Hooker’s command had been assigned to Thomas who had obtained permission
for Hooker to make a demonstration against the left of the Confederate
line on Lookout Mountain. During the night of the 23rd, Sherman crossed
the Tennessee River near the present site of the Chickamauga Dam. He
reached the hill he had selected before crossing. He made no effort to
dislodge the Confederates during the 24th. His position was not on the
north end of the ridge as he thought it to be. A deep ravine separated
him from the main north end of the ridge. From this position, the
Confederates could be seen to the south. Early on the morning of the
24th, Hooker left Wauhatchie, moving northward to within two miles of
the point of the mountain. His troops climbed the slopes to the foot of
the palisades, made a march northward until they were near the point.
They were then joined by Osterhaus’ division which came directly up the
northern slopes of the mountain. They were met with a sharp volley of
fire from the Confederates as they emerged from the woods. The
Confederates had two entrenched lines running from the foot of the
cliffs to the river. They were driven out of the first line into an open
field—the Craven’s farm. Here the fighting was desperate and the
casualties were very heavy. The Craven’s house was used as the
Confederate headquarters. The Confederates withdrew to their second line
of entrenchments. While in this latter position the battle ended. The
sharp-shooters and the two Confederate batteries on top were of little
value during the battle. The Union soldiers never reached the top of the
mountain during the battle, nor did they make any effort to. Therefore,
there was no fighting on top of the mountain. It was so foggy during the
day that the artillerymen or sharpshooters on the top were unable to see
the troops on the slopes. The artillery could not have been depressed
sufficiently to reach the Union troops at the foot of the cliffs—almost
directly under them. It was the troops on top that nicknamed this battle
the “Battle Above the Clouds.” The Confederates were outnumbered at
least four to one during this battle. They were in danger of being
surrounded, so during the night Bragg ordered the withdrawal of all
troops from the top, the slopes and Chattanooga Valley. By daylight of
the 25th, all of the Confederates were on Missionary Ridge to strengthen
and prolong their lines at that point.
The withdrawal of the Confederates from Lookout Mountain left the Union
forces in complete control of this point. At sunrise on the morning of
the 25th, there were volunteers from the 96th Illinois and 8th Kentucky
Infantry who scaled the rock palisades and reached the top of the
mountain. They moved to the extreme northern point where they planted
their flag of victory. A series of stairways has been erected to mark
the exact route by which these Union troops climbed out on top of the
mountain.