the early morning of September 19 Federal General Thomas sent General  Brannan's division East of the LaFayette Road toward Reed's Bridge to capture what was reported to be an isolated Confederate brigade located on the West side of Chickamauga Creek.

During the night of September 18 Confederate General Forrest had been ordered to secure the Confederate Army's right and rear. When his scouts arrived at Jay's Mill they encountered Brannan's pickets. Realizing that he was facing infantrymen, Forrest called for infantry reinforcements. The location of this clash is shown in the map below.

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At dawn Confederate General H. B. Davidson ordered the 1st Georgia Cavalry forward. These troops found Federal Colonel Edward M. McCook's men filling their canteens and brewing coffee. The Confederates engaged the Federals, chasing them into the woods. When Forrest arrived, he ordered Davidson to recon further West. This movement brought about the two-day Battle of Chickamauga.

Upon advancing further into the woods, Davidson's men encountered Federal Colonel John T. Croxton's infantry brigade, which threw the Confederates back. Forrest, Generals John Pegram, and Davidson rallied their troops, forming them into a line of battle West of Jay Field. Forrest rode off to seek reinforcements.

Confederate Colonel Claudis C. Wilson's troops forced the Federals to give grounds. However, Federal reinforcements drove off Wilson's men. Then Confederate General Liddell's Division swept across the Brotherton Road and through Winfrey Field.   Liddell's men and other Confederates routed several Federal units. However, the wildly cheering Confederates pursuing the fleeing Federals were caught by surprise by Federal Colonel Van Derveer's men, who rose from their prone positions to deliver a devastating wall of fire, and the Confederates were driven back across the Brotherton Road.

The lines of battle moved back and forth throughout the the mid and early afternoon as various units maneuvered and entered the fray. At about 2:00 PM fierce fighting broke out around the Viniard farm, which was located less than a mile East of Roscran's headquarters. Roscrans ordered Federal General Jefferson C. Davis to seek out the Confederate line, and his men were  soon hotly engaged with Confederate units under the command of General Johnson and Colonel Robert Trigg. Davis was forced across the Layfette Road and into fields West of the Viniard house.  Federal reinforcements and the withering fire its artillery forced the Confederates to retire to the woods East of the Lafayette Road.

At sunset General Patrick Cleburne's troops, supported by General Preston Smith's and General John K.  Jackson's brigades, surged forward. The Confederates moved West from Jay's Mill along Brotherton Road. Some of his troops lost their way in the darkness, and some fired at each other. However, in the fierce fighting that ensued, some of General James Deshler's and Smith's men flanked the Federal right and captured two of General Grenville M. Dodge's regiments. Pursued by the Confederates, the Federals fell back. Darkness and increasing disorganization forced a halt to the pursuit of the Federals.

That night General Longstreet arrived with reinforcements, and Bragg reorganized his army, creating two new wings, the left under Longstreet and the right under General Polk. (This is the organization shown above.) Longstreet's contained some troops from Polk's old corps, Buckner's Corps, and troops from Virginia. Polk's contained troops from his old corps, Hills' corps, and Walker's Corps. (Longstreet, Polk, Hill, and Buckner were all critics of Bragg.) During the night the Confederates planned how they would attack the next day. Although Roscarns was advised to withdraw to Missionary Ridge and take a defensive position there to defend Chatanooga, he spurned this advice and simply strengthened his defenses. Confederate General Daniel H. Hill reported that "the ringing of axes could be heard in our front all night," as the Federals felled trees for the construction of breastworks.

The Confederate attack was delayed by several hours due to faulty communication and a failure of coordination. Brag was so enraged by Polk's tardiness that he ordered him arrested. One of Hill's divisions managed to maneuver around General Thomas' flank and advance several hundred yards into the Federal rear before, because he lacked adequate support, his men were thrown back when Federal reinforcements arrived. At the Northern end of Thomas' breastworks Cleburne's troops suffered heavy casualties. 

Polk organized his wing of the Army into two massive lines of battle. The first of these extended North from opposite the Poe house to Reed's Bridge Road. It was composed of the divisions of Cleburne and Breckinridge. One of Breckinridge's three brigades was commanded by Brigadier General Benjamin Hardin Helm, Abraham Lincoln's brother-in-law, who was killed that day. On both sides command and control broke down.

