The Union troops, which were called back to the foot of the ridge by those officers who thought their orders carried them only thus far, caused Bragg to believe that they had been repulsed by the fire of his troops; he rode along his line congratulating them, when he was informed that his line was broken further to the right, and the Union forces had crowned the ridge. The victory was gained too late in the evening to ensure an effective pursuit. The enemy had all night, after crossing the Chickamauga, in which to move undisturbed his troops and wagon trains; he made the distance between himself and the pursuing force as great as possible before morning. General Grant was apparently justified in waiting for Hooker to arrive at Rossville before he ordered Thomas’s advance, but he was not justified in waiting so long as he did for Sherman’s expected capture of Tunnel Hill. Yet who could hope or believe that Thomas’s troops could successfully assault so formidable a position as they did? Hooker was delayed four hours in crossing Chattanooga Creek. If Grant had sent Howard’s Corps at 10 a. m. on the 25th to Rossville in Hooker’s place, instead of sending it to Sherman, and as soon as it was in position, ordered Thomas, Howard, and Sherman to advance in unison, the same result would have occurred at one or two o’clock as was secured much later, and then the four and a half or five hours of daylight would have been sufficient to injure the Confederate Army very greatly before it could have crossed the Chickamauga. But it is very easy to look back and criticise. On the battlefield there may be reasons, apparent to a commander, why these supposable movements could not be made that are not so palpable to a historian, who may lose sight of all the complex situations, the inside knowledge of the commander, and his fearful responsibility to the country.
The pursuit was taken up on the morning of the 26th by General Hooker’s troops and Palmer’s Fourteenth Corps. Hooker attacked the enemy in a strong position at Ringgold Gap on Taylor’s Ridge; he lost heavily without inflicting corresponding injury on the enemy. The Fourth Corps was marched back to the city on the morning of the 26th to make preparations for the relief of Burnside at Knoxville.
On the 27th, the pursuit was abandoned at Ringgold, twenty-three miles by rail south of Chattanooga. General Grant telegraphed from that place at 2 p. m. to General Halleck at Washington, D. C.: “I am not prepared to continue pursuit further.” The official reports neither give the strength of the Union Army nor of the Confederate Army. At the time of the attack on Missionary Ridge the Union Army outnumbered largely the Confederate Army. A large part of this disparity in numbers was offset by the extraordinarily strong position of the Confederate forces, and the fact that the Union Army was the aggressor. Could Bragg have commanded the resources that Grant did, he would have gladly availed himself of them in order to outnumber the Union Army; no false notions of chivalry prevented either army from availing itself of any great advantage in battle, which is habitually taken where war is waged. The Confederate boast at the beginning of the war that one Confederate could out-fight five Yankees—as all northern troops were called by the Confederates—was rather incompatible with their complaint after the war, that they were crushed only by weight of numbers.
Military skill will sometimes win battles against numbers; this was not the case in the battles around Chattanooga, however. Bragg does not give his losses in his official report; but he lost to the Union Army in prisoners 6,142 men, 42 pieces of artillery, 69 gun carriages, and 7,000 stands of small arms. He destroyed much other material before and during his flight.
The Union less was 5,286 killed and wounded, and 330 missing. These losses seem small compared with other battles of less importance—Chickamauga for instance; but it must be remembered that the sacrifice for the continued possession of Chattanooga by the Union Army includes also all the losses of the conflicts of the Tullahoma campaign, of Chickamauga, Wauhatchie, Lookout Mountain, Orchard Knob, and Missionary Ridge. When it is considered how much these battles meant, in their causal effect on the final suppression of the rebellion itself, their value becomes apparent.
WISCONSIN TROOPS IN THE BATTLE OF MISSIONARY RIDGE
Wisconsin’s part in the battle of Missionary Ridge was important and honorable. The First and Twenty-first Infantry were in Starkweather’s brigade of Johnson’s division. This brigade had lost heavily at Chickamauga; it was assigned to remain in Chattanooga in order to hold the works, while the army was assaulting the ridge. This duty was cheerfully and thoroughly done, although it deprived the brigade of the glory of charging up the ridge.
