Introduction

On August 16, 1863, after regrouping in Stevenson and Bridgeport, Alabama, Union Brevet Major General William S. Rosecrans decided to continue his pursuit of Confederate General Braxton Bragg. Three Union Corps crossed the Tennessee River and began movement towards gaps in Sand Mountain and Lookout Mountain in Georgia. General Gordon Granger and the Reserve Corps kept pressure on Bragg's Army of Tennessee in Chattanooga while Col. John Wilder moved northeast of Chattanooga and dropped artillery shells on the Confederates.

Initial Movements

Union

With roughly 65,000 men, William Rosecrans and the Army of the Cumberland deployed in a semi-circle around Chattanooga from western Alabama to Northeastern Tennessee. Thomas Crittenden and the XXI Corps (Left Wing, 14,000 men) crossed the Tennessee River at Shellmound, Tennessee (now under Lake Nickajack) and moved across the north end of Lookout Mountain (nearest Chattanooga) to Rossville, Georgia, before heading south over established roads to Lee and Gordon's Mill. George Thomas and the XIV Corps (Center Wing, 22,000 men) crossed the river at Bridgeport, Alabama, moved into Stevens Gap before dropping into McLemore Cove, a deep mountain cove formed by Lookout Mountain and Pigeon Mountain. Alexander McCook and the XX Corps (Right Wing) crossed the river at Caperton's Ferry, Alabama, crossing Lookout Mountain at Winstons Gap and Hendersons Gap before dropping into Broomtown Valley southwest of Menlo, Georgia at Alpine. Winstons and Hendersons are not technically gaps in Lookout Mountain, but low areas were farm roads had been built.

Additionally, Rosecrans deployed smaller groups, each as a distraction aimed directly at Bragg. Colonel John Wilder deployed his troops north of Chattanooga across the Tennessee while Brigadier General William Hazen moved a brigade as if to threaten Simon Bolivar Buckner's Army of East Tennessee in Knoxville by joining Ambrose Burnside and the reformed Army of the Ohio in attacking Buckner. Hazen's destination was actually Wilder's left flank. Also north of Chattanooga was Brigadier General George Wagner and Robert Minty's cavalry, who, along with Wilder's Lightning Brigade, were under the command of Hazen. Only Gordon Grainger and his Reserve Corps was left guarding the railroad and telegraphs wires of southern Tennessee from the renown abilities of Nathan Bedford Forrest, with Bragg at Chattanooga.

Confederate

The Army of Tennessee had been dwindling since its withdrawal from Murfreesboro, Tennessee the previous winter, mostly because of desertions. In Chattanooga, the 40,000 man force was divided between Daniel Harvey Hill and Leonidas Polk. Hill had just been promoted to Lieutenant General so that he outranked General Alexander Peter (AP) Stewart and transferred from North Carolina in hopes the commander could replace William Hardee. Jefferson Davis ordered Hardee west in June in an attempt to draw Ulysses S. Grant's attention away from Vicksburg as well as break up the anti-Bragg cabal that always formed among Bragg's subordinates.

When Rosecrans began his initial movements on August 16, Bragg decided to wait and see what developed. On August 21, after returning from a hospital near Ringgold where both he and his wife were being treated, Bragg acted, withdrawing garrisons near Chattanooga and deploying A. P. Stewart's to Buckner in Knoxville. He also wired Joseph E. Johnston, now in command of the West, to request the 11 additional brigades of infantry that Johnston had promised him if he were attacked.

The only problem was Johnston never had 11 brigades to send to Bragg. Instead, he tapped the divisions of W. H. T. "Billy" Walker and John Breckinridge (6 brigades in total) and sent them to Bragg over the next week. Finally, Bragg ordered the citizens of Chattanooga to leave the city, a controversial order that many chose to disobey.