Convinced that there was a gap in the Federal line, Roscrans and Thomas ordered troops from the center and right  to move to the left. There was no gap until these troops were moved. After this movement took place Bragg ordered everyone to attack, and Longstreet's men struck the Federal line at the gap. The Federal center and right were routed, and the Confederate "Grand Column" swept the Federals before them into Dyer's Field, capturing Federal  artillery positioned along its West side.

Following the disintegration of the Federal right Snodgrass Hill became a rallying point for the Federals. (Snodgrass Hill lies on a part of Missionary Ridge that is called Horseshoe Ridge.) Federal troops on Snodgrass Hill under Thomas' command beat back a number of attacks before the Federals retreated to Chattanooga. This action resulted in him becoming known as the Rock of Chickamauga.(Based on the performance of their predecessors at Chickamauga, today's 15th and 19th Infantry display "The Rock of Chickamauga" on their crests.)

In Chattanooga, wrote the Reverend McCallie, there was "a commotion in the army and among the camp followers, almost bordering on panic. The Federals had been defeated and driven back into the city. They expected every hour to see the triumphant Confederates come pouring into the city, capturing and driving everything before them. All day long the Federals were getting their wagon trains across the river on pontoon bridges in anticipation of a possible surrender. But the day wore away without any demonstration on the part of Bragg's army. That night the axes rang all night on the great fine oaks and hickories that grew around the city. All night we could hear the crashing and falling of the great trees. The next morning I walked out on McCallie Avenue as far as Douglas Street and did not know the country. Hundreds of acres of fine timber land lay naked, denuded of its fine forests in one night.

It was an awful time. Scarcity reigned everywhere. Not a pound of meal or flour or rice or potatoes could you buy or beg. Not a loaf of bread or anything to eat. The churches and large warehouses and all the stores were filled with sick and wounded men. One morning at the Baptist Church I saw a pile of legs and arms lying on the porch, the very sight of which was appalling. Going inside, I saw a surgeon take off a man's leg so quickly that it amazed me."

The Confederates' failure to exploit this, their last victory in the Western Theater, resulted in this victory achieving little more than buy time for the Confederacy.

The Battle on Lookout Mountain

After the Battle of Chickamauga Bragg moved his troops to the heights of Lookout Mountain overlooking Chattanooga. While the Confederates wasted time quarreling, Rosecrans, whose career was blemished by having left the field at Chickamauga while others, like Thomas stayed, was replaced by General Ulysses S. Grant.

In November Reverend McCallie watched long files of Federal soldiers march up Lookout Mountain. "It was a terrible but magnificient sight. The crest of the Ridge fairly blazed with cannon and the flash of small arms....Four battle lines pressed toward the Ridge....The battle raged from Sherman Heights clean down to Rossville. The roar of guns was terrific. Presently we could see the Federal battle lines pressing right up the side of Missionary Ridge and the Confederates firing dirctly down on them. This did not last long till we could see explosion after expolsion on top of the Ridge, powder smoke rising in great volumnes," as the Confederates blew up their magazines and retreated.

It was on November 24 that the few Confederate soldiers on the left side of Bragg's line were swept from Lookout Mountain in what is called the Battle Above the Clouds. The next day the entire Army of the Tennessee was chased down the far side of the apparently impregnable Missionary Ridge. On November 29 Bragg asked to be relieved of command and was replaced by General Joseph E. Johnston. When Johnston was unable to stop Sherman's march through Georgia despite defeating him at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, he was replaced by the more aggressive General John B. Hood, who, after several battles in and around Atlanta, was forced to evacuate Atlanta. (Rebuffed at Kennesaw Mountain, Sherman with his larger army began a flanking movement, forcing Johnston to retreat.

The graphic at the top of this page is a portion of a contemporary painting of the Chickamauga battlefield. Portrayed are Federal troops. Portrayed in the graphic above the description of the Lookout Mountain Battle  is a painting by Mort Kunstler of the November 24, 1863 Battle Above the Clouds.  As the painting shows, the Confederates had the advantage of commanding the heights. Their defeat made possible the scorched Earth march by General William T. Sherman through the heart of Georgia and South Carolina that assured the reelection of Abraham Lincoln and the continuation of the War. (Lincoln's Democratic opponent, General George B. McClellan, advocated peace negotiations.)

This material is copyrighted, 1999, by Carole E. Scott. Do not publish without her permission.

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