Battle of Chattanooga
The Battle of Chattanooga, fought in late November 1863 during the American Civil War, was a pivotal confrontation between Union and Confederate forces. Following a successful campaign at Vicksburg, Union General Ulysses S. Grant moved to relieve the besieged Union forces in Chattanooga, a key railroad hub in eastern Tennessee. The city had fallen under siege by Confederate General Braxton Bragg, who had previously defeated Union troops at the Battle of Chickamauga. Upon arriving in mid-October, Grant focused on restoring supply lines and planning a counteroffensive.
On November 25, 1863, Grant executed a bold strategy, including a diversionary attack in the center while striking at Bragg's flanks. Union troops, under the command of General George H. Thomas, unexpectedly surged up Missionary Ridge, breaking through Confederate defenses and leading to a significant Union victory. The battle resulted in heavy casualties on both sides, with the Confederates losing approximately 6,700 troops and the Union around 5,800. This decisive Union victory at Chattanooga effectively secured their control in the Western theater of the war, marking a turning point in the conflict.
Battle of Chattanooga
Date: November 23–25, 1863
Location: Chattanooga, Tennessee
Combatants: Union vs. Confederacy
Principal commanders:Confederate, Braxton Bragg (1817–1870); Union, General Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885), George H. Thomas (1816–1870)
Result: Mainly because of good luck, the Union general Ulysses S. Grant won another important victory that solidified the growing Union strength in the South.
Following his victory at Vicksburg, Mississippi, in July, 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant, accompanied by General William T. Sherman and his corps, went east to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where a Union army was under siege. Chattanooga was a railroad center and the largest city in eastern Tennessee, an area noted for its Union sentiments. Braxton Bragg, leading the Confederate forces, had won a victory south of the city at Chickamauga (September 20, 1863), forcing the Union Army to fall back into Chattanooga. Grant arrived in mid-October.
After restoring the supply line that Bragg had cut, Grant launched his attack on November 25. He planned to strike Bragg’s flanks, with a feint in the center. The troops of George H. Thomas, commander of the Union Army of the Cumberland, made the feint up Missionary Ridge, drove out the Confederates who had been facing them in their trenches, and to the amazement of the Union commanders, continued, without orders, right up the hill to destroy Bragg’s line. Bragg lost sixty-seven hundred troops, Grant fifty-eight hundred. With Vicksburg and Chattanooga firmly in the hands of the Union, the Confederate position in the West had become tenuous at best.