The Tenth Infantry remained on detached duty holding a fort south of the Crutchfield house, on the side of Lookout Mountain, and did not ascend the ridge.
The Fifteenth Infantry was attached to Willich’s brigade of Wood’s division of Granger’s fourth corps; it was commanded by Captain John A. Gordon. In the ascent of the ridge it was in the reserve line of the brigade, therefore its loss was nominal; the entire loss during the battles was 6 men wounded. General Willich speaks of the regiment in high terms in his report. It consisted only of 130 men.
Before coming to the Army of the Cumberland the Fifteenth Infantry had distinguished itself. On October 19, 1862, Major Quincy McNeill of the Second Illinois Cavalry wrote to the Governor of Wisconsin, from Island Number Ten, that there was no braver man in the service than Captain John A. Gordon.
The Eighteenth Infantry came with Sherman’s troops of the Army of the Tennessee; it was commanded by Colonel Gabriel Bouck and attached to the First Brigade (Alexander’s), of the Second Division (General John E. Smith’s), of the Seventeenth Corps. This infantry regiment was engaged with Sherman’s troops on the extreme left; its losses are not reported. It was organized at Milwaukee in February, 1862, and was mustered in March. It proceeded to Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, and became a part of the Army of the Tennessee on April 5, 1862. This regiment was heavily engaged in the battle at that place on April 6; also in the battle of Corinth and other engagements prior to its coming to Chattanooga. The Eighteenth Infantry was noted for the size of its men; it was said that Company G of this regiment averaged by actual weight 160 pounds to the man. At the battle of Pittsburg Landing on April 6, 1862, this regiment was in the left brigade of General Prentiss’s division; it was then commanded by its first colonel, J. S. Alban. It formed for battle only thirty rods from its tents, and fifteen minutes later the Confederate line was upon it. The enemy outflanked and overpowered it; Alban was wounded, and carried from the field, dying soon afterwards; the Lieutenant-Colonel was also wounded and Major Crane was killed. All this occurred one week after the regiment left its camp of organization in Wisconsin. Captain Gabriel Bouck, Company E, Second Wisconsin Infantry was made Colonel of the Eighteenth on April 22, 1862.
The Twenty-fourth Infantry was attached to Francis T. Sherman’s Brigade of Sheridan’s division of the Fourth Corps, and was commanded by Major Carl Von Baumbach. His official report is a vivid account of how the top of the ridge was gained, “My regiment advanced in admirable line of battle up to the first pits of the enemy. Upon reaching the first line, the men were pretty much exhausted, and unable to move for some time. In about five minutes, however, we moved over the first pits of the enemy, but after advancing beyond the first line, the line of battle was not regular. The men took advantage of all obstacles, in the way, for shelter, and thus advanced toward the top of the ridge. The fighting was fierce and severe, but owing to the formation of the ground my men were able to screen themselves partially, from the deadly volleys, that were being hurled at us, at every step of our advance. In the course of the ascent my men had to rest several times on account of exhaustion. But at length we succeeded in gaining the crest of the ridge, after two hours steady fighting * * * I would most respectfully mention Adjutant Arthur McArthur, Jr., for his bravery. When the color sergeant was exhausted he carried the flag in front of the regiment, cheering the men to follow him up the ridge.”
The loss of the Twenty-fourth is given as 31 killed and wounded. Captain Howard Greene and Lieutenant Robert J. Chivas were killed. Captain Richard H. Austin and Lieutenant Thomas E. Balding were wounded. Major Von Baumbach commended especially the bravery of the latter two.
The Twenty-sixth Infantry, still in the second brigade of Schurz’s division of the Eleventh Corps, was commanded by Major F. C. Winkler; this regiment followed the movements of its brigade and on November 25, was with Sherman on the extreme left. Its losses are not reported.
The Third, Eighth, and Tenth light batteries were in the First Brigade of the Second Division of the artillery reserve. Company C of the first heavy artillery was in the Second Brigade of the same division.
The Eighth Battery did excellent service on the evening of the 24th, when Carlin’s brigade crossed Chattanooga Creek at its mouth and joined Hooker. Lieutenant O. German, commanding the battery, placed two sections near the mouth of the creek on its right bank, and shelled the Confederate position and the road up the east of the mountain. On the 25th, after the infantry had taken Missionary Ridge it ascended to the crest. Losses, none.
