The War Correspondent Newsletter of the Ray Fawcett Chapter of the Central Ohio Civil War Roundtable July 2013 Vol. 23, No. 7 http://centralohiocwrt.wordpress.com Puzzler: Where were Grant Event #5 and Sherman last together in The Battle of Chattanooga. The Greetings, battle? Battle of Chattanooga is really five Thanks to Sheryl Taylor, Dave different battles: Brown’s Ferry Delisio, and Patty Baker for creating Answer: Missionary (October 26); Wauhatchie (October the membership directory Ridge distributed at our June meeting. I 28); Orchard Knob (November 23); hope everyone takes time to review Lookout Mountain (November 24); and edit the directory and give us and Missionary Ridge (November their updates, corrections, etc. Also, 25). These five battles were the please note your dues status and rousing climax of the symphony that bring it up to date, if necessary. started in August with William Stark This month’s speaker, Phil Seyfrit, this month’s meeting Rosecrans’s brilliant campaign of will inform us about the battle of maneuver to cross the Tennessee Richmond, Kentucky, which, I River and seize Chattanooga understand, was the second largest date: (September 9), reached the heights battle in Kentucky and significant for Wednesday, July 10, 2013 of pathos and tragedy along the the Confederacy. I’m sure we will time: banks of Chickamauga Creek on find it very interesting. I hope 7:00 P.M. September 18 to 20, and endured members who have vacation location: the long third act of desolate experiences with Civil War sites will Towers Hall, Room 318 privation (on the Union side) with a share their thoughts and Otterbein University counterpoint of myopic infighting recommendations with us. Westerville, OH 43281 (on the Confederate side) during the See you on the 10th. speaker/topic: siege. The battles of Chattanooga Phil Seyfrit—Battle of Richmond, involved forces from each foe’s Kentucky major armies (the Army of the (continued on page 2) Potomac, the Army of the Cumber- in passing over Nathan Bedford administration, ever jittery, fired land, and the Army of the Tennessee Forrest for this job. Rosecrans based on the reports of on the Union side, and the Army of The slow trickle of supplies, while Charles Dana, a former newspaper Tennessee and the Army of North- enough to keep the Army of the correspondent who had been ern Virginia on the Confederate Cumberland alive, was not sufficient deputized by William Stanton as an side). to provide the food, munitions, assistant secretary of war. Grant, The Battle for Chattanooga replacement levies, and artillery who had recently recovered from a started when the last Union troops necessary for Rosecrans’s force to nasty fall off Cincinnati (the horse, straggled into the city tucked into a take the offensive and break the not the town), was languishing in the bend of the Tennessee River on siege. Rosecrans and George Mississippi Valley after Vicksburg, September 21 and 22, 1863, after Thomas devised a clever plan to with his large augmented force their defeat in the titanic Battle of float troops down the Tennessee being whittled away in a piecemeal Chickamauga. Rosecrans hastily River, around the loop called fashion by Henry Halleck and organized a robust defensive Moccasin Bend, and land them on Stanton. The defeat at Chickamauga position close to the city limits, the southern (really western) shore catalyzed the strategic focus of the which Braxton Bragg took one look opposite a ferry site operated by administration, and Grant was at and decided to conduct a siege. one Mr. Brown. The troops would ordered to assume overall command Based on the lack of success Union then use their pontoon boats to in Chattanooga, with the Army of armies had experienced in attacking form a pontoon bridge, which would the Tennessee ordered to follow him sieged positions at Vicksburg and connect the Union forces in the area there and help retrieve the situation. Port Hudson and Lee’s failure of northern Alabama and Georgia In addition, Joe Hooker was brought against field fortifications at Gettys- west of Sand Mountain (and their out of mothballs and given burg, Bragg’s decision seems logical precious railhead at Bridgeport, command of a combined force of on its face. However, if Bragg was Alabama) to Rosecrans’s besieged the 12th Corps and one division of hoping to re-create Port Hudson or army. Two infantry brigades the 11th Corps, and sent west to Vicksburg, he would have to starve practiced paddling the pontoons, Bridgeport with his force to help out. out the Union garrison, and he faced and the operation was readied to go Grant liked the Brown’s Ferry a very difficult challenge because forward. plan and ordered it into operation the Union forces controlled the Then Fate, in the form of U. S. on October 26. William Hazen’s north bank of the Tennessee