November 24, 1863---"The Battle Above The Clouds"

NOVEMBER 24, 1863:       

The Battle of Chattanooga      (Day Two):

Also known as “The Battle of Lookout Mountain” and “The Battle Above The Clouds,” this battle pitted 12,000 Union troops against a force of only 1,200 Confederates on the mountain itself. Lookout Mountain, known for its famous rising fogs, is frequently hidden in the mists, and the Union force was able to use the mist as cover in approaching the Confederate line. Given the steepness of the mountain, artillery was of little use, but the overwhelming numbers of Federals battered the Confederate force viciously. As the day progressed, the thick fog cleared from the summit of Lookout Mountain, and this clear air above the mists allowed the two sides to engage in open, pitched battle. The Confederates were overrun in the late afternoon. 

November 23, 1863---The Battle of Chattanooga, Tennessee: Day One

NOVEMBER 23, 1863:        

The Battle of Chattanooga      (Day One):

The Federals, who have been under siege in Chattanooga since the Battle of Chickamauga on September 20^th finally break out of the city in force. Despite the “siege,” supplies have flowed freely into the city via the “Cracker Line” which the Confederates failed to break, and Union reinforcements, under William Tecumseh Sherman, though delayed by weather, have arrived to aid in attacking the Rebels. The reinforced Federals overrun Orchard Knob and gain a firm foothold for continued attacks against the Confederate line. 

November 22, 1863---A Perfect Storm in Tennessee

NOVEMBER 22, 1863:       

Confederate Military Intelligence suffers one of its greatest failures. General Braxton Bragg, C.S.A., investing the Siege of Chattanooga, detaches the forces of General Simon Bolivar Buckner C.S.A., and sends them north to aid General James Longstreet C.S.A. in the Siege of Knoxville. 

 

Bragg, already weakened by Longstreet’s earlier departure, is left with only a skeleton force at Chattanooga. What Bragg does not know is that he is about to be attacked by General William Tecumseh Sherman U.S.A., and that Longstreet will have to retreat from Knoxville to aid him, with General Ambrose Burnside, U.S.A. coming out of Knoxville in pursuit of Longstreet. In the meantime, both Bragg and Longstreet will face attack from numerically superior Union forces, while Buckner’s forces will be neutralized in transit, facing enemies both ahead and behind along what is today the I-75 corridor.

 

November 21, 1863---Sherman's Mud March in Tennessee

NOVEMBER 21, 1863:        

After weeks of marching, torrential downpours, flooded fords, washed-out bridges, and mucky roads, the skies finally cooperate with General William Tecumseh Sherman, whose relief troops begin the crossing of the Tennessee River in order to relieve the Siege of Chattanooga.