— Ch. 1 · Strategic Context And Siege —
Chattanooga campaign.
~6 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
In September 1863, the Union Army of the Cumberland under Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga. Confederate General Braxton Bragg and his Army of Tennessee seized control of the high ground surrounding Chattanooga, Tennessee. The city sat on the navigable Tennessee River and served as a vital rail hub connecting Nashville to Atlanta. Bragg's forces established positions on Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain, effectively bottling up Rosecrans' men inside the city. The Confederates threatened to starve the Union army into surrender by cutting off all supply lines except one tortuous route over Walden's Ridge. This single road stretched nearly 60 miles from Bridgeport, Alabama and was frequently washed out by heavy rains in late September. Union soldiers began receiving only four cakes of hard bread and a quarter pound of pork every three days. Many horses and mules died from starvation while the remaining animals struggled to pull wagons along the muddy mountain roads. On October 1, Confederate cavalry leader Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler intercepted a train of 800 wagons. He burned hundreds of wagons and shot or sabered hundreds of mules to sever Rosecrans' last lifeline. President Abraham Lincoln later remarked that Rosecrans seemed confused and stunned like a duck hit on the head.
Grant Takes Command
Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton ordered Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant to take command of Union forces in the West just hours after Chickamauga. Grant traveled to Memphis, Tennessee on October 16 before continuing to Louisville, Kentucky where he met with Stanton on October 17. He received orders to become commander of the newly created Military Division of the Mississippi. This new command unified territory stretching from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River under one general for the first time. Grant arrived in Chattanooga on October 23 after traveling over treacherous mountain supply lines. He immediately removed Rosecrans from command and replaced him with Major General George Henry Thomas. Thomas had earned the nickname Rock of Chickamauga for his determined defensive stand at Snodgrass Hill during the earlier battle. Grant telegraphed Thomas to hold Chattanooga at all hazards while promising to arrive as soon as possible. The Rock of Chickamauga replied immediately that he would hold the town till they starve. Grant selected Thomas because he could not make Rosecrans do as he wished despite their poor personal relations. The Union high command began sending reinforcements from Mississippi and the Eastern Theater to relieve the besieged city.