bdtex
Major General
★★ Sr. Moderator
Silver Patron
Regtl. Quartermaster Chickamauga 2018 Vicksburg 2019
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2015
- Location
- Texas
I visited Chattanooga/Chickamauga NMP for the first and only time so far in June 2016. My only prep work before that visit consisted of reading Lee White's Bushwhacking On a Grand Scale,The Battle Of Chickamauga September 18-20,1863 and studying the Civil War Trust maps of the battle. That visit was a 4 night,3 day guided tour centering on Gen. Hood and Hood's Texas Brigade at Chickamauga so there were many places on the battlefield that we did not stop at or get any info on. We did visit Wauhatchie because the Texas Brigade was there and we followed Hood's route from the hospital where his leg was amputated to Tunnel Hill where he caught a train to Richmond to continue convalescing.
The CWT 2018 gathering is at Chickamauga next month so I have been studying the battle a little more in depth prior to this visit. I know the anniversary is coming up but I wanna discuss the battle now or at least some of it. Maybe when the anniversary rolls around some folks will tack their commentary on to this thread. I reread Lee White's book and then I read Peter Cozzens' This Terrible Sound, which I finished on Labor Day. Don't wanna post a book review. I just wanna post a few things that stuck out to me while reading that book. Responders can feel free to toss in whatever they want to about the battle. I'm anxious to hear others' commentary.
1. Artillery. In Cozzens' chapter on Cleburne's night attack he specifically mentioned Semple's Alabama Battery and Calvert's Arkansas Battery in that attack and said that combined "It was the first and only instance of effective close artillery support provided attacking Confederate Infantry that day." It seems at least from the 2 books I've read,that Union artillery was generally much more effective at Chickamauga and that the woods,hills and ravines at the battlefield limited the use of artillery on both sides.
2. Spencer and Colt Rifles. I recall at least 3 instances where Confederate attacks were stopped dead when they ran up against Union troops armed with Spencer and Colt rifles. One specifically was Ector's Brigade at Jay's Mill on Day 2. I remembered that specifically because I have an ancestor who was in Ector's Brigade at Chickamauga and I'm gonna look for that site this October.
3. Water. According to Cozzens,it hadn't rained at the Chickamauga battlefield for a month or 2 prior to the battle,so there was no appreciable water on the battlefield and it was very hot in the day. Very little fighting occurred at the best water sources,Crawfish Springs and Chickamauga Creek.
4. The "Angel Of Marye's Heights",Sgt. Richard R. Kirkland,was killed at Chickamauga.
5. A soldiers' fight. Lotta fighting occurred at Brock,Winfrey,Viniard,Brotherton,Poe,Kelly,Dyer,Glenn, Snodgrass and McDonald Fields,but the rest of the battlefield was a mass of thick woods,underbrush,ravines and hills that troops and even artillery had to march through and fight in. Couriers and scouts frequently couldn't find what and who they were looking for. Often-times,regimental and brigade commanders could not even see their flanks. Companies and regiments often got separated and in some instances were commandeered by officers of other units to plug gaps in the line or serve as reinforcements to a hot spot. The action frequently devolved into a soldier's fight. Seems that was a bit less so on the Confederate side because brigade and regimental commanders were less inclined to act independently because of the wrath of Bragg for acting without orders.
6. Casualties. Don't have the numbers in front of me but I recall in Cozzens' book that KIAs were less than 2,000 on both sides but there were 7-8 times more wounded on both sides. Don't recall reading how many wounded died later from their wounds. After reading about the savagery of the combat at Chickamauga,it stunned me that there weren't more KIA
7. According to Cozzens,it was very cold and quiet on the battlefield on the nights of September 18th and 19th and the Union troops could hear the trains rolling into Catoosa Platform bringing Confederate reinforcements.
8. Uncoordinated attacks. It seems there was a lotta that on the Confederate side and but for that,it could've been a much more decisive victory. At the end of the day on September 20th,Confederates had a large number of Union troops practically trapped in Kelly Field just as orders from Thomas to withdraw were being recieved. Uncoordinated attacks allowed a large number of the Union troops to escape the trap.
