Battle of Chickamauga

“ Neither was John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough, the greatest soldier England ever produced, an educated soldier. He was absolutely without any military education whatever when he was placed at the head of the English army. Common sense is often quite as valuable as technical military knowledge, and by every rule of common sense, Rosecrans should have occupied the evacuated city of Chattanooga when he became in full possession of it on September 9th, 1863, and have avoided entirely the bloody and disastrous battle of Chickamauga. ”

“ CHAPTER XXVI THE BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA
"Phew, but that was a hot time while it lasted!" observed Captain Artie Lyon, when the regiment was once more in a safe position and at ease. "Those fellows can fight if they set out for it."
"We were very fortunate, having lost no officers and but four men," answered Deck, to whom he was speaking. "The second battalion fared a good deal worse with that infantry. Captain Gadbury is so severely wounded he has been sent to the rear, and Lieutenant Grand is dead."
"Then Sandy will become captain of that company!" cried Artie. ”

“ All the execution that I ever heard of those guns doing was to 78kill a mule that would have died of starvation later on. Those hundred-pounders that were planted on the summit of Lookout were, for some reason, only fired a few times, and not for weeks prior to the time the siege was raised.
Never in the history of the Army of the Cumberland had the spirit of its officers and men been more depressed. The battle of Chickamauga had not only been fought and lost, but we also lost what was more than losing a battle. We had lost confidence in our commander. ”

“ Both governments were greatly displeased with the results of the battle of Chickamauga—the Federals at their army failing to come up to their expectations and gaining a victory, instead of a disastrous defeat; the Confederates at their commanders in not following up their success and reaping greater results. Under such circumstances, there must be some one on whom to place the blame. ”

“ Through the summer frequent skirmishes and fights were heard of, and sick and wounded men came in every day, and every few days squads of men who had "reported for duty" took their places at the front. At last, about the first of September, 1863, appeared the never-failing forerunner of a real battle near at hand,—a small brigade of "hospital rats," distorted, drawn up, with useless crippled fingers, bent legs, crooked arms, necks drawn awry, let us say by—rheumatism. A day or two later was fought the sanguinary and fiercely-contested battle of Chickamauga. ”

“ It is a magnificent story that the surviving soldiers of the grand old Army of the Cumberland will not cease telling while life lasts.
The volunteer soldiers were not only brave always, but they were sensible always. They complained very loudly when they had a right to complain, and they submitted to every hardship without complaint when there was necessity for it. Let me illustrate that. After the battle of Chickamauga my regiment was sent north of Chattanooga, on the north side of the river, to guard the river for forty miles. ”

“ Colonel Reid's report of battle of Chickamauga. One gun belonging to Waters' battery was left because of an accident. Lieutenant Graham, Captains Hopkins and Ford volunteered, made the attempt and brought out the piece. "The regiment was under heavy fire from the enemy in its front and on its left flank. At this critical moment, when humanity itself almost prompted a retreat, Gen. Bushrod Johnson's brigade moved upon the right of our brigade, and with the troops on our right, at sunset, we made one last desperate assault and drove them, routed, demoralized, from the field. ”

“ Sherman's officers and men erected a beautiful monument to Willie, and had inscribed on it, "Our little Sergeant Willie, from the First Battalion Thirteenth United States Infantry."
After the dreadful battle of Chickamauga, Ga., Sept. 20, 1863, in which we lost 15,851 men, and the Confederates 17,804, Grant went to Chattanooga to retrieve that disaster. In this battle Thomas, "who," says General Fullerton, "never retreated and had never been defeated," so wonderfully held his ground that he was ever afterwards called the "Rock of Chickamauga." ”

“ This brigade, with General Holtzclaw as commander after the promotion of General Clayton, was identical throughout the war. The regiment took part in the battle of Chickamauga, where it began its glorious battle record; the number of its wounded in every engagement shows the spirit which inspired its leaders. It wintered at Dalton; fought at Crow Valley, Rocky Face, May 9, 1864; Resaca, May 15th; New Hope, May 25th, fighting constantly from Dalton to Atlanta, and lost 300 men. At Jonesboro, August 31st and September 1st, it lost very heavily. ”

