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Battle Of Chickamauga Essay

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The Battle of Chickamauga was one of the bloodiest battles in the U.S. Civil War’s western theatre. General Rosecrans was the Union Army of the Cumberland commanding general. He ultimately failed in the principles of mission command and lost the battle. Gen. Rosecrans made many correct decisions, but his poor decisions caused the Union’s defeat. The Battle of Chickamauga was one of the few Civil War battles where the Confederate Army outnumbered the Union Army involved in the battle. General Rosecrans the Commander of the Army of the Cumberland, and General Braxton Bragg commanding the Army of Tennessee. The Union conducted a strategic campaign aimed at capturing the major industrial area of Chattanooga and its railroad junction. The Union …show more content…

General Rosecrans’ Union forces had spread out as they moved south. The Confederate Army began opening moves nearly cut off 2 Union divisions. The Union divisions barely escaped. This highlighted the Union Army’s vulnerable position and strength of the Confederate Army. Gen. Rosecrans began to reconsolidate his Army. General Rosecrans noticed the large clouds of dust kicked up by Confederate force movement. This represented the first decision point of the battle. General Rosecrans managed to anticipate the Confederate attack plan and began to position his forces to counter it. Initial skirmishes began on 18 Sept as forces attempted to find the disposition of enemy forces. The terrain was a series of open forest and hills that restricted visibility and maneuver. Confederate and Union forces both struggled to arrive on the battle field in large …show more content…

He reconsolidated around an area of terrain called the ‘Horseshoe Bend’. The entire Confederate force focused on General Thomas’ position a series of hills, woods, and high ground that protected the lines of retreat through valleys and draws towards Chattanooga. General Thomas was able to maintain the Union line until the night of 20 September when his force began to withdraw back to Chattanooga. Of the 65,000 Confederate forces involved in the battle, they suffered 18,000 casualties. Union Forces engaged were 60,000, and they suffered 16,000 casualties. Mission Command in the Chickamauga

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The Battle of Chickamauga initiated after Major General William Rosecrans was coming off his successful Tullahoma Campaign, with the Army of the Cumberland, in the summer of 1863. Rosecrans had outmaneuvered the Confederate Army of the Tennessee, under General Braxton Bragg, in Murfreesboro Tennessee, forcing him to move into Chattanooga this maneuvering costed him around 500 troops. President Lincoln was persistent to make Rosecrans move into Chattanooga because of the pivotal role the city had on the South. Chattanooga had important rail lines leading to Nashville, Knoxville, and even as south as Atlanta carrying their iron resource. Chattanooga also held a very good defensive position with the terrain features of Lookout Mountain, Missionary

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In the end, we see that through Thomas’s leadership skills on the battlefield of Chickamauga and the determination to never give up would inspire the Union after their defeat. Thomas’s brilliant stand would allow the Union Army to escape and regroup in Chattanooga which would lead to a victory and the tare of the Confederacy’s communication lines dividing the South. This would give the Union the upper hand to successfully pursue the Confederacy and ultimately lead to the great defeat of the South. Thus General Thomas and Chickamauga would be a great catalyst to the Civil War that would be often overlooked by many historians of our time. Thomas would not stop here he would continue to be a great impact on the Union by having a hand in the victory

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As the Union troops dug in to withstand the attack, General Johnston’s Confederate Army jumped on railcars and headed for Bull Run to reinforce General Beauregard’s Confederate Army. Meanwhile, at Bull Run, General McDowell was attempting to flank General Beauregard’s Confederate Army by moving north and west in order to flank him and his Army. The Union Army began to launch what would be several attacks upon Confederate Forces, to include attack along Bull Run Creek and attacks at the center of the Confederate line at Henry House. Attempting to wear down the Confederate troops at Bull Run, General McDowell was unaware of the reinforcements that were on their way from Harrier’s Ferry to assist the Confederates who were losing ground.

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Sturgis’s men who were tired and getting beaten back panicked. The Union lines were starting to dissolve. Sturgis’s men started routing back towards Tishomingo Creek. They were running away from the field in any direction they could.

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The battle of Chickamauga was a strategic battle between the northern and southern armies that lasted two days in September of 1863 and the largest Confederate victory in the Western theater of the American Civil War. During this battle, Union and Confederate forces were struggling over control of the key railroad center of Chattanooga, Tennessee. The battle was fought between the Army of the Cumberland under Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans and the Confederate Army of Tennessee under Gen. Braxton Bragg, and was named for Chickamauga Creek, which runs near the battle area in northwest Georgia and northeast of downtown Chattanooga. The battle was fought during the late summer and autumn of September 18 – 20, 1863.

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General Bragg anticipated drawing an overly confident Rosecrans into a trap and retake Chattanooga. With renewed confidence that Chattanooga could pass once again into Confederate hands, on the morning of 18 September 1863 General Bragg marched his army to the west bank of Chickamauga Creek, hoping to wedge his troops between Chattanooga and the Federal army. (Powell, The Fight at Reed's Bridge: Failure in the Saddle) The Confederate forces encountered Col. Robert H. G. Minty and his 973 men in the area of Reed’s Bridge. (Powell, The Fight at Reed's Bridge: Failure in the Saddle) Bragg’s infantry commanded by General Johnson and supported by General Forrest crossed the Chickamauga.

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Alternatively, on August 29, 1863, the Union troops cut across the Tennessee River at many acess spots west and southwest of Chattanooga. The troops of the Cumberland, with almost 60,000 men, advanced southeastward in three separated groups over the mountain and valley of northeast Alabama and northwest Georgia to threaten Bragg’s railroad supply line. As Bragg learned of the enemy behind him, he became worried, he then deserted Chattanooga and fell back towards the south, even though Confederate reinforcements arrived from Mississippi and East

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