Tag Archives: Army of Tennessee

SHILOH – CONFEDERATE VICTORY ON DAY ONE

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Mortuary upturned cannon denotes the death of Confederate commander General Albert Sidney Johnston in the afternoon of the first day at Shiloh.
Mortuary upturned cannon denotes the death of Confederate commander General Albert Sidney Johnston in the afternoon of the first day at Shiloh.

Shiloh remains one of the best preserved of American Civil War battlefields. It is also one of the most important, too, for it was here that America – North and South – got a true look at what the human cost of war would actually entail. The two-day battle here – 6-7 April 1862 – proved the costliest in terms of casualties in American history to that date – almost 27,000 casualties for both sides including the life of the Confederate commander General Albert Sidney Johnston – the highest-ranking soldier killed during the entire war.

The carnage from this battle shocked both sides and demonstrated that the war would probably not be decided by one thunder stroke on the battlefield but would persist with much more bloodshed. In fact, eight battles – and innumerable smaller ones – that were larger and bloodier in scope during the three long years lay ahead.

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BUILD UP TO SHILOH – “WATER OUR HORSES IN THE TENNESSEE”

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Federal steamboats gather at Pittsburg Landing as Grant and Buell build up their forces along the Tennessee River.
Federal steamboats gather at Pittsburg Landing as Grant and Buell build up their forces along the Tennessee River.

Shiloh National Military Park sits just north of the border of southwestern Tennessee and northeastern Mississippi.  Of the major battlefields of the American Civil War, Shiloh lies farther out of reach to the average tourist than the others.  By car, the fields lie two hours by car from Memphis and three from Nashville.  As a result, you will not find as many visitors on the spread-out grounds as some of the other Battle parks. It is important to understand the build up to Shiloh to better figure out why there was even a battle here.

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KENNESAW MOUNTAIN – A MORNING DASH IN GEORGIA

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Cannon sits in an emplacement atop Big Kennesaw Mountain.
Cannon sits in an emplacement atop Big Kennesaw Mountain.

Kennesaw Mountain saw the third time during the American Civil War in which William T. Sherman employed a direct assault upon entrenched Confederate positions.  The attack failed as much as his previous two attempts.  All through the Atlanta campaign, Sherman had gotten around the Confederate positions set out by Joseph E. Johnston through flanking maneuvers.  Sherman wrote to Washington, “The whole country is one vast fort, and Johnston must have at least 50 miles (80 km) of connected trenches with abatis and finished batteries. We gain ground daily, fighting all the time. … Our lines are now in close contact and the fighting incessant, with a good deal of artillery. As fast as we gain one position the enemy has another all ready. … Kennesaw … is the key to the whole country.”  For the key, Sherman decided to open it with a direct frontal assault.

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RESACA – FLANKING THE DEVIL OUT OF HELL, PHASE ONE

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James Walker's painting of the Battle of Resaca from the viewpoint of General Butterfield's perspective.
James Walker’s painting of the Battle of Resaca from the viewpoint of General Butterfield’s perspective.

Of the many battles of the American Civil War, Resaca remains one of those little-known today.  The battle accounted for the second highest casualty number during the entire Atlanta Campaign – May-September 1864.  The 5,500 number, only surpassed by the Battle of Atlanta – 20 July, rated significantly higher than Kennesaw Mountain, the only Federally protected site of the entire campaign.  Resaca was the only time in the entire campaign, also, where the full complement of Federal and Confederate units faced off and took part in the fighting during the campaign.

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ROCKY FACE START ON THE WAY TO ATLANTA

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Looking down the west slopes of Rocky Race Mountain at Dug Gap.
Looking down the west slopes of Rocky Face Mountain at Dug Gap.

1863 saw decisions made in the West and East, decisions eventually proving decisive though at the time, an end to the war still lay deep ahead, hidden in the fogbank of the future.  Federal armies in Virginia started the new year approximately where they had the previous year.  In the West, the Mississippi River returned to Federal control with the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson.  Further east, near Chattanooga on the Tennessee-Georgia border, the Confederate Army of Tennessee hung on after their serious setback on Missionary Ridge negated their victory earlier at Chickamauga.  Under General Joseph E. Johnston’s new command, the Confederates dug in atop nearby Rocky Face Mountain barring the way for the soon-to-come Federal push towards Atlanta.

