Lookout Mountain taken from Missionary Ridge. The Summertown Road is about half way between the point & the lower left were the ridge meets the edge of the image.
The gunners from Fort Negley in Nashville were transferred to Moccasin Point across the Tennessee River from Lookout Mountain. In order to bring fire onto CSA batteries positioned on the north face of the ridge, the trails were set in holes.
We are fortunate to have the testimony of both the A of the Cumberland & A of TN signalists in charge of Moccasin Point & Lookout signal stations.
The commander of the Moccasin Bend battery received orders directly from Thomas' HQ in Chattanooga. Lookout Station both signaled directly to Bragg's little White House HQ atop Missionary Ridge & repeated signals to & from Lookout Valley.
After the Moccasin Bend battery of 20 pound Parrott's became operational, they began scouring the CSA batteries off the face of the ridge. As Porter Alexander had found out earlier, firing cannon from 1,000 feet above the target was farcical. (Cumberlanders leapt out of their trenches to place bets on the clearly visible falling rounds. Huge gales of laughter echoed up & down the valley followed especially errant impacts. Hardly the respect the A of NV was accustomed to.)
Moccasin Bend, on the Tennessee River is where it sweeps along northern (camera right) end of the ridge. Captain Eastman's signal station was at the summit of the mountain ( camera left.) Thos is the view the signalists at Bragg's HQ station would have had.
When the signal was received to open fire, the CSA signalists looked on as one battery after another up trails & scurried for safety. From their treehouse perch, it was quite a spectacle. Captain Eastman composed a report & the flag man raised Bragg's HQ station. One of the signalists expressed anxiety, "Wouldn't the Cumberlander red legs take aim at them?" A hearty laugh at such an absurdity was cut short when a Parrot case shot sent leaves & branches showering down on their heads.
When it became clear that Moccasin Point was going to snipe at them every time they waved flag or torch, hiding became the order of the day. From a couple of boards set on the crock of a tree trunk, a sight line was pruned through treetops aimed at the little white house.
When Hooker began his assault, an order from Thomas was flagged to Moccasin Bend. A CSA column had been observed ascending the Summertown Road. Following presighted survey points, every battery that could bear fired on the target. The Bend gunners called for fuzes to be cut at 22 seconds. The fire was indirect. Their fall of shot was controlled from A of the C HQ station.
As Hooker's men trudged up the face of Lookout Mountain, his HQ signalists controlled the battery, ordering it to cease fire as they advanced into the field of fire, e.g.
After the retreat of the A of TN, the Negley red legs returned to the legalized prostitution, fresh oysters, ice cream parlors & circus performances in Nashville. Those boys had quite some war stories. Today, you can take a selfie next to a repro 30 pound Parrott from whence they welcomed Hood to Nashville.
I have a couple of photos of batteries of howitzers with their trails dug in. One of them is eight howitzers with handles from the A of the Potomac.
My impression is that digging in the trails to increase elevation was not an exotic expedient. The wheels must have jumped right off the ground.
The better mouse trap was the Waird carriage. It allowed both the smoothbore & rifled Wierd cannon to elevate to 35 degrees.
Note: CSA Captain Eastman's signals were routinely intercepted by an A of the C station of observation. The "contrabands" as intercepts were called, provide an insight into real time CSA decision making. For example, Sherman crossed the Tennessee in full knowledge that Bragg had fallen for Grant's demonstration on Raccoon Mountain. Attention was focused on the left. There was no inkling of Sherman's crossing on the right.
From atop Missionary Ridge, Gen Granger signaled directly to Thomas on Orchard Knob, send a battery, we are winning! Charles Dana, a party to Thomas' signal traffic, was able to report to Lincoln in what amounted to real time. The hand writing of the clerk who recorded it in Washington reflects the excitement of Dana's narrative. Many Civil War folks are very surprised to learn how battles were actually conducted.
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