CHICKAMAUGA!
On Their Native Soil Georgians Shattered the Union Advance
One of the major battles of the Civil War was fought on Georgia soil at Chickamauga in late September 1863. Historians say it was the last great victory for the Confederate forces. What many do not realize is that Georgia troops played a vital role in determining the overall outcome of the battle.
The campaign that brought the two armies together at Chickamauga began late in June of 1863. During that month, Union General William S. Rosecrans' Army of the Cumberland, 60,000 strong, moved from the middle Tennessee town of Murfreesboro against Confederate General Braxton Bragg's 43,000 soldiers defending the terrain to the northwest of the railroad center of Chattanooga. Through a series of tactical moves, Rosecrans forced Bragg back into Chattanooga without a major battle. Bragg established his defense line at Chattanooga guarding the Tennessee River crossings northeast of the city, but, early in September, the Federals crossed the river west of Chattanooga forcing Bragg to evacuate toward the south into Georgia.
The bulk of the Confederate Army gathered at LaFayette, Georgia, 30 miles south of their former defenses in Chattanooga. It was here that reinforcements from other fighting forces of the South swelled Bragg's ranks to over 60,000 men. Part of these reinforcements were General James Longstreet's veterans from the Army of Northern Virginia, which included several Georgia brigades. These Georgians were veterans of major battles in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, including Antietam and Gettysburg.
Rosecrans, in an attempt to out maneuver Bragg, split his army and entered north Georgia through the mountain passes near the Alabama border. Twice Bragg tried todestroy the divided forces of Rosecrans' army, but due to tactical blunders and poor communications with his subordinates, these attempts failed.
Finally on September 18, hoping to get his troops between the Federals and Chattanooga, he posted his army along the banks of the little known Chickamauga Creek in Catoosa and Walker Counties between the present Georgia cities of Chickamauga and Fort Oglethorpe. What was unique about this position was the battle lines were drawn in an east-west confrontation rather than the common north-south lines of previous encounters.
Shortly before dawn on September 19, this reinforced Confederate force of 60,000 men pounced on the 65,000 Federal troops that were dispersed along the west side of Chickamauga Creek. This attack brought on a general engagement which spread along on a four mile section of the creek. The armies fought desperately all day, often in hand-to-hand combat, and gradually the Confederates pushed the Union forces back to the LaFayette Road (now US 27).
On the morning of the 20th, the Confederate renewed their attack on the left (north) flank of the Union lines. However, it was the right (south) flank that brought disaster to the Union effort. Late in the morning, due to a mix-up in orders, a Federal division was pulled out of line allowing the attacking Confederates to rush through the gap that was created and to break the Union defenses. The Georgia troops under Hood played a vital role in this assault. As the Confederate force of over 23,000 troops stormed through the gap, panic struck the Federals.
Confederate General Bushrod Johnson, commanding one of the Confederate Corps, later issued an official report that flowed with exultation: "The scene now presented was unspeakably grand. The resolute and impetuous charge, the rush of our heavy columns sweeping out from the shadow and gloom of the forest and into the open fields flooded with sunlight, the glitter of arms, the onward dash of artillery and mounted men, the retreat of the foe, the shouts of the hosts of our army, the dust, the smoke, the noise of firearms - of whistling balls and grapeshot and of bursting shell - made up a battle scene of unsurpassed grandeur."
Charles Dana, assistant Secretary of War, who was with Rosecrans' headquarters, described the action on the Union side as follows: "I was awakened by the most infernal noise I ever heard. I had no sooner collected my thoughts and looked around toward the front, where all this din came from, than I saw our lines break and melt away like leaves before the wind." Rosecrans' calm voice rose above the hubbub, "If you care to live any longer," he told his staff, "get away from here." "Then the beadquarters around me disappeared. The gray-backs came through with a rush, and soon the musket balls and the cannon shots began to reach the place where he stood. The whole right of the army had apparently been routed."
A reporter from the Cincinnati Gazette wrote: "Men, animals, vehicles, became a mass of struggling, cursing, shouting, frightened life. Everything and everybody appeared to dash headlong from the narrow gap (the only retreat route for the Union Army), and men, horses, mules, ambulances, baggage wagons, ammunition wagons, artillery carriages and caissons were rolled and tumbled together in a confused, inextricable, and finally motionless mass, completely blocking up the mouth of the gap."
A Union officer saw General Rosecrans trying to organize his retreating soldiers, however, the army commander was repulsed by a "storm of (rebel) canister musketry. All became confusion. No order could be heard above the tempest of battle. With a wild yell the Confederates swept on far to their left. They seemed everywhere victorious. Rosecrans was borne back in the retreat."
The Confederate victory was complete. The Union Army of the Cumberland had been pushed back from the battlefield. Only a valiant stand by General George H. Thomas, "The Rock of Chickamauga", prevented the Southerners from completely destroying the Union Army.
