Also, I say “Battles” rather than “Battle” because even by contemporaries of both armies, the “Battle of Tunnel Hill, Tn.” and the “Battle of Mission Ridge” were considered separate actions.
The events covered here took place (mostly) on 26 November 1863, which was the first national “Thanksgiving Day” as we know have it. Not the harvest thanksgiving meal which the Separatist colonists of New Plymouth shared uncomfortably with their Wampanoag neighbors. Nor do I mean any of the thanksgivings proclaimed on a one-time basis by a U.S. President after that. In this case, the “First Thanksgiving Day” means the inaugural event of those that have taken place every third or fourth Thursday of November since.
At the height of the Civil War, in the aftermath of losses of Chancellorsville and Chickamauga as well as the horrific Union casualties at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that the last Thursday of November would be a day of national thanksgiving every year. Essentially, it was a public relations move to distract a war-weary population.
The Confederacy held a similar observances. For example, in July 1863, its Pres. Jefferson Davis declared 21 August of that year a thanksgiving day of “fasting, humiliation, and prayer”.
The observance of this in Chattanooga was interrupted by the guns of the 18th Independent Battery, Indiana Light Artillery attached to Col. John T. Wilder’s “Lightning Brigade” of mounted infantry (1st Brigade, 4th Division, 14th Corps, Army of the Cumberland) on Stringer’s Ridge. It also coincided with William Quantrill’s Raider’s bloody massacre in Lawrence, Kansas.
Thus, the campaign for Chattanooga that ended on the Union’s Thanksgiving Day began on a thanksgiving day for the Confederacy.
(Note 1: Wilder’s battery position later became the redoubt Fort Wilder during the Federal Military Occupation of Chattanooga, and the site became a noted attraction for Civil War veterans during their Blue-Grey reunions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The redoubt is long gone, but the site still exists as ‘Old Baldy’ on the trails of Stringer’s Ridge Park.)
(Note 2: This park also includes ‘Negley’s Knoll’, the site from which on 7-8 June 1862, Brig. Gen. James Negley’s expedition carried out what was essentially an artillery duel between his own units from this spot against Confederate artillery on Cameron Hill and Reservoir Hill in Chattanooga, the first Union assault against the city, then deep behind Confederate lines.)
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I first got interested in the battles the day after the big battles on 25 November when Becky Eaves, historian to East Brainerd and to Concord Baptist Church, told me about how her brothers used to gather up minnie balls by the bucket-load to sell as fishing weights. They gathered them from all over the farm which their parents had inherited from their Blackwell ancestors, which at the time covered the land south of Davidson Road and east of Julian Road, bound on the west by the Davidson farm and the south by the tracks of the Western & Atlantic Railroad. I became even more so after moving to nearby Grays Drive and realizing part of the Army of Tennessee had probably retreated right through my front yard.
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Little did Lincoln know when he made that proclamation on 3 October 1863 that on the day so designated, 26 November that year, the Confederate Army of Tennessee would be retreating after its disastrous defeat on Mission Ridge at the hands of the Union Army of the Cumberland. According to reports and correspondence in the Official Record of the War of the Rebellion, along with letters and narrative accounts from participating soldiers, several engagements were fought that day. (Other sources used are maps in the OR and those of the American Battlefield Trust with the former superimposed over more accurate modern topographical maps, as well as official historical markers placed by the Chickamauga-Chattanooga Battlefield Commission in 1890.)
The day before, Lt. Gen. William Hardee’s right wing of the Army of Tennessee had just been settling down to celebrate (Maj. Gen. Patrick) Cleburne’s Division’s victory over Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s Army of the Tennessee at the northern end of the ridge in the “Battle of Tunnel Hill, Tn.” (‘Tunnel Hill’ in this case being what’s now Sherman Reservation of Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park), when the Confederate line at the center of Missionary Ridge broke in the face of the charge by the Army of the Cumberland against its front and the sudden belated appearance of Maj. Gen. Joe Hooker’s command (see below) at Ross’ Gap.
Having saved the day, or so it thought, Cleburne’s Division now found itself assigned rearguard for the withdrawal to Chickmauga Station (which once stood across from the Chattanooga airport terminal) of Hardee’s right wing after having fought in heavy battle from 9 am to 4:00 pm against a vastly superior force. In fact, Hardee’s entire wing remained intact and held its positions, withdrawing in good order starting at 7:45 pm beginning with Cheatham’s Division, then Walker’s Division, then Stevenson’s Division, and finally Cleburne’s Division. Smith’s Brigade of Cleburne’s Division, the rearguard of the rearguard, which had born the brunt of the worst fighting, did not leave Tunnel Hill until 9:00 pm after receiving orders to withdraw.