The Fifth Battery was part of the artillery which was so placed as to cover the pontoon bridge at the mouth of the Chickamauga, where Sherman’s troops crossed on the 24th.
The Twelfth Battery was placed on a hill near the location of the Fifth Battery.
The Sixth and Twelfth batteries were attached officially to the Second Division of the Seventeenth Corps; therefore they were on the left with Sherman during the 25th. Their losses are not reported.
There is no report from the Tenth Battery, which was stationed at Harrison’s Landing, about twelve miles up the river, east of Chattanooga; a section of this battery reported to Colonel Eli Long (of the cavalry) at Calhoun, Tennessee.
Battery C of the First Regiment of Wisconsin Heavy Artillery was mustered in October 1, 1863; it was sent directly to Chattanooga and assigned to Fort Wood.
The Sixth Wisconsin Battery was mustered into service at Racine, Wisconsin, October 2, 1861. It did not leave the State until March 15, 1862, when it went to St. Louis. It took part in the siege of Island Number Ten, the siege and battle of Corinth, and the siege of Vicksburg. This battery came to Chattanooga with the Fifteenth Corps under Sherman.
The Tenth Wisconsin Light Battery was mustered into the service at Milwaukee on February 10, 1862, with Captain Yates V. Beebe as commander. It left the State March 18 and went to St. Louis. From there it joined the Army of the Tennessee and took part in the battle of Corinth. On September 14, 1862, it arrived at Nashville, and took part in the battle of Stone’s River. It did active duty in various locations until the date of the battles around Chattanooga.
The Twelfth Wisconsin Battery was organized and equipped at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. It did service in both Tennessee and Mississippi until coming to Chattanooga with General Sherman.
The Army of the Cumberland—as reorganized prior to the battles around Chattanooga—with General Thomas in command, was now in permanent possession of Chattanooga. The Confederate Army took up its winter quarters at Dalton, Georgia, on the railway twenty-eight miles southeast of Chattanooga, across two mountain ranges. The assignment of General Grant as commander of the Division of the Mississippi—giving him command of all the forces, operating in the States of Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi—which so greatly contributed to the victories in the battles around Chattanooga, insured also the permanent holding of that city.
Whatever was accomplished by Rosecrans during the four months of the campaign, beginning on June 23 at Murfreesboro, and ending on October 19, 1863 at Chattanooga, was done by him and his Army of the Cumberland alone. He could not get any cooperation from the East or West. The President and General Halleck at Washington, seemed to be in earnest by the wording of their dispatches, as published in the Rebellion Record, in urging and commanding Burnside in east Tennessee and the Army of the Tennessee on the Mississippi to join with Rosecrans prior to the battle of Chickamauga; for reasons not apparent to the reader of present history, no reinforcements came. It is pathetic to read the official record of those days, which gives an account of the struggles, the marches, the battles, the sacrifices, the patient endurance by the musket bearers of extreme fatigue, and the cheerfulness with which the soldiers endured all. They faced death without a thought of their real heroism. To one who went through the campaign and came out alive and unwounded it is incomprehensible, that all did not die.
It is true other armies, such as those of the Potomac, the Tennessee, and the one in Missouri had campaigns at the same time and were equally exposed to the hazards of war; but none of them marched over a territory so mountainous and so difficult; none of them fought battles in so perilous a region or with more deadly effect, than the soldiers in the battle of Chickamauga. Had the Union Army been really defeated and had it lost Chattanooga, the army could hardly have recovered from the disaster, without the quick aid of large reinforcements, which were too far away at that time to be available in an emergency. Burnside was besieged at Knoxville, and the Army of the Tennessee so far away, that it took weeks to get it to Chattanooga. It will be of great interest to the future student of the military history of the War between the States to follow the subsequent campaigns of the Western armies after Grant became commander-in-chief, and Sherman was assigned to the command in the West, with headquarters at Chattanooga. He will apprehend how all the armies worked together, and how soon the rebellion itself was crushed, although its soldiers fought to the bitter end.