DK - The American Civil War

Hooker, now reinstated to command

the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps, would

attack Bragg’s southern flank, anchored

on Lookout Mountain; Thomas and his

Army of the Cumberland would keep

Bragg’s attention in front of Missionary

Ridge; and Sherman would attack the

northern flank at

Tunnel Hill.

On November

24 Hooker and

Sherman moved

out. Hooker sent

three divisions against Lookout

Mountain, and with the help of some

fog, drove off its Southern defenders at

the cost of only 500 casualties. Next

morning a huge Union flag could be

Union camp in Chattanooga

Once inside the city, soldiers hastily knocked down

many houses for firewood and shelters while making

their camp. In the foreground, planks still covered in

wallpaper form part of the fencing.

BEFORE

Despite their victory, the Confederates were

in disarray after Chickamauga ❮❮ 210–11.

Meanwhile, the Union leadership rallied to

redeem what it could from defeat.

SITUATION AT CHATTANOOGA

Bragg’s lethargy after Chickamauga caused his

principal generals to turn against him, claiming

he was unfit for command. But Longstreet did

not wish to take command of the army himself,

so Bragg was retained, leaving morale low.

Bragg’s forces controlled the high ground

to the east of Chattanooga and prevented

supplies from reaching the town except by one

circuitous route. This did not allow enough food

to reach the besieged Union army. Lincoln knew

something must be done. The man he chose to

resolve the crisis was Ulysses S. Grant, fresh

from his triumph at Vicksburg ❮❮ 190–93.

summit. They captured much of Bragg’s

artillery and sent his defenders fleeing to

northern Georgia. Watching the assault

go forward from their command post,

Grant and Thomas were astonished. An

angry Grant asked who had ordered the

I

n mid-October, Lincoln

reorganized the Union’s

Western geographic command

structure. The new Division of

the Mississippi, which included

all of the territory between the

Appalachians and the river, fell

under the command of Ulysses

S. Grant. With his new

authority, Grant headed for

Chattanooga, where he relieved

Rosecrans and installed George

Thomas as commander of the

Army of the Cumberland.

One Federal officer wrote

about Grant’s arrival, “We

began to see things move. We

felt that everything came from

a plan.” By the end of October

the crisis in the city had ended.

New supply lines were in place, and

17,000 fresh troops had arrived under

Sherman. Union morale was restored.

Conversely, their Confederate foes,

though still occupying the high ground

that dominated the Federal positions,

were again outnumbered and racked

with command and morale problems.

The Battle of Lookout Mountain

Grant’s plan to push the Rebels off their

positions overlooking the town and

return to a war of maneuver was simple:

attack both flanks and fix the enemy in

the center. Major General Joseph

THE CHATTANOOGA CAMPAIGN

The Union victory at Chattanooga

reinforced Northern resolve after the

defeat at Chickamauga had tarnished the

jubilation of Gettysburg and Vicksburg.

REACTIONS NORTH AND SOUTH

Copperhead politicians who appeared poised

to win control of key districts in the lower

North now doubted their chances. In the South

the optimism of September was destroyed.

CONFEDERATE MORALE EBBS

The Confederates now faced the possibility of an

invasion into northern Georgia, while Joseph

E. Johnston replaced Bragg in command.

AFTER

Establishing the “Cracker Line”

Union troops floated downstream from Chattanooga in

flatboats under cover of darkness to drive off Confederates

guarding Brown’s Ferry. They then built a pontoon

bridge that became a crucial link in the new supply line.

seen waving from the summit,

inspiring Federal troops in the

valley below. Sherman’s men

initially made good progress

toward their objective, but poor

reconnaissance led them to the

wrong position. Undeterred, on

November 25 they fiercely

attacked General Patrick C.

Cleburne’s Confederate

division, but were repeatedly

repulsed. Cleburne commanded

the best division in Bragg’s

army, and his men had not been

infected with low morale. They

resolutely held their ground,

inflicting heavy casualties on

Sherman’s troops. Meanwhile,

Grant became increasingly

frustrated. After storming

Lookout Mountain, Hooker had been

held up by poor roads and a destroyed

bridge, and now Sherman was stalled.

Missionary Ridge

At 2 p.m., Grant ordered Thomas to

probe the Confederate center at

Missionary Ridge, to relieve some of the

pressure on Sherman. Though Grant had

intended a limited assault, Thomas sent

four divisions—23,000 men—headlong

against the heavily defended ridge. It

could have been a

repeat of Pickett’s

Charge, the ill-fated

Confederate attack

at Gettysburg, but

instead, eager to

redeem themselves from the stain of

Chickamauga, the soldiers of the Army

of the Cumberland surged over three

Confederate trench lines, up the rugged

slope of the imposing ridge, and over its

The Chattanooga Campaign

Union general William Rosecrans’s army, besieged in the Southern town of Chattanooga, had to be

relieved or the momentum gained earlier in the summer of 1863 was in danger of being lost. Ulysses

S. Grant—in command of the new Division of the Mississippi—was sent to take care of the situation.

CRACKER LINE The new supply line to

Chattanooga established at the end of

October, so called for the hardtack

that was the staple of army rations.

Watching the action

Grant, Thomas, and their staffs watch the fighting on

Missionary Ridge, as depicted in this lithograph from

a painting by Swedish-born Thure de Thulstrup.

men up the ridge, and Thomas denied

that he had done so. Had the men failed,

Thomas’s career would have ended

right there. His troops had prevailed,

however, partly because of confusion

among Southern soldiers in trenches at

the base of the ridge about how many

volleys to fire before retreating, and

partly because of the poor placement

of the Rebel artillery.

Low morale in Bragg’s army also had

much to do with their defeat. Bragg

wrote to Davis after the battle, “The

disaster admits of no palliation. I fear we

both erred in the conclusion for me to

retain command here.” Casualties were

relatively light for both armies at this

point, but the results were clear: Grant

had won the battle and opened a path

to Atlanta and the Southern heartland.