“ In a sense, to write of Chickamauga is to try to excite interest in a subject which far too many regard as worn; but to the veterans who fought there it will never be a threadbare story. For that generation which has been born and has come to manhood since Chattanooga was won by the Union arms, there is no campaign which can be studied with greater profit, or which will more richly repay the reader. History has not yet done justice to Chickamauga, but its verdict is sure. Many of the misconceptions of the days following the battle still exist in the popular mind. ”

“ In the two-day battle of Chickamauga, 35,000 men were killed, wounded, or captured. Bragg’s victory, while complete, became hollow 23 when he failed to pursue the broken and beaten Federal army. The Federals were able to reorganize and prepare for a new campaign. Grant soon arrived at Chattanooga and took command of all Federal operations in the West. Bragg’s Confederates took positions on the major hills overlooking the city. ”

“ No better or braver man than Billy Webster ever drew the breath of life. His bones lie yonder today, upon the battlefield of Chickamauga. I loved him; he was my friend. Many and many a dark night have Billy and I stood together upon the silent picket post. Ah, reader, my heart grows sick and I feel sad while I try to write my recollections of that unholy and uncalled for war. But He that ruleth the heavens doeth all things well.
CHAPTER IX CHICKAMAUGA BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA Sunday morning of that September day, the sun rose over the eastern hills clear and beautiful. ”

“ GRANT'S ARRIVAL AT CHATTANOOGA—GENERAL ROSECRANS'S INACTION—OPENING A NEW LINE OF SUPPLY—DESPERATE FIGHTING UNDER GENERAL SHERMAN—PAROLED PRISONERS FORCED INTO THE CONFEDERATE ARMY—FIGHTING AROUND KNOXVILLE—THE BATTLE ABOVE THE CLOUDS—CAPTURE OF MISSIONARY RIDGE—BRAGG'S ARMY COMPLETELY DEFEATED—PICTURESQUE AND ROMANTIC INCIDENTS.
A month after the battle of Chickamauga the National forces in the West were to some extent reorganized. ”

“ The two armies were on the move, maneuvering for position, culminated in battle of Chickamauga, Sept. 20, 1863.
The whole army itching for a fight, while encamped at Tullahoma an examining board had been appointed for Artillery officers for service in the Ordnance Department consisting of Col. Wm. Leroy Brown of the Richmond Arsenal; Col. H. Oladowski, Chief of Ordnance of Bragg's army and Lt. Col. James H. Kennard, Chief of Ordnance Officer Hardee's Corps. ”

“ What a country for the romancer! Here is the dense wilderness, the Tennessee and Chickamauga, the precipitous Lookout with his foot-hills, spurs, coves, and water-falls. Here are cosy little valleys from which the world, with its noise, bustle, confusions, and cares, is excluded. Here have congregated the bloody villains and sneaking thieves; the plumed knights, dashing horsemen, and stubborn infantry. Here are the two great battle-fields of Chickamauga and Mission Ridge. Here neighbors have divided, and families separated to fight on questions of National policy. ”

“ The armies of Generals Bragg and Rosecrans, which were to fight the battle of Chickamauga on the 19th and 20th of September, 1863, were widely separated in the early part of August, Bragg at Chattanooga and Rosecrans beyond the Cumberland mountains, with the Tennessee river rolling between them. ”

“ If never before, on that battle field of Chickamauga, men of the North and men of the South, Union and Confederate, learned that no imaginary lines separating North from South, or marking the boundary of States, make any difference in the spirit of courage, bravery, and daring of the American soldier, once he believes he is fighting for a principle, be that principle right or wrong. ”