Although, history has proven Chickamauga to be a Southern victory, the losses were enormous for the South as well as the North. Casualties on the Confederate side numbered 18,454 killed, wounded or captured, including nine brigade and two division commanders. Federal losses numbered 16,179, including seven brigade commanders. These two days in September 1863 had been the bloodiest two days of the War.
Although many Georgia troops participated in the battle, it was the hardened veterans of the Army of Northern Virginia who participated in the breakthrough and the route of the Union right wing. The Georgia units were:
Hood's Division
Brig. General George T. Anderson
7th Georgia
8th Georgia
9th Georgia
11th Georgia
59th Georgia
McLaw's Division
Brig. General William T. Wofford
16th Georgia
18th Georgia
Benning's Brigade
Brig. General Henry L. Benning
2nd Georgia
15th Georgia
17th Georgia
20th Georgia
24th Georgia
3rd Georgia Battalion Sharpshooters
Cobb's (Georgia) Legion
Phillips' (Georgia) Legion
Chickamauga has provided many tales of the struggle there. Some of these are as follows:
* There is only one grave remaining on the battlefield from the battle. The Union soldiers were reburied at the National Military Cemetery in Chattanooga and the Confederate dead were reinterred at the Confederate Cemetery in Marietta or claimed by family members. The one remaining grave belongs to a young orphan soldier, Private John Ingraham of the lst Confederate Regiment, Georgia Volunteers, who was buried by his comrades where he fell and his body has remained there to this day.
* Edmund Tate of the 15th Georgia was one of eight brothers from Elberton. As the fighting quieted about sunset on September 20, he was hit by a mini ball which entered his left breast, ranged downward and came out his back near the spinal column and made 16 holes as it cut through his blanket rolled across his back. The path of the bullet would suggest that it had gone directly through his heart, but the fact that he was still alive was evidence it had not. When he was examined by the doctor it was discovered that his heart was on his right side. He survived and in later years was always known as the man whose heart was knocked over from his left to right side by a Yankee bullet.
* On the day after the battle, Lieutenant Andrew Jackson Neal of Zebulon wrote to his father in Atlanta, "Our fire was so demoralizing on the enemy that they broke in utter route throwing away their guns, knapsacks, etc. The quantity of killed and wounded is immense on both sides. This is the hardest fighting unless Gettysburg beats it."
* Matthew J. McDonald of Company I, lst Georgia Cavalry enlisted when he was age 14.
* The last words of Confederate General Benjamin Helm, Mary Lincoln's brother-in-law, as he lay dying on the Chickamauga battlefield were "Victory" uttered over and over again.
* The only woman to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor was Dr. Mary Walker, assistant surgeon of the 52nd Ohio Infantry. She was awarded the medal for her valuable service at Chickamauga and later.
* The best Quartermaster for the Confederate forces at Chickamauga was the Federal Army. The Confederates left wing alone captured 40 pieces of artillery, 17,646 small arms and more than 393,000 rounds of small arms ammunition.
* There is always a little humor in battle: General "Rock" Benning's (present day Fort Benning is named after him) brigade of Georgians became separated from each other during the breakthrough of the Federal lines on the 20th of September. Benning, believing his troops had been decimated by the Federal fire, attempted to lead a small group of Georgians in the attack. "D___ you men, stay behind those trees and rocks and give them hell."
* After the War was over, all Confederate soldiers were required to take an oath of allegiance to the Union before they were allowed to become U. S. citizens again.
One such story is that a number of men were before Union General Butler to take the oath of allegiance. One of them, a wag in his way, looked at the General, and with a peculiar Southern drawl, said: "We gave you hell at Chickamauga, General!"
The General was furious at the man's familiar impudence and threatened him with all sorts of punishment. Again came that drawling voice, repeating the first part of the statement, but he was stopped by the General, who ordered him to take the oath of allegiance to the United States at once or he would have him shot. After some hesitation, looking into General Butler's fierce eye, he reluctantly consented to take the oath. After taking the oath, he looked calmly into General Butler's face, and drew himself up as if proud to become a citizen of the United States and a member of the Yankee Army, and said: "General, I suppose I am a good Yankee and citizen of the United States now?" The General replied in a very fatherly tone, "I hope so." "Well, General," he replied, "the rebels did give us hell at Chickamauga, didn't they?"
Chickamauga National Military Park was created by an Act of Congress on August 9, 1890 and is the oldest and largest National Military Park in the United States. Containing over 8,000 acres, the park is located ten miles south of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and four miles north of Chickamauga, Georgia. The park is preserved in the same condition it was during the battle and hundreds of markers assist the visitor in following the sequence of the battle. The battlefield provided a classic school environment for serious military tactical study and, for years, was visited by students of the Army War College, as well as foreign military personnel, to better understand the military tactics of that period of time.