- Joined
- Feb 23, 2013
- Location
- East Texas
Orchard Knob
A jumble of state monuments, tablets, and cannon dot Orchard Knob today.
Following the Confederate victory at Chickamauga, Ga., Sept. 20, 1863, William Rosecrans' Union Army of the Cumberland retreated back to Chattanooga, Tenn., just across the state line where it soon found itself besieged by Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee. By November of that year, conditions had changed markedly, with George Thomas replacing Rosecrans; the opening of the supply route called "the Cracker Line"; reenforcements arriving from the eastern Army of the Potomac under Joseph Hooker and the western Army of the Tennessee under William T. Sherman; and arrival of Ulysses S. Grant to command and co-ordinate the whole. Meanwhile Bragg seriously weakened his own army by sending his own reenforcement from Lee's army under James Longstreet away to Knoxville, Tenn., on a fool's errand and neglecting to properly position what was left on the heights surrounding Chattanooga.
The battle for Chattanooga began in earnest on Nov. 23, when Grant ordered Thomas to advance a skirmish line to see if reports of a Confederate withdrawl were true. Instead, Thomas made a bolder move forward with four of his divisions toward the high ground between Union-held Chattanooga and Bragg's main Confederate position atop Missionary Ridge over a mile distant. The bold move paid off as Confederates defending the outpost were taken completely by surprise by what they thought was merely a review of troops, briefly resisting before withdrawing back to their main line. Grant and Thomas quickly took advantage of their unexpected success, reenforcing Orchard Knob as an advance position from which to attack Missionary Ridge itself.
The division of Thomas Wood which had created the fatal gap in Rosecrans' line at Chickamauga had siezed Orchard Knob, while that of Phillip Sheridan that had been driven from the field at the same battle advanced to the south capturing land now occupied by the National Cemetery. Above is a monument to one of Sheridan's brigades in the cemetery today; another can be seen in the distance. Union troops held this position the following day, Nov. 24, while Hooker's troops fought and won the Battle of Lookout Mountain, seen in the background here; meanwhile Sherman's men crossed the Tennessee River to the east and prepared to attack the northern end of Missionary Ridge.
Sherman's Army of the Tennessee which had formerly been led by Grant himeself from Fort Donelson through Shiloh and Vicksburg was supposed to be the decisive element in this battle as well, but fate decided otherwise. Faulty reconnaissance and bad leadership from Sherman down doomed his attack on Nov. 24 - 25 to a series of futile and easily-repulsed assaults. Late in the afternoon a fuming Grant bypassed Thomas and corps commander Gordon Granger in the chain of command and directly asked Wood who was standing nearby if he thought he could successfully create a diversion in Sherman's favor by threatening Missionary Ridge itself. About 4 pm Wood and Sheridan, joined by the divisions of Absalom Baird to the north and Richard Johnson to the south, moved out in line-of-battle toward the ridge as Grant and Thomas watched nervously from here on Orchard Knob; in the view above, Missionary Ridge rises in the background from the unseen valley between them.
As I noted previously in my thread on Chickamauga Battlefield, when this, the very first National Military Park, was created all monuments dedicated to former Confederate states were placed there; while those dedicated to the Northern states were placed at Chattanooga. Orchard Knob in particular became home to a great many of them, no doubt because of its importance as the location of Grant's headquarters. Monuments that can be seen here include that of Illinois, above. Today Orchard Knob sits surrounded by a mostly-black middle-class neighborhood, and I get the distinct idea it is much-the-less-visited of Chattanooga's other Civil War sites, Missionary Ridge, the National Cemetery, and certainly Lookout Mountain. However, it shouldn't be missed for a complete picture of what happened here; normal security provisions like not going alone should suffice, though on-the-street parking is necessary and the terrain quite steep in places.
A jumble of state monuments, tablets, and cannon dot Orchard Knob today.
Following the Confederate victory at Chickamauga, Ga., Sept. 20, 1863, William Rosecrans' Union Army of the Cumberland retreated back to Chattanooga, Tenn., just across the state line where it soon found itself besieged by Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee. By November of that year, conditions had changed markedly, with George Thomas replacing Rosecrans; the opening of the supply route called "the Cracker Line"; reenforcements arriving from the eastern Army of the Potomac under Joseph Hooker and the western Army of the Tennessee under William T. Sherman; and arrival of Ulysses S. Grant to command and co-ordinate the whole. Meanwhile Bragg seriously weakened his own army by sending his own reenforcement from Lee's army under James Longstreet away to Knoxville, Tenn., on a fool's errand and neglecting to properly position what was left on the heights surrounding Chattanooga.
The battle for Chattanooga began in earnest on Nov. 23, when Grant ordered Thomas to advance a skirmish line to see if reports of a Confederate withdrawl were true. Instead, Thomas made a bolder move forward with four of his divisions toward the high ground between Union-held Chattanooga and Bragg's main Confederate position atop Missionary Ridge over a mile distant. The bold move paid off as Confederates defending the outpost were taken completely by surprise by what they thought was merely a review of troops, briefly resisting before withdrawing back to their main line. Grant and Thomas quickly took advantage of their unexpected success, reenforcing Orchard Knob as an advance position from which to attack Missionary Ridge itself.
The division of Thomas Wood which had created the fatal gap in Rosecrans' line at Chickamauga had siezed Orchard Knob, while that of Phillip Sheridan that had been driven from the field at the same battle advanced to the south capturing land now occupied by the National Cemetery. Above is a monument to one of Sheridan's brigades in the cemetery today; another can be seen in the distance. Union troops held this position the following day, Nov. 24, while Hooker's troops fought and won the Battle of Lookout Mountain, seen in the background here; meanwhile Sherman's men crossed the Tennessee River to the east and prepared to attack the northern end of Missionary Ridge.
Sherman's Army of the Tennessee which had formerly been led by Grant himeself from Fort Donelson through Shiloh and Vicksburg was supposed to be the decisive element in this battle as well, but fate decided otherwise. Faulty reconnaissance and bad leadership from Sherman down doomed his attack on Nov. 24 - 25 to a series of futile and easily-repulsed assaults. Late in the afternoon a fuming Grant bypassed Thomas and corps commander Gordon Granger in the chain of command and directly asked Wood who was standing nearby if he thought he could successfully create a diversion in Sherman's favor by threatening Missionary Ridge itself. About 4 pm Wood and Sheridan, joined by the divisions of Absalom Baird to the north and Richard Johnson to the south, moved out in line-of-battle toward the ridge as Grant and Thomas watched nervously from here on Orchard Knob; in the view above, Missionary Ridge rises in the background from the unseen valley between them.
As I noted previously in my thread on Chickamauga Battlefield, when this, the very first National Military Park, was created all monuments dedicated to former Confederate states were placed there; while those dedicated to the Northern states were placed at Chattanooga. Orchard Knob in particular became home to a great many of them, no doubt because of its importance as the location of Grant's headquarters. Monuments that can be seen here include that of Illinois, above. Today Orchard Knob sits surrounded by a mostly-black middle-class neighborhood, and I get the distinct idea it is much-the-less-visited of Chattanooga's other Civil War sites, Missionary Ridge, the National Cemetery, and certainly Lookout Mountain. However, it shouldn't be missed for a complete picture of what happened here; normal security provisions like not going alone should suffice, though on-the-street parking is necessary and the terrain quite steep in places.
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