The Battle of Chickamauga was the largest Confederate victory in the Western Theater of the American Civil War and one of the bloodiest battles of the entire conflict. Fought on September 19th and 20th, 1863, near Chickamauga Creek in northwestern Georgia, it saw Confederate General Braxton Bragg’s army defeat the Union Army of the Cumberland under General William Rosecrans and drive it back to Chattanooga, Tennessee. With approximately 34,000 total casualties, it was the second deadliest battle of the Civil War, ranking only behind Gettysburg.
What Was the American Civil War?
The Battle of Chickamauga took place during the third year of the American Civil War, which was one of the most devastating conflicts in the history of the United States. The Civil War was fought between the Northern states, known as the Union, and the Southern states, known as the Confederacy, from 1861 to 1865. At its heart, the war was driven by the issue of slavery, which had divided the country for decades. By the summer of 1863, the Union had achieved major victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg that shifted the momentum of the war decisively in favor of the North. In the Western Theater, control of the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee, a vital railroad hub and gateway to the Deep South, had become one of the most important strategic goals of the campaign. The Battle of Chickamauga grew directly out of the struggle for that city.
Battle of Chickamauga – Background and Causes
In the summer of 1863, Union General William Rosecrans led his Army of the Cumberland in a skillful campaign against Bragg’s Confederate forces in Tennessee. Through a series of clever flanking movements, Rosecrans outmaneuvered Bragg and forced him to abandon Chattanooga without a major battle. Union troops entered the city on September 9th, 1863, giving the Union a major strategic gain. Rosecrans then made a critical mistake. Assuming that Bragg’s army was demoralized and retreating further south, he divided his forces into three separate corps and sent them chasing after the Confederates through the mountains of northern Georgia. In fact, Bragg had not retreated far. He had pulled back to the LaFayette, Georgia area, was receiving reinforcements, and was preparing to strike back.
The most significant reinforcement Bragg received came from General James Longstreet, who brought two divisions from the Army of Northern Virginia in Virginia all the way to Georgia by rail. It was the first major transfer of troops between the Eastern and Western Theaters of the war and gave Bragg a numerical advantage over Rosecrans. With these reinforcements, Bragg’s army grew to approximately 65,000 soldiers, compared to Rosecrans’s 60,000. When Rosecrans finally realized that Bragg had not retreated as far as he believed, he scrambled to pull his scattered corps back together near Chickamauga Creek, a stream whose name roughly translates from Cherokee as River of Death.
Battle of Chickamauga – Day One: September 19th
Fighting began along Chickamauga Creek on September 18th with cavalry skirmishes at several creek crossings, but the main battle opened on the morning of September 19th, 1863. Much of the fighting took place in dense woods and thickets that made it nearly impossible for commanders on either side to see what was happening across the battlefield. Units from both armies repeatedly ran into each other in the forest, leading to vicious close-quarters combat with enormous casualties. Throughout the day, Bragg sent his forces against the Union left flank, which was anchored by the corps of General George Thomas. Thomas repeatedly called for reinforcements from Rosecrans, who sent them, and the Union left managed to hold through the first day of fighting, though at great cost.
That evening, the remainder of Longstreet’s troops arrived on the Confederate side, giving Bragg’s army a clear numerical advantage for the following day. Bragg planned a coordinated attack at dawn on September 20th, with his right wing under General Leonidas Polk attacking first, followed by Longstreet’s wing on the left. However, a breakdown in communications on the Confederate side delayed Polk’s attack for several hours past the planned start time, giving Rosecrans time in the morning to reposition his forces.
Battle of Chickamauga – Day Two: September 20th
The events of September 20th produced one of the most dramatic reversals of fortune in the entire Civil War. During the morning, Rosecrans received a report suggesting that there was a gap in his line. The report was incorrect, but Rosecrans acted on it immediately, ordering a division to move from one part of the line to fill the imagined gap. The movement actually created the very gap it was intended to fill. At almost exactly that moment, Longstreet’s corps launched its attack directly at the newly opened section of the Union line. Longstreet’s soldiers poured through the gap and struck the Union center and right with enormous force, collapsing roughly one third of the Union army in minutes. The rout was swift and total in that part of the field. Rosecrans himself was swept up in the retreating mass of soldiers and pulled back toward Chattanooga, effectively losing control of the battle.
On the Union left, however, General George Thomas refused to retreat. With the right side of the Union army gone and Confederate forces sweeping around him from multiple directions, Thomas organized the remaining Union soldiers into a defensive line on a ridge called Snodgrass Hill and held his position throughout the afternoon against repeated Confederate assaults. His corps fought off attack after attack until a reserve division arrived to help cover the withdrawal. Thomas held long enough for the rest of the army to make an orderly retreat to Chattanooga. His performance that day earned him a nickname he would carry for the rest of his life: the Rock of Chickamauga.
Despite the magnitude of the Confederate victory, General Bragg declined to pursue the retreating Union army aggressively. Ten Confederate generals had been killed or wounded in the two days of fighting, including General John Bell Hood, who lost his leg, and Bragg was deeply shaken by the enormous cost of the battle. Generals Longstreet and Nathan Bedford Forrest both urged Bragg to press forward immediately and finish off the demoralized Union army before it could reach the safety of Chattanooga. Bragg refused and instead chose to move his army onto the heights surrounding Chattanooga and besiege the city, a decision that would prove to be a major strategic mistake.
Battle of Chickamauga – Casualties and Aftermath
The Battle of Chickamauga was devastating for both sides. Union forces suffered approximately 16,170 casualties including around 1,657 killed, 9,756 wounded, and 4,757 missing or captured. Confederate forces suffered approximately 18,454 casualties including around 2,312 killed and 14,674 wounded. The combined total of approximately 34,000 casualties made Chickamauga the second deadliest battle of the entire Civil War after Gettysburg and the costliest battle ever fought in the Western Theater.
Following the battle, Rosecrans was relieved of command. President Lincoln, frustrated by his performance both during the battle and in the days afterward, replaced him with General George Thomas, who had distinguished himself so notably at Chickamauga. In October of 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant was given overall command of Union forces in the region and arrived at Chattanooga with reinforcements. The following month, in November of 1863, Grant’s forces broke the Confederate siege of Chattanooga in the Battle of Chattanooga, driving Bragg’s army from the heights surrounding the city and reversing the Confederate victory at Chickamauga.
Significance of the Battle of Chickamauga
The Battle of Chickamauga stands as the greatest Confederate victory in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. It came at a critical moment for the Confederate cause, just weeks after the devastating losses at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, and briefly restored Confederate confidence and momentum in the West. However, Bragg’s failure to pursue the beaten Union army and complete the destruction of Rosecrans’s force meant that the victory did not achieve its full potential. Within two months, the Union had reversed the results of Chickamauga at the Battle of Chattanooga and continued its advance toward Atlanta and the heart of the Confederacy. Chickamauga is therefore remembered as a Confederate victory that ultimately became a strategic defeat, and as the battle that gave the Union the Rock of Chickamauga in George Thomas, one of the most dependable commanders the Union produced in the entire war.
