When was the Battle of Chickamauga fought?
The Battle of Chickamauga was fought on September 18-20, 1863, in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia, as part of the larger Chickamauga Campaign.
Questions about Battle of Chickamauga
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Who commanded the Union and Confederate forces at the Battle of Chickamauga?
The Union Army of the Cumberland was commanded by Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans and the Confederate Army of Tennessee was commanded by Gen. Braxton Bragg. Lt. Gen. James Longstreet commanded the Confederate Left Wing and Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas commanded the XIV Corps and assumed overall Union command late in the battle.
What caused the Union line to break at the Battle of Chickamauga?
A miscommunication led Rosecrans to believe Brig. Gen. Brannan had already vacated his position on the line. Rosecrans dictated an order for Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Wood to close up on Reynolds and support him, which Wood could only interpret as withdrawing from the line. This created a gap that Longstreet's eight-brigade assault column, moving at 11:10 a.m. on September 20, struck by coincidence at the exact moment Wood's division was pulling out.
Why is George Thomas called the Rock of Chickamauga?
Thomas earned the nickname because he refused to flee when the Union right wing collapsed on the 20th of September 1863. He assumed command of the remaining forces and held a defensive line on Horseshoe Ridge until twilight while his commander Rosecrans and other generals retreated to Chattanooga. The name came from a message his chief of staff Garfield sent to Rosecrans: "Thomas is standing like a rock."
What does Chickamauga mean?
The meaning of Chickamauga is disputed. Popular histories translate it as "river of death," but author Peter Cozzens called this a "loose translation." James Mooney wrote in Myths of the Cherokee that the name "has no meaning in their language" and may derive from an Algonquian word for a fishing place. The most linguistically plausible etymology traces it to the Chickasaw word chokma, meaning "be good," combined with the verb ending -ka.
How many casualties were there at the Battle of Chickamauga?
Chickamauga produced the second-highest number of casualties of any battle in the American Civil War, after Gettysburg. Historian Peter Cozzens estimated that the first day alone saw between 6,000 and 9,000 Confederate and roughly 7,000 Federal casualties, with the full two-day total being substantially higher.