“ General R. S. Granger, who was then at Nashville, was at the telegraph office waiting for news when my dispatch passed through. The operator guessed out the dispatch, as he afterward confessed, and it was passed around Nashville. The agent of the Associated Press at Louisville sent out a private printed circular quoting me as an authority for reporting the battle as a total defeat, and in Cincinnati Horace Maynard repeated, the same day of the battle, the entire second sentence of the dispatch, "Chickamauga is as fatal a name in our history as Bull Run." ”

“ In the hospitals the government gives them nothing beyond medicines and soldier’s rations. Sick men require much more, or they perish; and these people are dying by scores. I think it a matter in which their friends on the other side should take prompt and ample action.’”
October 2d.—Our 5000 prisoners taken at the battle of Chickamauga have arrived in this city, and it is ascertained that more are on the way hither. Gen. Bragg said he had 5000 besides the wounded, and as none of the wounded have arrived, more must [Pg 60] have been taken since his dispatch. ”

“ Those assaulting Missionary Ridge had Chickamauga to avenge and Lookout Mountain to surpass, and the firm and resolute sweep of the charging column for more than a mile expressed in advance the resistless character of the attack. When fifty battle flags forming the foremost line approached the crest, the Confederate soldiers knew that they would wave over their defenses or those who bore them, and many of the 20,000 men who followed would fall. ”

“ John R. Liddell's report.
Vol. XXIII, Part 2— (942, 959) Wood's brigade, Cleburne's division, Hill's corps, Bragg's army. August 10, 1863, Lieut.-Col. R. F. Crittenden commanding regiment.
No. 51— (12) Assignment as above, September 19-20, 1863, together with Eighteenth (Gibson's) battalion. (159-163) Mentioned in Gen. S. A. M. Wood's report of battle of Chickamauga (165-167) Report of Col. Samuel Adams, Thirty-third regiment, commanding also Gibson's (Eighteenth) battalion, of battle of Chickamauga gives 16 killed and 133 wounded. "Officers and men acted very gallantly." ”

“ But there he stood, a tower of strength, the Rock of Chickamauga indeed! With but a single line he repelled charge after charge of Longstreet's consolidated ranks.
"And so we fought the most sanguinary battle of modern times, yet utterly bootless so far as immediate results were concerned. One hundred and thirty thousand men were engaged with a loss of nearly fifty thousand, or a little less than forty per cent. ”

“ The strategy—matchless in our war—which compelled Bragg to abandon Chattanooga; the life and death struggle for concentrating the Union army when Rosecrans, against the protests of Washington authorities that it could not be true, found his widely separated corps confronted with re-enforcements from every part of the Confederacy; and, lastly, the great battle in the Chickamauga forests for the possession of Chattanooga, [6] are each most fruitful and interesting themes. The present letter will relate to the first-named subject, the strategy of the Chickamauga campaign. ”

“ CHAPTER IX—CHICKAMAUGA BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA AFTER THE BATTLE A NIGHT AMONG THE DEAD CHAPTER X—MISSIONARY RIDGE MISSIONARY RIDGE SERGEANT TUCKER AND GEN. WILDER MOCCASIN POINT BATTLE OF MISSIONARY RIDGE GOOD-BYE, TOM WEBB THE REAR GUARD CHICKAMAUGA STATION THE BATTLE OF CAT CREEK RINGGOLD GAP CHAPTER XI—DALTON GEN. JOE JOHNSTON TAKES COMMAND COMMISSARIES DALTON SHOOTING A DESERTER TEN MEN KILLED AT MOURNER'S-BENCH DR. C. T. QUINTARD Y'S YOU GOT MY HOG? ”

“ Bragg retired toward Chattanooga.
On September 19 and 20, Chickamauga, the most sanguinary battle of the war, was fought. Here the regular brigade (one battalion each of the 15th, 16th and 19th, and two battalions of the 18th, with Battery H of the 5th Artillery) lost over thirty-three per cent of their strength in killed, wounded and missing, and during the fight, the battery was taken by the Confederates, all the horses killed, but the guns recaptured later on. ”