The decisive blow of the battle was at hand. Grant’s orders for the
morning of November 25 were as follows: “Sherman was directed to attack
at daylight. Hooker was ordered to move at the same hour, and endeavor
to intercept the enemy’s retreat, if he still remained; if he had gone,
then to move directly to Rossville and operate against the left and rear
of the force on Missionary Ridge. Thomas was not to move until Hooker
had reached Missionary Ridge.”
[Illustration: _Gen. Ulysses S. Grant on Lookout Mountain, 1863.
Grant is in the lower left corner._ Courtesy National Archives.]
[Illustration: _Missionary Ridge from a Union trench._ From Elson,
_The Civil War Through the Camera_.]
Sherman began his attack, as directed, just after sunrise. His troops
attacked Cleburne’s Division frontally, but without success. All night
the Confederates had worked at strengthening their position on Tunnel
Hill which now formed the Confederate right. These field works gave good
protection to Cleburne’s men from enemy fire. The stubbornly fighting
Confederates held their positions against repeated attacks by superior
numbers. This fight continued until 3 p. m., and is a notable example of
the value to a greatly outnumbered defending force of field works on a
good position. Some Union troops did make a lodgment on the slopes of
Tunnel Hill in the afternoon, but a Confederate charge drove them off.
Cleburne’s soldiers held the hill.
In the meantime, Hooker was in trouble—not with the enemy, but with
Chattanooga Creek. He started for Rossville bright and early to get into
position to strike Bragg’s left. Stevenson’s men, who had evacuated
Lookout Mountain during the night, had burned the bridge across
Chattanooga Creek and had done all they could to obstruct the roads that
Hooker needed to march to Rossville. Hooker lost 3 hours building a
bridge across the creek and it was late afternoon before his men took
their places on Missionary Ridge.
From his post on Orchard Knob, Grant realized that Sherman’s attacks had
failed to gain their objective and that Hooker had been delayed in
reaching his assigned position. To relieve some of the pressure on
Sherman, Grant ordered Thomas to move out against the Confederate center
on Missionary Ridge.
The ridge that lay before the Union troops was rough and steep. It rose
from 200 to 400 feet higher than the level ground at its base. Its steep
slopes were broken by ravines, strewn with boulders, and dotted with
stumps, the latter reminders of recently felled timber. The first line
of Confederate breastworks was at the foot of the ridge. Some unfinished
works had been built half-way up the slope. Finally, a third line of
works was built on the natural, instead of the military, crest of the
hill. Thus, Confederate fire from the crest could not cover some of the
ravine approaches.
Four Union divisions—Baird, Wood, Sheridan, and R. W. Johnson, from left
to right—started toward the ridge. The hard charging Union soldiers soon
overwhelmed the gray defenders in the rifle pits at the base of the
ridge. Scarcely halting, and generally without orders to continue, the
men in blue charged up the ridge. They followed the retreating
Confederates so closely from the rifle pits that the Confederates on the
crest in many places hesitated to fire for fear of hitting their own
men. It was not long before units of the Army of the Cumberland pierced
the Confederate line in several places and sent Bragg’s veterans reeling
in retreat down the east slope of the ridge toward Chickamauga Creek.
Sheridan pushed forward in pursuit of the retreating army, capturing
men, artillery, and equipment. Even though the Confederate center had
disintegrated, Hardee held his position on the Confederate right until
darkness, and then began his withdrawal with Cleburne’s Division
covering the retreat. Bragg’s army crossed Chickamauga Creek during the
night, carrying out a surprisingly successful retreat.
[Illustration: _A skirmish line and regimental line behind it—Union
troops drilling at Chattanooga, circa January 1864. This gives a
conception of how the soldiers of the Civil War ordinarily fought. A
skirmish line moved ahead of the main regimental line, which charged
upon order. The Union attack on Missionary Ridge must have looked
something like this to watching Confederate soldiers._ From Miller,
_Photographic History of the Civil War_.]
During the evening of the 25th, Grant issued orders to Thomas and
Sherman to pursue Bragg. The next morning, Sherman advanced by way of
Chickamauga Station, and Thomas’ troops marched on the Rossville Road
toward Graysville and Ringgold. In the vicinity of Ringgold, Cleburne’s
Confederates held a strong position on Taylor’s Ridge covering Bragg’s
retreat. Cleburne’s men repulsed a Union attack, inflicting heavy
casualties, until Bragg’s army had successfully withdrawn southward, and
then they followed. Union troops then occupied Taylor’s Ridge. There the
pursuit stopped.
This decisive Union victory raised the siege of Chattanooga.
The following tabulation of strength and casualties at the Battle of
Chattanooga is based on Livermore’s studies:
Army Total Total Killed Wounded Missing Percent
Strength Casualties Casualties
Union 56,360 5,824 753 4,722 349 10
Confederate 46,165 6,667 361 2,160 4,146 14
_Relief of Knoxville_
Meanwhile, in East Tennessee, Burnside attempted to hold Longstreet in
check by abandoning territory and skirmishing when necessary, but
avoiding any serious fight. This took Longstreet farther away from
Chattanooga and lessened his opportunity to assist Bragg. Burnside
gained precious time by using these tactics. Grant’s plan was to “whip”
Bragg and then help Burnside.
