September 19, 1863---The Battle of Chickamauga: Day One

SEPTEMBER 19, 1863:       

The Battle of Chickamauga (Day One): 

The summer of 1863 has been a summer of disasters for the Confederacy. The triple defeats at Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Tullahoma in early July have thrown the Confederate war effort into chaos. Confederate desertions have skyrocketed, State Militia have refused to fight outside of their respective States, and even Robert E. Lee has attempted to resign his commission. Although the Confederate cause has been badly battered and the Union ranks have swelled in contemplation of a quick victory and an end to the war, the balance of the summer of 1863 has been oddly quiet on the battlefield. Most engagements between the Blue and the Gray have been small-scale skirmishes, as if neither side has wanted to test the resolve of the other.  

 The Army of Northern Virginia has largely been inactive as it has recouped its strength, holding a line on the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers. Its nemesis, the Army of The Potomac has done little but harry it in minor engagements.

Further south, however, the conflict has been coming to a slow boil. Near Lookout Mountain, on the borders of Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, the Union Army of The Cumberland (60,000 men) and the Confederate Army of Tennessee (70,000 men) have been building their forces since midsummer. General Braxton Bragg, C.S.A., commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee, has been his usual overcautious self, allowing his Army of Tennessee to be pushed out of Tennessee, and has let several opportunities pass to attack smaller Union forces. 

Not until both armies are at full strength along Chickamauga Creek do they meet head on, on August 19th. What begins as a series of skirmishes between the pickets escalates aggressively as Bragg orders an attack on the Union left flank.

Unfortunately for Bragg, his Intelligence is flawed. What he presumes to be the Union left flank is only a portion of the left flank, which is much broader, wider and deeper than he anticipates.

The overall Union strategic objective at Chickamauga is to cut off the Southern army from its supply bases in northern Georgia. The Confederate strategic objective is to retake Chattanooga and the surrounding region, reestablishing some Confederate control of Tennessee.

Tactically, the early morning of the 19^th consists of a series of Confederate assaults against the Union positions around Reed’s Bridge and Alexander’s Bridge, which, if taken, would give them control of Chickamauga Creek. Early in the battle they are able to take these objectives and push the Union force northwestward of the Creek.

Bragg’s misreading of the battlefield, a heavily wooded area with little line-of-sight, leads him to throw three separate divisions against the Union line as the day progresses. However, the rolling, wooded terrain makes it almost impossible for Confederate senior officers to grasp what is happening on the ground, and the morning of the first day of the Battle of Chickamauga resolves itself into a disconnected and isolated series of small unit spot attacks which the Union is able to repel, though with heavy losses.

By the early afternoon, the Union left flank has become more tightly organized along the Lafayette Road, and Bragg has shifted his attack toward the center of the line in an attempt to drive off the Union army.  Union troops are armed with the new multi-shot Spencer repeating carbines, which inflict heavy casualties on Confederate forces. Faced with these losses, the Confederates pause in their assaults, causing a lull in the battle.

A full-scale mid-afternoon assault on the Union line catches many of the troops reloading and resupplying. The Confederate assault breaks through the Union line in several places, and pushes it bodily westward from the Lafayette Road. The Confederates are, however, unable to turn the breaking of the Blue line into a rout. They do nearly seize General Rosecrans’ headquarters. The beleaguered Rosecrans is able to call up his reserves, including General Philip Sheridan, and his men are able to push the Confederates back to the Lafayette Road. As the first day’s battle ends around dusk at 7:00 P.M., the Confederates are in a slightly more advantageous position than they were twelve hours earlier.