The city of Chattanooga in 1863 was the
county seat of Hamilton County, Tenn.,
with a population, according to the U.S.
Census of 1860, of 2,545. Sitting in a large
horseshoe bend of the Tennessee River, the
town is overlooked to the southwest by the
1,800-foot Lookout Mountain, and on its
southeast flank by the 600-foot, 15-mile-
long Missionary Ridge.
First settled in 1835, and long referred to
as Ross’s Landing, in 1839 it was incor-
porated as a town, and in 1851 the name
was changed to Chattanooga. The name
supposedly comes from the Greek phrase
for “rock that comes to a point,” which
aptly describes the narrowing of Lookout
Mountain as it nears the city.
The first 15 years of its existence saw city
residents eking out a living transporting
goods and people on the Tennessee and
smaller area rivers. But by the 1850s the
tiny river port began to boom. In less than
a decade Chattanooga grew to be a majorSouthern transportation hub. Four rail-
road lines converged on the city by 1860—
the Chattanooga & Nashville, connecting
the Midwest with the lower South by way
of Nashville; the Memphis & Charleston,
linking West Tennessee with South Car-
olina; the Western & Atlantic, running to
the Atlantic ports; and the East Tennessee
& Georgia, uniting Richmond, Va., with
the Deep South via Knoxville. Besides the
rail lines, local resources of iron, lead, coal,
and copper added to the local economic
attractiveness.
By the third year of the war, Chat-
tanooga’s residents, then about 5,000,
thought their isolated mountain location
would shield them from the ravages of the
coming conflict. On the contrary, the
town’s position on the Tennessee River and
the rail lines radiating from it made the
place the “Gateway to the South.” Occu-
pation by the Union would sever the sup-
ply artery that helped feed the Confederatearmies in the East via the Lower South. Its
railways would allow Federal forces to
build up massive power for a drive into
Georgia and beyond. Hence the reason for
the Union advance on the city by Rose-
crans, as well as Lincoln’s demand that it
be held, and Bragg’s attempt to retake it
after the Battle of Chickamauga.
The Army of the Cumberland lay under
siege in Chattanooga from late September
to November 1863, but the first month—
October—was the worst. From almost the
start the Army was confined to a semicir-
cle of land close around Chattanooga
itself. The Confederates held the high
ground from the north of Missionary
Ridge adjacent to the Tennessee River
southwest to Rossville. From there Rebel
entrenchments dotted the flat lands of
Chattanooga Valley, extended westward
to Lookout Mountain, and on to Lookout
Valley and Raccoon Mountain. A line of
rifle pits was also dug at the base of Mis-shotgun, and sawed-off muskets
or carbines. The most popular
sidearms were the 1851 Colt 36-
caliber Navy revolver or the Colt
45-caliber Army revolver.
In addition, battle tactics dif-
fered in the Western cavalry. In the
East troopers would attempt to
charge their enemy using the
saber, backed up by handguns.
Mounted action was the favored
method of meeting and defeating
the enemy, and this trend did not
end until the campaigns of 1864.
Then dismounted fighting became
almost as current as mounted
charges. In the West, almost from
the start of the war, Confederate
cavalry fought on foot as much as
in the saddle. Nathan Bedford For-
rest’s fight at Parker’s Cross
Roads (December 31, 1862), big
victory at Brice’s Cross Roads
(June 10, 1864), and the battle at
Tupelo (July 13-15, 1864) are a few
examples of the Western Confed-
erates’ success fighting on foot.Cavalry operations in the West
tested cavalry commanders’ abil-
ity more so than in the East. The
vastness of the area involved com-
pared to Virginia required more
endurance, more planning, more
fighting, and certainly as bold a
leadership as was found on the
Atlantic seaboard.
Of all the mounted operations
conducted throughout the war, the
most strategically significant took
place in the West. Prominent
examples are Earl Van Dorn’s Holly
Springs, Miss., raid on in late
December 1862; Nathan Bedford
Forrest’s destruction of Abel
Streight’s “Mule Brigade” in April-
May 1863; Wheeler and Jackson’s
ride in July 1864; Wilson’s Selma,
Ala., expedition in March and April
1864; and the most important
foray of the conflict, Grierson’s
raid through central Mississippi
during April and May of 1863.
Van Dorn’s thrust at and
destruction of U.S. Grant’s forwardbase of supply in Mississippi—
combined with a simultaneous
strike at the Federal supply
sources in West Tennessee by
Nathan Bedford Forrest—forced
Grant to retreat, thus saving
Vicksburg (Grant’s objective) from
falling into Union hands for
another six months.
Forrest’s chase after Abel
Streight’s Union mounted infantry
raiders through North Alabama
and Georgia was a masterpiece of
endurance and dogged determina-
tion, and kept the vital Western &
Atlantic Railroad from Union
destruction. The pursuit of Yankee
troopers under Stoneman and
McCook around Atlanta by Rebel
horse soldiers led by Wheeler and
Jackson secured the Confederate
lifeline to that city, and resulted in
one of the most crushing defeats
of any cavalry force during the
Civil War.
James Wilson’s 12,000-man
mounted corps’ raid (it was morelike a full-scale invasion) into
Alabama to seize the cities of
Selma and Montgomery—and
points east—closed the war in
the West.
Colonel Benjamin Grierson’s
April-May dash through Missis-
sippi (encompassing almost the
entire length of the state) proved
to Grant that not only was the
Confederacy a hollow shell in that
part of the world, but that his
army could operate in the area
east of the Mississippi River for a
reasonable time without the need
of a formal supply line leading
back to his main base at Memphis.
Grierson’s exploit, referred to as
the “greatest thing ever done”
during the war, led to the solution
Grant had been looking for in his
quest to capture the Confederate
river fortress of Vicksburg. Once
the city fell into Union hands, the
river was denied to the enemy and
the Confederacy was fatally split
in two.CWQ-Sum16 Wheeler's Raid_Layout 1 4/20/16 5:18 PM Page 59