,1/ / ^^ E 475 81 L23 Copy 1 AMBROSE LAMMEY THE CHATTANOOGA CAMPAIGN AMBROSE LAMMEY, Corporal Company C, H8th 111. Vol . Inf'y' The campaign for the possession of Chattanooga commenced with General Rosecrans' advance from Murfreesboro, June 24, 1863. His army was composed of about 60,000 men of all arms' di.vided into four Arm}' Corps. The advance was made simultaneously by four different roads. The extreme left under Crittenden made a wide detour to the southeast in the direction of McMinnville, the centre un- der Thomas passed through Hoover's Gap on the road to Manchester, while the right under McCook was headed for Shelby vllle, save thirtv miles west of south, where 18,000 rebels were encamped under General Poik. General Hardee was at Wartrace, a few miles east, on a branch of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad; Breckenridge had 10,00q more in East Tennessee which, with . scattering commands of cavalry and infantry elsewhere, made up an army of 46,000 men. It was General Rosecrans'-evident intention to flaMk the positions held by the enemy at Wartrace ana Shelbyville and force Bragg to fight elsewhere than behind the entrenchments which he had preoared. In this he was unsuccessful for while the passes through the mountains as at Hoover'tii, Liberty and Guy's Gaps were fortified and defended for a time against the.advancing columns of Thomas and McCook. they were soon forced to evacuate and retire or be captured. Three days after the advance commenced the rebels were compelled to leave their fortified camps and retreat to the south or accept the gauge of battle on ground v, hich was not of their own choosing. Bragg took the- former alternative and continued to retire until he had crossed the Duck, the Elk: and the Tennessee rivers. Tullahoma was evacuated June 30th and occupied the same day by-our, army. The crossing of the Elk river on July 3rd. was made under difficulties, the rebels climbing into the trees and pickin"- ott" our men as they advanced. Thej' wef e finally driven off however, and .the crossing was effected by the men stripping and tying their clothes and accoutrements around their necks to prevent their being carried off' by the swiftness oE the current. As an additional safeguard a rope was thrown across the river and the men held on to this while crossing Not- withstanding this i^recaution there was some loss. It being clear to Kosecrans that Bragg would not fight north of t le Tennessee, camping grounds were made at different points up and down the Tennessee a.- at Bridgeport and Stevenson, Alabama, Winchester. Deckard, Cowan, i Vlam and Trac}^ City, Tennessee. The railroad was immediately repaired and supplies forwarded to Stevenson, Ala., prepar- atory to another advance. It was not until August 11th. that things were in readiness and the order was given to cross the Tennessee. This was done at four different points, and soon the objective point, Chattanooga, was seriously threatened and its evacuation compelled on September 9th. Pontoon bridges hastily erevted by the Pioneer Corps , were the means used to effect a crossing which was accomplished with' out loss, except at Bridgeport, where the bridge gave way and some ar- tillerymen and horses were precipitated into the water and drowned. It was eleven days before it was repaired, and the guns were recovered later. Then came the march up the steep mountain sides. Only those who have passed through a campaign over a country of this character can appreciate the difficulties to be met and overcome — long trains of ammunition and supplies must be kept close to and safely guarded bv the advancing columns in the enemy's country to prevent their loss by a sudden dash. Our march over sand and Raccoon mountains was devoid of exciting incident, the warm, dry weather and the dust making it very trying to man and beast. The same tactics seem to have been applied here by the commanding General that obtained in the summer campaign in Tennessee. The right under McCook, crossed the mountains in a southeasterly direction towards Summerville and threatening Rome, Ga , which is fully sixty miles south of Chattanooga and some thirty miles south of where Bragg was encamped with his whole army. When McCook's advance under General Sheridan reached Alpine V'alley, a hurried order was received to fail back and concentrate with the rest of the army in the vicinity of Lee and Gordon's mill on the west banK of C'hickamauga creek. How vividly we recall the suddenness of the movement: there was no rest day or night until that point had been reached. The incidents of that eventful march are still fresh in the minds of all. Tired and sleepy we arrived on the field that was destined to become the mausoleum of so man}- of our comrades, and historic for the tertifllc fighting the desperate valor on both sides, and the appallin.r loss of life. The rebel loss in three day's fighting is said to have bee" something over 18,0(H> men. while ours was over l(i,00(.>. making a total of about 3r),(M)0 men in killed, wounded and missing. The supreme test of American valor came in the repeated charges made against Thoma^' lines on the left to break through and secure possession of the Rossville and LaFayette road, and thus cut off the retreat of our army. Had they succeeded in this the historian would have had to record a more-fa- tal disaster to the Union arms than falling back on Chattanooga the next day by way of I\ossville. '>»*» D. i. Merkiey* 15 Ap 1907 At Jthiftdistance to o.ie who has studiiid the movtmLnts, and in the light uf history, it hardly seems <>0(id military strate<>y to make an ad- vance upon an unknown enemy concentrated near his own base of sup. plies with a force scarcely equal in numbers. Negley's Division was thrown far in advance unsupported by the rest of Thomas' Corps, to Stevens' Gap. A combined rebel force of 11,000 men under Generals Hindman and Hill was ordered to open on him on the 9th., his own force being less than