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The first post-Missionary Ridge engagement occurred that evening, between forward elements of Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan’s 2nd Division of the 4th Corps of the Army of the Cumberland and rearguard elements of (Brig. Gen. William) Bate’s Division (formerly under Maj. Gen. John C.Breckenridge, who then commanded the entire left wing) of the Army of Tennessee (Bate’s Division, Stewart’s Division, and formerly Cleburne’s Division).
(Brig. Gen. Jesse) Finley’s Brigade and (Col. Robert) Tyler’s Brigade (formerly under Brig. Gen. Bate) had not been overrun but had been forced to withdraw to keep from being encircled after the units on either side collapsed. Both withdrew to the “next ridge east”, the connected line of hills east of modern Germantown Road.
Atop what’s now called ‘Hilltop’, about a mile from Bragg’s former headquarters on the crest of Mission Ridge, the rearguard of his left wing occupied hastily built breastworks and earthen embankments, with the eight guns of (Capt. John) Mebane’s Tennessee Battery (attached to Tyler’s Brigade) and a line of infantry of the 6th Florida Infantry (of Finley’s Brigade) under Lt. Col. Angus McLean.
At the time, what was then called ‘Missionary Road’ ran along much of the same roadbed as Brainerd Road now, with some variation, while ‘Moore’s Road’ (later Montgomery Avenue, now Main Street) crossed over the crest of Mission Ridge and went northeasterly down its east side, over the southern lower part of the hill that is called Hilltop (which never had any other name before 1930), to merge with the Missionary Road about where today’s Belvoir Road intersects it now.
While the rest of his division (its 1st Brigade under Col. Francis T. Sherman and its three artillery batteries under Capt. Warren Edgerton) held Bragg’s former HQ and adjacent ground atop Mission Ridge, Sheridan sent forward his 2nd Brigade under Brig. Gen. George Wagner and his 3rd Brigade under Col. Charles Harker along “Moore’s Road” to clear out the rearguard of Breckenridge’s left wing.
However, the two Confederate units held their position until being ordered at 9:00 p.m. to withdraw to the general rendezvous at Chickamauga Station, at precisely the same time Smith’s Brigade was ordered to withdraw from Tunnel Hill in the north toward the same destination. Wagner and Harker sent their brigades into bivouac atop Hilltop.
At midnight, Maj. Gen. George Thomas, commander of the Army of the Cumberland, ordered Sheridan’s division to pursue the retreating enemy, which they did until 2:00 a.m., when upon reaching the rain-swollen Chickamauga River they had to stop for the night, bivouacing at Bird’s Mill and the former Brainerd Mission. In the afternoon of the next day, 26 November, they returned to Chattanooga, from where they were sent to help relieve the Confederate siege of the Union’s Army of the Ohio under Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside in the city of Knoxville by (Lt. Gen. James) Longstreet’s Corps of the Army of Tennessee.
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Chickamauga Station, the depot of which stood across the road from the airport terminal in active use until 1955, was the designated rendezvous point for retreating forces after Bragg’s catastrophic loss at the Battle of Mission Ridge. From there the next day, the Army of Tennessee began withdrawing in two columns following two separate routes. Maj. Gen. Breckenridge commanded one column, with Walker’s Division (under Brig. Gen. States Rights Gist) as its rear guard, while Lt. Gen. Hardee commanded the other, with Cleburne’s Division as its rear guard. (Col. John W.) Grigsby’s Brigade of (Brig. Gen. John) Kelly’s Division of (Maj. Gen. Joseph) Wheeler’s Cavalry Corps divided to protect the two rearguards.
(Brig. Gen. Lucius) Polk’s Brigade of Cleburne’s Division and (Brig. Gen. George) Maney’s Brigade of Stevenson’s Division, temporarily detached to Cleburne, were detailed to destroy the vast commissary stores at the depot, but there was too much. (Brig. Gen. Joseph) Lewis’ Orphan Brigade out of Kentucky, part of Breckenridge’s Division but also seconded to Cleburne, formed the rear of the rear guard, covering for the other two brigades.
