At this point, where Citico Creek joins the Tennessee, the left of the
Eleventh Corps of the Army of the Cumberland rested on the river bank, the
limit of the Federal line of defense, east of Chattanooga. Here, on high
ground overlooking the stream, was posted Battery McAloon to keep the
Confederates back from the river, so that timber and firewood could be
rafted down to the besieged army. In the chill of autumn, with scanty
rations, the soldiers had a hard time keeping warm, as all fuel within the
lines had been consumed. The Army of the Cumberland was almost conquered
by hardship. Grant feared that the soldiers "could not be got out of their
trenches to assume the offensive." But it was these very men who achieved
the most signal victory in the battle of Chattanooga.
[Illustration: OPENING "THE CRACKER LINE"