one-half that number, and Bragg's whole army in sup- porting distance, Up to eight o'clock, p. m of the 9th. Negley seems to have been unaware of his danger and the proximity of the rebel forces, and it was more than twent\-four hours later when he fully realized his danger and took the necessar}' steps to protect his position and retire without being cut off and his force destroyed. Under impression that Bragg was still retreating the commanding General had ordered the advance until he had reached Davis" CrohS Elocids one mile west of Dug (Jap. It was here that his true situation became known through citi- zens and scouts — that Pigeon Mountain only separated him from a rebel force double his own. He at once fell baCi on "Bailey's Cross Roads" and called for reinforcements and was quickly supported by two brigades of Baird's Division so that later when the rebel attack was made by the largely superior force, Negley was enabled to withdraw without losing any either of his artillery or supplies. Owing to disobedience of orders oil the part of the rebel commanders Hiddman, Hill and Polk the attack was not made until the 11th though ordered on the 9th. Gen. Critten- den's Division also occupied an exposed position and Gen. Polk was or- dered to strike and crush him in detail. Gen. Bragg seems to have deceived and misled Gen. Rosecrans as to his real intentions through rebel deserters and citizens who uniformly reported him in full retreat on Rome, and it was not until the 12th. inst. that he learned his danger and begap concentrating his army in the vicin- ity of Lee and Gordon's mills to resist an attack by the rebel command- er, and at all hazards to hold the LaFayette road. None too soon was the order given, for on the afternoon of the 18thi the premonitory signs of the coming storm were given, when at several different points the reb- els attempted the crossing of Chickamauga Creek and were resisted by the cavalry under Wilder, Stanley and Minty, and on the 19th the storm came in all its fury — the deep-mouthed Napoleon was interspersed with the sharper sound of the Rodman and other rifled guns, while the roar of musketry was enough to appal the stoutest heart. Louder and deep- er than the roar of Niagara the dogs of war howled, while the serried columns contended for the mastery, sometimes one and then the other giving way before'the territic fury of desperate charges of the opposing force. The rebel commander had placed his all on the success of the battle and the possession of the goal, and hence to him failure meant much: while to the Union commander it meant the loss of all: his name* his fame and his arm}'. The great error of the Union commander was in the transfer of Wood's Division to the left, causinor an openinof in the line of battle and exposing Sheridan's Division to destruction or capture, when Longstreet's legions opened on him with front and enfilading tires Repeated charges were made against the advancing columns of the en- emy, and here in th^ forefront of battle our gallant Lytle fell with- his face to the foe. and his riderless horse dashed with the fury of a whirl- wind back through the Union lines to the rear Without support, and greatly outnumbered. Sheridan's Division, -after a gallant fight, was compelled to fall back, which they did after suffering heavy losses in killed, wounded and missing. Then the rebels were hurled with increas- ed fury against Thomas who sent them back wounded and bleeding so that he well deserved the soubriquet of the "Rock of Chickamauga "" A desperate attempt was made near nightfall to turn his left which would probably have been successful had it not been for the arrival of Granger's reserve corps at just the right moment, which, forminc at right angles with the line of battle, received them with a galling fire and drove them baoic disheartened from the field. Rallied by Longstreet the}' charged again only with tie same result. Seen darkness spread her mantle over the blood}- scene and as the curtain fell the battle of Chickamauga was over and Thomas withdrew the weary remnant of his army to Rq^sville for rest but the enemy was too severely punished to follow, and by night of the 21st. the whole army was resting on Chatta- nooga: and Bragg followed soon after, laying siege to the city to watch for a favorable opportunity to attack, when, as he thought, Rosecrans would attempt the crossing of the Tennessee to effect his escape. In this, of course, as subsequent events proved, he was in error. It is a well understood fai^t that a description of a campaign for the possession of Ch..t^an loga would be incomi)lete without the story of the battle above the clouds by Hooker, and the gallant charge u]) Mis sionary Ridge, in which Sheridan's Division, including our own regiment, covered themselves with glory and planted the regimental fiag high up on the heights never to be lowered: but I will leave this glorious chapter in our Nation's history to more- gifted hands to weave the web and woof of that description. In passing, comrades. I desire to say that if in our judgment errors -were made let us, before ])assing judgment, remember that the princi- pal actors in that great drama hav,.- passed away, and are beyond reach of our criticisms. let ii? r; thtr slied a tear o'ei the bit r of our depart- ed commander, who. I have every reason to believe, did the very best he could with the knowledge he had. And peace, with all its benign influences, is now the heritage of our children bought by the blood of their fathers on those southern bat- tlefields. Dt ai ly bought it was and higlily cherished it should be. There is consolation in the thought that the soldier who then sought to des- troy our fair land is now equally desirous for its preservation. And to- day we have a united country, with no North, no South, no East, no- West; but A Union of hearts, a Union of hands, A Union of interests, a Union of lands, And the Flag of our Union forever. \ |_i.DI\MI\I wr \