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The vanguard of the Union pursuit was Brig. Gen. Jefferson C. Davis’ 2nd Division of the 12th Corps of the Army of the Cumberland. Behind him came the 11th Corps of the Army of the Cumberland under Maj. Gen. Oliver Howard (for whom Howard High School and Howard Elementary are named). When he learned from scouts the troops of the Confederate reaguard were the Kentuckians of Lewis’ Brigade, Davis made his 1st Brigade under Brig. Gen. James D. Morgan, also Kentuckians, the vanguard.
The first encounter between the two opposing units of Kentuckians took place at a hill north of Chickamauga Station, possibly the same which Polk’s Brigade held the day before guarding the stone bridge of the Chattanooga Extension of the East Tennessee & Georgia Railroad over Chickamauga River. After a brief skirmish, the Confederate Kentuckians withdrew to Chickamauga Station, where soldiers of Maney’s and Gist’s Brigade were vainly attempting to burn everything while stuffing as much food as they could wherever they could.
When Morgan’s brigade reached the outskirts of Chickamauga around high noon, the Orphan Brigade covered the withdrawal of their comrades in the second encounter of the day. Once Maney’s and Gist’s Brigades were gone, the Orphans withdrew to Milliken Ridge.
On two knobs on Milliken Ridge, Dupree Hill to the north (where Grace Works Church is now) and Stein Hill to the south (where the water tower is now), soldiers of Cleburne’s Division had that summer built two redoubts overlooking the station. Here, the Orphans made their third stand against their fellow Kentuckians, then withdrew.
The fourth and final stand of the Orphan Brigade that day took place in Hickory Valley, which at that point ran between Milliken Ridge on the west and Concord Ridge to the east. In this, the Orphans held positions on the side of Concord Ridge while Morgan’s troops dug in along Hickory Creek, which the Union commanders dubbed Shepherd’s Run after Margaret Shepherd, who came out from the Shepherd mansion (which may have been also named Hickory Valley and was patterned after James Vann’s Diamond Hill mansion) to scold the Union soldiers for ruining her flowerbeds. When the Orphans withdrew again, probably along Igou Road, Davis gave the soldiers of Morgan’s brigade a break.
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While this was going on, Howard moved his corps to the left of Davis’ division to sweep wide and prevent straggling Confederates from escaping. To cover his own left flank, Howard used the 55th Ohio Volunteers (2nd Brigade, 2nd Division) under Capt. Charles B. Gambee. Gambee and his troops encountered the Orphan Brigade’s 4th Kentucky Infantry under Col. Thomas Thompson at Tyner’s Station. After a brief encounter from which their opponents swiftly withdrew, the 55th Ohio captured a 1st lieutenant, four privates, and two teamsters. Howard then moved the corps south down through what was once known as the Flatwoods, roughly along Silverdale and Gunbarrel Roads (what was supposed to be the roadbed of John D. Gray’s planned Harrison & Jacksonville Railroad).
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The largest engagement of the day, and one which could definitely be called a proper battle due to the number of soldiers involved, took place in what was then known as Concord (old East Brainerd proper). From descriptions in various letters and reports of the commanders, this battle can only have taken place east of Concord Ridge, along Mackey Branch. Sam Watkins of “Co. Aytch” in Maney’s Brigade refers to the stream as Cat Creek while the Union officers called it Shepherd’s Run under the mistaken impression or memory it was the same as Hickory Creek.
Several references to the encounter’s proximity to Graysville, Georgia (“about a mile”) leave no other option. The Union Army Cyclopedia of Battles, in fact, gives its location as Graysville, but it was clearly a bit north of there. Plus the fact that the tract includes the above-mentioned former Lyndsey Blackwell farm where all the minie balls used to be found lends credibility to this being the site.
Facing their opponents across the creek and fields from a stretch of woods in hastily built rifle pits and breastworks, Maney’s Brigade lined up in what they thought was going to be a suicidal last stand facing Davis’ division. At the last moment before the battle, units of Grigsby’s Brigade (its three Kentucky regiments) appeared, and settled down to fight alongside Maney’s troops dismounted. They were supported by one of the Mississippi field artillery units, most likely (by process of elimination) Stanford’s Mississippi Battery.
Seeing the opposition, Davis sent forward his 2nd and 3rd Brigades under Brig. Gen. John Beatty and Col. Daniel McCook respectively. Supporting them from Concord Ridge were guns from Battery I of the 2nd Illinois Light Artillery. Davis kept Morgan’s Kentuckians in reserve. After the engagement had begun, Howard’s 11th Corps arrived from the north. Howard sent his 2nd Division under Brig. Gen. Adolph Steinwehr to Davis’ right and put his 3rd Division under Maj. Gen. Carl Schurz in reserve.
