1. Dr Mark Gerges and Dr Greg Hospodor
18-20 September 1863
Battle of Chickamauga
Dr Mark Gerges and Dr Greg Hospodor
Department of Military History
US Army Command and General Staff College

2. Situation, summer 1863 Why Tennessee? Three victorious Union armies
Grant at Vicksburg,4 July 1863
Meade at Gettysburg, 1-3 July 1863
Rosecrans in Tullahoma Campaign, June- 3 July

3. Why Tennessee in 1863? To the Confederacy:
Bread basket- bacon, grains,
Nitrate from caves
80% CSA’s copper
To the Union:
loyal Unionists
deny food supplies
cut rail lines

4. Army of the Cumberland MG William Rosecrans MG George Thomas XIV Corps
MG Alexander McCook
XX Corps
MG Thomas Crittenden
XXI Corps
MG Gordon Granger
Reserve Corps

5. Army of Tennessee 19 September 1863 GEN Braxton Bragg LTG DH Hill
Hill’s Corps
LTG Leonidas Polk
Polk’s Corps
MG Simon B. Buckner
Buckner’s Corps
MG W.H. Walker
Reserve Corps

6. Drawn in Adobe Illustrator CS5 by Hal Jespersen.

7. Crossing the Tennessee and movement into Georgia
Nature of north Georgia: meandering stream, heavily wooded, etc

8. Confederates fight to cross the Chickamauga stream
18 September
Confederates fight to cross the Chickamauga stream

9. 19 September
Confederates attack

10. 19 September
By evening, Confederate attacks shift from north to center of Union line

11. 19 September
By evening, Confederate attacks shift from north to center of Union line

12. Army of Tennessee Morning of 20 September GEN Braxton Bragg
LTG James Longstreet
Left Wing
LTG Leonidas Polk
Right Wing
MG Simon B. Buckner
Buckner’s Corps
LTG DH Hill
Hill’s Corps
MG John B. Hood
Longstreet’s Corps
MG W.H. Walker
Reserve Corps

13. Morning- CSA attack resumes—but 4 hours late.
20 September
Morning- CSA attack resumes—but 4 hours late.
LTG Leonidas Polk
Right Wing

14. 20 September 11:00 a.m.: Union disaster! MG William Rosecrans
BG Thomas Wood

15. 20 September Evening: BG James Garfield, chief of staff to Rosecrans
“Thomas is standing like a rock.”
BG James Garfield, chief of staff to Rosecrans
MG George Thomas
XIV Corps

16. BUT. . . Army of the Cumberland defeated, not destroyed.
Results of the Battle
Rosecrans is "confused and stunned like a duck hit on the head.”
A. Lincoln
Union Army surrounded in Chattanooga
(on three sides)
and a new general set to arrive on the scene
BUT. . . Army of the Cumberland defeated, not destroyed.

17. Results of the Battle Longstreet corps detached to Knoxville
Didn’t destroy the Army of the Cumberland.
Didn’t liberate any territory lost that summer.
Did stop advance towards Atlanta.
And a morale boost after a terrible summer. . .

18. Why did they fight in lines? Were they stupid?

19. Deployment
The “Flanks”
Theoretically there were around 100 men in each of 10 companies— around 1000 men. In reality, there were usually much less.
Flags played a key role in the regiment.

20. Small Arms Enfield Rifled Musket—Minie Projectiles and Cartridge
Bayonet
Model 1842 Smoothbore Musket—Buck and Ball Projectiles and Cartridge

21. The Theoretical Arithmetic of Logistics
requires 3 pounds of food per day (not incl. water).
The daily individual ration for a Union soldier:
20 ounces of fresh or salt beef or 12 ounces of pork or bacon
1 pound of hard bread or 18 ounces of flour or 20 of cornmeal.
Additionally per every 100 men:
15 pounds of beans or peas
10 pounds of rice or hominy
10 pounds of green coffee or 1.5 pounds of tea
15 pounds of sugar
4 quarts of vinegar
3.75 pounds of salt
4 ounces of pepper
30 pounds of potatoes
when practicable, 1 quart of molasses.
Approximately: 3,000 calories.

22. Water and railroad supply allowed your army to look like this …
100,000 men
rather than this!
10,000 men

23. There are roughly 9,500 miles of rail lines in the Confederacy.

25. As far as a logistician is concerned the advantages of railroads are legion.
Can you think of any?
Advantages:
CAPACITY
A Civil War-era railcar could carry as much as 15 tons. One 10-car train could carry as many supplies as 150 wagons.
SPEED
A train traveled 5 times faster than a wagon train, which meant more round trips and that fewer resources needed to be devoted to supply services.
DEPENDABILITY
Anyone who has ever dealt with mules will tell you they have a mind of their own. Enough said!
AVAILABILITY
More rolling stock and locomotives could be produced on demand and in different models. This doesn’t apply to mules and horses!

26. Can you think of two reasons why?
As good as railroads were for supply, knowledgeable commanders, especially Union ones, preferred supply lines based on water transport.
Can you think of two reasons why?
SECURITY
“We are much obliged to the Tennessee [River] which has favored us most opportunely, for I am never easy with a railroad which takes a whole army to guard, each foot of rail is essential to the whole; whereas, they can’t stop the Tennessee … .”
General William Tecumseh Sherman, “Sinews of War”
CAPACITY
An ordinary Ohio River steamboat of 500 tons carried enough supplies to supply an army of 40,000 men and 18,000 horses for nearly two days.  This was the equivalent of five 10-car freight trains.

27. The past is a foreign country . . .
Why use military history?
Tactics: critical thinking, relationship between technology and tactics
Personalities: politics, leadership, irony
Battle: critical thinking, results– battle the arbiter
Document based research and questions:
Defend or refute Bragg’s statement that if it were not for the loss of these four hours (on 20 Sept), "our independence might have been won.”
Battle analysis:
Students assigned role of commanders
Discuss what they knew, what they thought they knew, and their decisions on a map.

28. Suggested Sources Some really good websites to start:
National parks—
National Archives (NARA)—
The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, a.k.a the O.R.
Steven E. Woodworth
Six Armies in Tennessee: The Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaigns.
A Deep Steady Thunder: The Battle of Chickamauga
Robertson, William Glenn
The Battle of Chickamauga: National Park Civil War Series.
"The Chickamauga Campaign: The Fall of Chattanooga." Blue & Gray Magazine, Fall 2006.
"The Chickamauga Campaign: McLemore's Cove." Blue & Gray Magazine, Spring 2007.
"The Chickamauga Campaign: The Armies Collide.” Blue & Gray Magazine, Fall 2007.
"The Chickamauga Campaign: The Battle of Chickamauga, Day 1." Blue & Gray Magazine, Spring 2008.
"The Chickamauga Campaign: The Battle of Chickamauga, Day 2." Blue & Gray Magazine, Summer 2008.

29. Questions? Mark Greg Mark.gerges@us.army.mil