While Lincoln praises the men of Gettysburg, the XI and XII Corps rescues the union at Chattanooga
While Abraham Lincoln was preparing perhaps the greatest speech in American history, the survivors of two divisions of the union XI Corps, along with two from the XII Corps, were rushed west in a desperate effort to break through the confederate lines that encircled the vital railroad hub in Chattanooga. The starving federal troops who had been defeated at Chickamauga in September and had retreated to the city, forced to eat their mules and horses, were resigned to their fate; they could not move out of the city, and all railroads and the Tennessee River were controlled by rebel infantry to the south and cavalry to the north, east, and west. Ulysses S. Grant, newly assigned to command of all forces in the west, replaced Rosecrans with General George H. Thomas, “The Rock of Chickamauga,” and ordered him to hold Chattanooga until he could arrive with troops. Thomas promised that “I will hold until we starve.”
On October 27th, two brigades from the Army of the Cumberland made a surprise amphibious attack to seize Brown’s Ferry on the Tennessee River, holding the crossing point while Joe Hooker marched three divisions (Schurz and Von Steinwehr of XI Corps, Geary of XII Corps) from Bridgeport, Alabama through Lookout Valley to protect the troops at Brown’s Ferry. Arriving in the afternoon of October 28th, they surprised the confederates on Lookout Mountain. If the link could be held, Chattanooga could be supplied over “The Cracker Line.” Geary’s division was positioned at Wauhatchie station, with the XI Corps troops spread out thinly, closer to Brown’s Ferry. As rebel forces from Longstreet’s Corps made a midnight attack against Geary’s small, isolated force, Hooker ordered Schurz and Steinwehr to move back to its relief; however, in the confusion, they attacked two hill positions that confederate forces had occupied between Brown’s Ferry and Wauhatchie. Even though the union attacks on Longstreet’s men on the hills caused the officers under Lee’s “Old War Horse” to fail to reinforce the attack on Wauhatchie, Geary’s men would fight alone. Edward Geary, an artillery lieutenant wounded in his father’s division, died in his father’s arms. The Cracker Line between Kelley’s Ferry and Brown’s Ferry on the Tennessee River held, and the Union, under U.S. Grant, would quickly move to offensive operations.
Just four days after Lincoln spoke on November 19, 1863, of the “brave men, living and dead, who struggled here” - including Hooker’s men from the east, now in Chattanooga - the Union moved against Orchard Knob, a steep hill overlooking the eastern side of Chattanooga, where a small force of rebels with an artillery battery were entrenched forward of Missionary Ridge. 14,000 federals attacked the hill in parade formation, and the 600 defenders were overwhelmed in minutes.
Orchard Knob, Chattanooga, Tennessee
From this point, General Grant directed the multi-prong attacks on the heights at Lookout Mountain on the 24th and Missionary Ridge on the 25th. The attack on Lookout Mountain, originally a diversion as it was considered too steep to successfully assault, surprised the confederates, who were outnumbered 10 to 1. “The Battle above the Clouds” meant that the loss of the rebel western flank and high ground held by Hooker made the next attack on Missionary Ridge possible. Once again, the union attack, bogged down on the far left, broke through in the center, where the initial attack against the rifle pits at the base of the ridge was successful. After briefly occupying the rifle pits, where the 100 guns of the rebel artillery were now pouring fire into the entrenchments, the union forces advanced up the hill, to get out of the registered range of the cannons. On Orchard Knob, Grant asked why the troops were advancing without orders (reports of troops begging their line commanders to allow them to advance to stop the slaughter in the pits are recorded), and General Granger replied, “When those fellows get started, all hell can’t stop them.” The union forces swept the center of Bragg’s line off the top of the ridge. At the top of the hill, Arthur MacArthur Jr., the father of General Douglas MacArthur, led his Wisconsin volunteer regiment up the hill, taking the colors from the fallen bearer, with the words, “On Wisconsin,” a feat which earned him the Medal of Honor.
For the troops of these XI and XII Corps divisions from the east, this was the final battle of 1863, although they would immediately march to Knoxville under General Sherman to drive the confederates away from that surrounded city as well. This small group of men were the only Union forces who had fought in 3 of the 4 battles of the year that are generally considered class 1 battles (Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga). The 82nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry from central Ohio, routed with its XI Corps at Chancellorsville, driven from the field north of Gettysburg on July 1st where 16 of its 18 officers were casualties, successfully defending the northern part of the union line on Cemetery Hill for the remainder of the battle, and now attached temporarily to Sherman’s expedition to Knoxville after the Battle of Wauhatchie, Orchard Knob, and Sherman’s assault on Tunnel Hill north of Missionary Ridge, was completing its second year in the Civil War, facing at least another year of warfare, now heading into the heart of the south.
