At Missionary Ridge (seen in the distance in the lower picture) the Army
of the Cumberland removed forever from Grant's mind any doubt of its
fighting qualities. Grant, anxious to develop Bragg's strength, ordered
Thomas, on November 23d, to demonstrate against the forces on his front.
Moving out as if on parade, the troops under Gordon Granger drove back the
Confederates and captured Orchard Knob (or Indian Hill) a day before it
had been planned to do so. Still another surprise awaited Grant on the
25th, when from this eminence he watched the magnificent spectacle of the
battle of Chattanooga. Thomas' men again pressed forward in what was
ordered as a demonstration against Missionary Ridge. Up and over it they
drove the Confederates from one entrenchment after another, capturing the
guns parked in the lower picture. "By whose orders are those troops going
up the hill?" "Old Pap" Thomas, who knew his men better than did Grant,
replied that it was probably by their own orders. It was the most signal
victory of the day.
[Illustration: THE CAPTURED CONFEDERATE GUNS