Crossing the Tennessee

Starting on August 29, 1863 three separate crossings of the Tennessee River were managed by the Army of the Cumberland, each with a different commander. The Left Wing crossing of the river at Shellmound, Tennessee, was entrusted to Joseph Reynolds who used flatboats to cross and secured the opposite bank without resistance. At Bridgeport, General William Lytle used a combination of logs from nearby forests, floorboards from local houses, some pontoons that arrived by rail and the remains of a destroyed railroad bridge to span the Tennessee in two days. On September 1, 1863, General Philip Sheridan rode across the bridge and assumed command of his division, part of George Thomas's Center Wing.

Only to the south, near Capeton's Ferry, did there appear to be any organized resistance. Colonel Hans Christian Heg could see the Confederate fires across the river, so he choose boats to send the Right Wing across the river. Only the sound of oars striking the water and muffled commands came from the boats as they glided across the river. Rebel pickets fired a single volley as the Union soldiers reached the opposite bank, withdrawing up Sand Mountain with Billy Yanks in hot pursuit.

Once across, the Union Army began running into logistics problems almost immediately. A section of Lytle's hastily built bridge collapse, stranding Absolam Baird until September 4th. While Hans Heg moved some of the right wing quickly across, Brigadier General John Brannon took longer and had to wait for Reynolds' men to clear the single road out of Shellmound. John Palmer's men then had to wait for Brannon's boats and for Brannon to clear the road.

As Rosecrans men disappeared into Sand Mountain and Lookout Mountain they also disappeared from Bragg's scouts. Little was known of their whereabouts and that had Bragg deeply concerned. As the reinforcements from Johnston arrived, Bragg was distracted, trying to get his Cavalry chief, Joe Wheeler, to find the main body of the Army of the Cumberland.

Although Bragg did not know it, by September 4th the Right and Center Wings had mostly crossed Sand Mountain and were crossing the valley toward Lookout Mountain. Crittenden, slowed by a variety of woes, approached Whitesides that morning. He forwarded orders from headquarters for a reconnaissance of the railroad in the area to Brigadier General Thomas Wood, who chose to ignore them. When Crittenden reminded Wood of the orders, Wood sent a brigade under Charles Harker forward, but then withdrew to a safer place. After a series of communication between Rosecrans adjutant James Garfield, Crittenden and Wood, Rosecrans admonished Wood, setting up the fateful obedience to orders that would allow the Confederate breakthrough at the Brotherton Cabin.

Not yet sure of his destination, Bragg had his adjutant draft orders for a movement to Rome, Georgia on September 6. On September 7th, as the Army of Tennessee withdrew from Chattanooga they discovered a portion of Crittenden's Left Wing had seized the small portion of Lookout Mountain overlooking Chattanooga.

From the eastern front, Davis and Robert E. Lee agreed that reinforcing Bragg was a good idea at this crucial time. Lee tapped James Longstreet for a variety of reasons, including the fact that of all his commanders Longstreet knew Rosecrans the best -- they had roomed together at West Point. What Lee did not know is that Longstreet expected to be placed in command of the Army of Tennessee at least temporarily while in Georgia.

After Bragg withdrew from Chattanooga he finally found out where at least part of the Union Army was. Cavalry reported that Thomas entered McClemore Gap, and he knew Crittenden was atop Lookout Mountain. As Crittenden came down on September 9th, the Left Wing commander detached the 92nd Illinois Regiment to take Chattanooga. Only the whereabouts of the 13,000 man Right Wing remained unknown, so Bragg decided to turn and fight Rosecrans' divided force in detail. Bragg's first attack would strike the Center Wing under George Thomas.

Davis Crossroads

The Civil War in Georgia
Beginning with the Great Locomotive Chase and the battle of Chickamauga, to the Atlanta Campaign and the March to the Sea

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Braxton Bragg
Daniel Harvey Hill
George Thomas
James Garfield
James Longstreet
Jefferson Davis
Joseph E. Johnston
Leonidas Polk
Nathan Bedford Forrest
Robert E. Lee
Simon Bolivar Buckner
Ulysses S. Grant
William Hardee
William S. Rosecrans

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