CHICKAMAUGA
September 19th-20th, 1863

The Chickamauga Creek (chickamauga meaning "stagnant water" or, more sensationally, "river of death") flows approximately north-south into the Tennessee River, a few miles east of Chattanooga, through heavily wooded country. On 18th September the armies of Rosecrans - approximately 65,000 men in three corps under McCook, Thomas and Crittenden - and Bragg - a similar number in five corps divided into two wings under Polk and Longstreet who had just made a long rail journey from Virginia with about 12,000 men. Bragg had planned to attack on 18th but delays meant that nothing happened, except that Rosecrans shifted his position northward to be nearer the Rossville Gap - his retreat route to Chattanooga in an emergency. On 19th the battle started at the north end of the line when Thomas moved to drive off what he thought was a single brigade. This quickly escalated into a slugging match with both sides pouring in more troops. Fighting spread south in the afternoon when Stewart's division, sent to help against Thomas, accidentally attacked a mile to the south. It hit Van Cleve's division and drove it back almost to Rosecrans' HQ at the Widow Glenn's house. Here, however, they met Reynolds' and Negley's divisions heading north and it was suddenly three divisions to one. Stewart was obliged to retreat back across the north-south, Lafayette Road.
As this attack was failing Hood, without orders, sent in the divisions of Johnson and Law, immediately to the south. These met Davis' division which fell back. Again Widow Glenn's house was in view but again two divisions came to the rescue - this time those of Wood and Sheridan, and Johnson and Law too had to fall back beyond the road.
As the sun was setting Cleburne, at the far north end of the line, attacked and drove Thomas back almost a mile but he was still in good order as darkness fell. Throughout the night, the Confederate soldiers could hear their northern counterparts felling trees and hurriedly putting together barricades.
Rosecrans was not displeased with the situation. Although it had been close at times, his line had held together and there seemed to no reason why it should not continue to do so. Bragg also was quite pleased with the way things had gone, despite the unco-ordinated nature of the day's attacks, and he ordered Polk and Hill to attack at dawn. Or rather, he thought he had so ordered, but the messenger could not find Hill in the darkness and by the time everything had been sorted out and the attack finally sent in, it was approaching ten o'clock. Rosecrans' soldiers had not been idle during this period of grace and the breastworks now had a grim and solid look about them. The series of divisional attacks which Bragg had ordered in the north were prosecuted with great enthusiasm but could not break the well-defended line.
The battle might well have continued in this manner until Bragg had worn his army down to nothing had not Rosecrans here made a catastrophic mistake. His aides reported to him a "gaping hole" between Reynolds' and Wood's divisions and, apparently forgetting his own dispositions, Rosecrans sent an order to Wood to "close up and support" Reynolds. Brannan was posted between the two and the only way Wood could support was to go around Brannan, which he did. There he met Thomas who said that Reynolds did not need support - he had just repulsed an attack by Stewart, but sent Wood, on his own (Thomas') responsibility, to reinforce the left. This created the "gaping hole" which had previously had no reality. Longstreet, meanwhile, had been carefully massing four divisions for an attack and, as Wood's last units were leaving, they went in, leaping over the deserted barricades and charging into the vulnerable Union flanks. The army fell apart, a good third of it routing back to Chattanooga. Rosecrans himself went with them to organise a defence which might well have been necessary had it not been for Thomas. Thomas, in an action that was to earn him the nickname of "The Rock of Chickamauga", refused to succumb to prevailing
panic. Thus Kershaw, rushing in with two Confederate brigades, met with a bloody repulse. The Confederate army gave Thomas everything it had but, re-inforced by two brigades from Granger, who had been in reserve guarding the Rossville Gap, managed to more or less hold on until dark. They were obliged to leave many of the wounded behind and Bragg was to report a total of more than 8,000 prisoners. The Confederate victory had been at a terrible cost, however. Final casualties were 16,170 for the Union and 18,454 for the Confederacy, including in the latter case, 14,674 wounded. For the number of men involved, this was the bloodiest battle of the war.