9. Edited to add: Skulkers and stragglers. Many written accounts of soldiers laying back and hiding in the woods etc. and officers beating them back into line.
My notes are at home but that's what I remember as things that stuck out after doing deeper reading on Chickamauga.
The CWT 2018 gathering is at Chickamauga next month so I have been studying the battle a little more in depth prior to this visit. I know the anniversary is coming up but I wanna discuss the battle now or at least some of it. Maybe when the anniversary rolls around some folks will tack their commentary on to this thread. I reread Lee White's book and then I read Peter Cozzens' This Terrible Sound, which I finished on Labor Day. Don't wanna post a book review. I just wanna post a few things that stuck out to me while reading that book. Responders can feel free to toss in whatever they want to about the battle. I'm anxious to hear others' commentary.
1. Artillery. In Cozzens' chapter on Cleburne's night attack he specifically mentioned Semple's Alabama Battery and Calvert's Arkansas Battery in that attack and said that combined "It was the first and only instance of effective close artillery support provided attacking Confederate Infantry that day." It seems at least from the 2 books I've read,that Union artillery was generally much more effective at Chickamauga and that the woods,hills and ravines at the battlefield limited the use of artillery on both sides.
2. Spencer and Colt Rifles. I recall at least 3 instances where Confederate attacks were stopped dead when they ran up against Union troops armed with Spencer and Colt rifles. One specifically was Ector's Brigade at Jay's Mill on Day 2. I remembered that specifically because I have an ancestor who was in Ector's Brigade at Chickamauga and I'm gonna look for that site this October.
3. Water. According to Cozzens,it hadn't rained at the Chickamauga battlefield for a month or 2 prior to the battle,so there was no appreciable water on the battlefield and it was very hot in the day. Very little fighting occurred at the best water sources,Crawfish Springs and Chickamauga Creek.
4. The "Angel Of Marye's Heights",Sgt. Richard R. Kirkland,was killed at Chickamauga.
5. A soldiers' fight. Lotta fighting occurred at Brock,Winfrey,Viniard,Brotherton,Poe,Kelly,Dyer,Glenn, Snodgrass and McDonald Fields,but the rest of the battlefield was a mass of thick woods,underbrush,ravines and hills that troops and even artillery had to march through and fight in. Couriers and scouts frequently couldn't find what and who they were looking for. Often-times,regimental and brigade commanders could not even see their flanks. Companies and regiments often got separated and in some instances were commandeered by officers of other units to plug gaps in the line or serve as reinforcements to a hot spot. The action frequently devolved into a soldier's fight. Seems that was a bit less so on the Confederate side because brigade and regimental commanders were less inclined to act independently because of the wrath of Bragg for acting without orders.
6. Casualties. Don't have the numbers in front of me but I recall in Cozzens' book that KIAs were less than 2,000 on both sides but there were 7-8 times more wounded on both sides. Don't recall reading how many wounded died later from their wounds. After reading about the savagery of the combat at Chickamauga,it stunned me that there weren't more KIA
7. According to Cozzens,it was very cold and quiet on the battlefield on the nights of September 18th and 19th and the Union troops could hear the trains rolling into Catoosa Platform bringing Confederate reinforcements.
8. Uncoordinated attacks. It seems there was a lotta that on the Confederate side and but for that,it could've been a much more decisive victory. At the end of the day on September 20th,Confederates had a large number of Union troops practically trapped in Kelly Field just as orders from Thomas to withdraw were being recieved. Uncoordinated attacks allowed a large number of the Union troops to escape the trap.
9. Edited to add: Skulkers and stragglers. Many written accounts of soldiers laying back and hiding in the woods etc. and officers beating them back into line.
My notes are at home but that's what I remember as things that stuck out after doing deeper reading on Chickamauga.
Forum Host
Bringing the