[Illustration: _Gen. Joseph Hooker and his staff. Hooker is sixth
from the right._ Courtesy National Archives.]
After Missionary Ridge, with Bragg in full retreat, Thomas prepared to
send Granger’s Corps and detachments from other commands, about 20,000
men altogether, toward Knoxville. In addition, Sherman was to march
along the Hiwassee River to protect Granger’s flank. Grant reports that
upon “Returning from the front on the 28th, I found that Granger had not
yet got off.... I therefore determined ... to send him [Sherman] with
his command, and orders ... were sent him at Calhoun to assume command
of the troops with Granger, in addition to those with him, and proceed,
with all possible dispatch, to the relief of Burnside.”
[Illustration: _Steamboat with supplies for Union Army being warped
up narrows of Tennessee River between Bridgeport, Ala. and
Chattanooga._ Courtesy National Archives.]
Skirmishing was more or less continuous around Knoxville. Burnside
followed the original plan of buying time by giving up ground and fell
back toward Knoxville, withdrawing into the city during the night of
November 16-17. Longstreet drew up before the city the next day, and on
the 29th made his initial attack against the Union position at Fort
Sanders. The assault was repulsed and before it could be renewed
Longstreet received word of Bragg’s defeat on Missionary Ridge. The
Confederate commander deemed it necessary to maintain a threatening
position before Knoxville until the approaching Union relief columns
were but a day’s march distant. On December 4, Longstreet began his
retreat toward Virginia. Sherman arrived on the 6th, and preparations
for the pursuit of Longstreet were soon under way. Burnside’s command
moved out in pursuit of Longstreet’s force; Granger’s Corps became the
garrison of Knoxville; and Sherman’s command returned to Chattanooga.
_Effects of the Battle of Chattanooga_
The battles around Chattanooga must be considered as ending in one of
the most complete victories of the war. Bragg’s army was defeated, men
and material captured, and the Confederates driven south. The
mountainous defense line which the Confederacy hoped to hold had been
pierced and large sections of it were in Union control. Chattanooga, the
railroad center, was now in Union hands and the interior line of
communication from this section of the Confederacy to Richmond, by way
of Knoxville, was destined to remain in Union control for the remainder
of the war. Not only Chattanooga, but Knoxville and the rich,
food-producing East Tennessee section was lost to the Confederacy. With
this came relief for the Union sympathizers in East Tennessee. Virtually
all of Tennessee was now under Northern control.
The fortunes of war brought changes to both commanders. Bragg asked to
be relieved from his command and went to Richmond to become military
advisor to Jefferson Davis. President Lincoln promoted Grant, in March
1864, to command of all Union armies in the field. Grant then left
Chattanooga for the East, to lead the attack against General Lee in
Virginia.
_The War After Chattanooga_
In the spring of 1864, the Union armies began to move into the heart of
the Confederacy. Grant attached himself to the Army of the Potomac
(General Meade) and began operations against Lee; Sherman moved against
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston in Georgia.
The Army of the Potomac launched a campaign against Richmond. In the
bitter battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House, in May
1864, Grant reduced Lee’s offensive power. After being repulsed at Cold
Harbor, Grant moved against Petersburg and a 10-month siege finally
forced Lee to evacuate the city. Lee moved westward to Appomattox Court
House where on April 9, 1865, Grant forced him to surrender.
While Lee and Grant fought it out in Virginia, Sherman, using
Chattanooga for his base of supplies, conducted a strenuous campaign
against the Army of Tennessee, first under Johnston and then Hood,
finally entering Atlanta on September 2. In November, Sherman began his
famous “march to the sea,” reaching Savannah in late December. From
there he struck northward through the Carolinas and forced the surrender
of Joseph E. Johnston’s army on April 26. By June all isolated
Confederate forces had laid down their arms.
[Illustration: _Chattanooga from Point Park, Lookout Mountain. The
Cravens House and portion of “Battle above the Clouds” battlefield
around it lies in the foreground._]
[Illustration: CHICKAMAUGA BATTLEFIELD]
① PARK HEADQUARTERS
② FLORIDA MONUMENT
③ KENTUCKY MONUMENT
④ BATTLELINE ROAD
⑤ POE ROAD
⑥ GEORGIA MONUMENT
⑦ BROTHERTON HOUSE
⑧ WILDER MONUMENT
⑨ SNODGRASS HILL
Ⓐ JAY’S MILL, OPENING ATTACK, SEPT. 19
Ⓑ CONFEDERATE HEADQUARTERS, SEPT. 20
Ⓒ UNION HEADQUARTERS, SEPT. 19
Ⓓ SOUTH CAROLINA MONUMENT
[Illustration: _Park Administration and Museum Building._]
_Guide to the Area_