The fight lasted but an hour as darkness was falling, and at dusk the Confederates gratefully withdrew. Brig. Gen. Maney was severely wounded in this encounter and remained out of action until returning to command a division under Hardee during the Atlanta Campaign.
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While the above engagements were taking place, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker’s command, including the 12th Corps of the Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. Henry Slocum, the 14th Corps of the Army of the Cumberland under Maj. Gen. John Palmer (minus Davis’ division), and the 1st Division of the 15th Corps of the Army of the Tennessee under Brig. Gen. Peter Osterhaus, proceeded from Ross’ Gap toward Ringgold down the Old Federal Road hoping to cut off Bragg’s Confederates. Destroyed bridges and flooded creeks caused serious delays.
While Hooker was stalled at Red House Ford for a bridge to be built over the flooded West Chickamauga Creek, he sent cavalry across which encountered (Col. Daniel) Govan’s Brigade of Cleburne’s Division, which easily turned them back.
When the road to Graysville divided from that to Ringgold, Palmer took his corps to the former while Hooker maintained his path to the latter.
Palmer’s vanguard was his 1st Division under Brig. Gen. Richard Johnson. Johnson sent his 1st Brigade under Brig. Gen. William Carlin toward Graysville while his 2nd Brigade under Col. William Stoughton went toward Indian Springs, south of Graysville on the old Federal Road.
In the dark of early evening, Carlin’s brigade stumbled into Gist’s Brigade, then attempting to cross Chickamauga River at Graysville. Some fighting ensued, but in the dark no one was hit, and the Confederates were able to escape and ford the river upstream.
Meanwhile, Stoughton’s brigade surprised pickets from Stewart’s Division near the crossroads of the Lafayette and Ringgold roads, capturing some along with their guns, and causing the rest to flee in disarray.
As for Hooker’s column, Brig. Gen. John Geary’s 2nd Division of the 12th Corps of the Army of the Potomac encountered Breckenridge’s rearguard (i.e., Walker’s Division), including (Capt. T.B.) Ferguson’s South Carolina Battery, at Peavine Creek, and a skirmish ensued, resulting in some soldiers and artillery captured.
After crossing Peavine Creek and Chickamauga Swamp, Osterhaus’ division encountered what appeared to be a large body of Confederates encamped and entrenched atop what Geary calls the Pigeon Hills. The two generals formed their troops into lines-of-battle and commenced firing as they advanced. By the time they reached the summit, the camp was deserted.
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Related to the actions of these days was the raid of the 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Cavalry Division attached to the Army of the Cumberland, then under Col. Eli Long.
On 24 November, Maj. Gen. George Thomas, commander of the Army of the Cumberland, dispatched Col. Long and his troops to raid and destroy along the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad.
That day, as reported by Lt. Col. Edward Kitchell of the 9th Illinois Mounted Infantry, the unit involved, troops burned two caissons and tore up the rails at several points near Tyner Station (Thomas reported up the chain that they had burned the station and tore up all the tracks). Later in the day, they encountered a wagon train coming out of Ooltewah and destroyed it.
On 25 November, while the Battles of Tunnel Hill, Tn., and of Missionary Ridge were being fought to the west, Long and his brigade captured Cleveland, Tennessee.
On 26 November, Long sent the 3rd Ohio Cavalry under Lt. Col. Charles Seidel to search and destroy along the railroad to the Hiwassee River, Maj. Thomas Patten and the 1st Ohio Cavalry to do the same along the railroad to Dalton, and Maj. George Dobb and the 4th Ohio Cavalry back toward Chattanooga for the same.
At Charleston, Seidel found troops of (Brig. Gen. John H.) Kelly’s Division of Wheeler’s Cavalry Corps, which he drove across the Hiwassee River into Calhoun. There, Kelly’s command, including (Col. William) Wade’s Brigade and all of the division’s artillery, was firmly entrenched. Knowing when to quit, Seidel withdrew to Cleveland.
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The next day, 27 November, Cleburne’s Division held Taylor’s Gap at Ringgold, Georgia, against Hooker’s entire command, though the main units involved on the Union side were the divisions of Osterhaus and Geary. While Cleburne and his troops kept Hooker’s men thus tied up, the rest of the Army of Tennessee retreated from Catoosa Station to Dalton. Cleburne and his men later followed, stopping at Tunnel Hill.
The same morning, Kelly attacked Seidel’s troops at Cleveland, driving out the federals, then withdrew to Dalton the very same day to join the rest of the Army of Tennessee.
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