River. Grant, intervened. The Lincoln Brigade carried out the daring Bragg entrusted his young cavalry nighttime operation flawlessly, commander Joe Wheeler with the seizing the far shore and establishing daunting task of interdicting the the pontoon bridge back to the overland supply routes from Central friendly, northern shore. William Tennessee. Wheeler was helped by Oates of the 15th Alabama detected the topographical nature of the area the landings and attacked but was between Tullahoma and wounded, and his leaderless Chattanooga, which was bereft of regiment could not effectively forage, meaning that any Union prevent Hazen’s gaining a strong wagon train would have to carry beachhead. (and eat) its own provisions as the Bragg was alarmed by the train wound its way through rough, Brown’s Ferry operation and news uninhabited mountainous terrain. of the approach of Hooker’s forces. Wheeler did not succeed in his James Longstreet was in command mission; even a “hater” like Mike of Lookout Mountain and the areas Peters would have to admit that to the west; Bragg ordered Bragg made a monumental mistake Longstreet to interdict the Union (continued on page 3) 2 important creek crossings that exposed the left flank of Bragg’s Missionary Ridge position. Hooker and his men fought splendidly in capturing the imposing massif; unfortunately, Carter Stevenson’s Army of Tennessee division was hopelessly outnumbered and could not cover all the necessary strong points. On November 25, Grant unleashed his coup de grace, with his pet Army of the Tennessee ferrying across the river and attacking the far right of the CSA position on Missionary Ridge, while the Army of the Cumberland demonstrated in its front to hold forces and cut the supply line. The James Longstreet. The Army of the CSA forces in place. Grant’s plan Battle of Wauhatchie resulted on Northern Virginia veteran made went awry when Pat Cleburne’s the night of October 28. If you ever himself so distasteful to Bragg that division stoned the attack of wondered why Civil War armies Bragg ended up ordering Longstreet Sherman’s Army at Tunnell Hill, could not fight at night, study to undertake an independent even after some 11th Corps rein- Wauhatchie. In a series of bumbling operation to capture Knoxville, forcements were thrown into the assaults, troops marching past each depriving the CSA of forces at attack. Grant asked George Thomas other in the night, missed opportun- Chattanooga as Union numbers to have his Army of the Cumberland ities, massive confusion, and even swelled. increase the tempo of their more massive miscommunication, Grant carefully studied Bragg’s demonstration in an attempt to the Confederate forces were position on the heights around make Bragg pull forces from stopped in their attempt to cut off Chattanooga, and hatched a plan. Cleburne, and the veterans of and destroy Hooker’s force by the The Army of the Cumberland seized Rosecrans’s force took the initiative tenacious defense by George Orchard Knob, a small hill about and seized the picket line at the base Greene’s 12th Corps Brigade and a halfway between the city and of Missionary Ridge. But then one of spirited attack by Orland Smith’s Missionary Ridge, in a brilliant coup the most amazing events of the Civil 11th Corps Brigade on a pair of hills de main assault on the late after- War took place; the Union forces did held by the CSA. The successful noon of November 23. Orchard not stop. They ascended the steep, Union defense forced Longstreet to Knob gave the Union artillery an crenellated face of the ridge, hard abandon the valley west of Lookout excellent base to assist the assaults on the heels of the retreating Mountain, effectively allowing the on the main CSA positions. Bragg let skirmishers. The CSA forces had “cracker line” through Brown’s Ferry it go with barely a fight because he never really expected a frontal to operate with impunity. did not have enough troops to assault on the ridge, and their These actions opened the way defend it. positions were haphazard and not for supplies and the Army of the On November 24, Joe Hooker well engineered. In many places, Tennessee to flow into “besieged” swept forward from his position only a few defenders could actually Chattanooga. They also exacerbated west of the city and captured fire at forces climbing up because of the frayed relations between Bragg Lookout Mountain, continuing into the defilade provided by the slope of and his subordinates, especially the eastern valley and seizing the ridge, on which the CSA had (continued on page 4) 3 occupied the top, and not the lower started in early 1863, when Union The composition of Blunt’s force military crest or the reverse slope forces under the fiery Kansas is one of the great items of interest (which I think would have been the Jayhawker James Blunt drove CSA in this campaign.