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MISSIONARY RIDGE – ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND CONFOUNDS GRANT

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Illinois State Monument stands at Bragg Reservation atop Missionary Ridge with guns representing Massenberg's Georgia Battery which were overrun.
Illinois State Monument stands at Bragg Reservation atop Missionary Ridge with guns representing Massenberg’s Georgia Battery which were overrun.

The battle of Chickamauga severely troubled the Federal Army of the Cumberland.  Mainly due to a failure in command, the Army suffered a stiff rebuke on 20 September 1863 losing over 16,000 casualties.  Routed, the force made its way back to Chattanooga thanks to the steady defense shown on Horseshoe Ridge by men scrabbled together by General George Thomas.  Luckily, their antagonist, the Confederate Army of Tennessee suffered even more casualties in victory – over 18,000.  More problematic for the Confederate commander Braxton Bragg was a large loss of horses for an army already suffering mobility problems before that epic confrontation.

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TUNNEL HILL – MAGIC OF SHERMAN; GONE FOR A DAY

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The small Pennsylvania Reservation at the bottom of Tunnel Hill with monuments and tablets telling the story of Sherman and his repulse 25 November 1863.
The small Pennsylvania Reservation at the bottom of Tunnel Hill with monuments and tablets telling the story of Sherman and his repulse 25 November 1863.

The Chattanooga section of the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park consists of several disparate sections separated by over a century of urbanity.  Two of the lesser-known parts of the park lie at the northern end of Missionary Ridge – the Sherman and the Pennsylvania Reservations.  These two reserves remember the heavy fighting of 25 November 1863 on Tunnel Hill.  Tunnel Hill, so-called for the railroad tunnel for the Chattanooga & Cleveland Railroad.  Here, the better part of the Army of the Tennessee, led by Major General William Sherman, with additional troops provided by the division of Jefferson C. Davis and the Federal 11th Corps hit the northern flank of Braxton Bragg’s Missionary Ridge position.  The goal was to gain Tunnel Hill and roll up Bragg’s position from that end.

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ORCHARD KNOB – DRESS REHERSAL TO GAIN THE HEIGHTS

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Monuments and cannons crowd the top of Orchard Knob.
Monuments and cannons crowd the top of Orchard Knob.

REHERSAL TO GAIN THE HEIGHTS

The battle of Chickamauga over the last days of September 1863 delivered a severe blow to the Union Army of the Cumberland pushing that army back into the fortifications of Chattanooga while the victorious Confederate Army of Tennessee stood upon the heights surrounding the city – Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge.

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LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN – SOUTHERN MAGIC DISIPATES IN FORECAST OF FUTURE

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Idealized painting of the Battle of Lookout Mountain. Joseph Hooker rides the white horse in center.

Flying from the west into Atlanta, looking out the window it is hard to miss the waves of mountains sprawling in long ranks southwest to northeast not unlike a series of geographically arranged ribs.  Chattanooga, Tennessee lies smack dab in the middle of these ancient ripples.  And flowing right through the middle of the long mountain spines is the Tennessee River looping back and forth onto itself as it brushes through the city.  The long ridges, extending for vast distances from Birmingham. Alabama in the southwest all the way to the northeastern edge of Pennsylvania in the northeast, represents a vast area once an ancient seabed that underwent uplift.  Eons have worn down the region, though Lookout Mountain still rises 1,500 feet above the city below. 

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CHICKAMAUGA – STORIES TOLD IN GRANITE ON THE RIVER OF DEATH

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Monument to the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment and the Field Headquarters of General William Rosecrans 20 September 1863 at Chickamauga.
Monument to the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment and the Field Headquarters of General William Rosecrans 20 September 1863 at Chickamauga.

The second deadliest battle of the American Civil War, Chickamauga is nowhere near as well-known as other battles such as Gettysburg, Antietam, or Vicksburg.  The first two were fought by the Army of the Potomac, the main Federal army fighting in the eastern theater of the war centered on Virginia.  If this army had been destroyed, the Federal cause would have been defeated.  Neither Gettysburg nor Antietam were large-scale Federal victories.  They both were emphatic ending notes to the two invasions of the Northern States in 1862 and 1863 by General Robert E. Lee and his Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.  Vicksburg meant the Confederate States were split into two as Federal control over the Mississippi came into being.

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