Battle of Chickamauga: Union Regulars Desperate Stand

From their attack position about 700 yards from King, Rebel skirmishers moved out to probe the Union line and quickly engaged the skirmishers of the 18th Infantry. Helm was compelled to reinforce his line with the 4th Kentucky, a move that cost him time in launching his assault.

About 9 a.m., ‘the enemy drove in my skirmishers and advancing in force attacked my front and flank,’ reported King. The two battalions of the 18th met the assault and were ‘warmly engaged,’ while the 15th and 19th wheeled to the left to ward off a flank attack. Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. John Beatty had moved away toward the McDonald farm, leaving a large gap between his brigade and the Regulars. They had no choice but to refuse their left flank.

The Regulars began their methodical destruction of the Confederate attack as Helm’s brigade cleared the trees and surmounted the high ground about 120 yards to their front. Crouched behind their breastworks, the Regulars poured a galling fire into the hapless Confederates. Since Cleburne’s division had not yet attacked on Breckinridge’s left flank, Scribner’s brigade on the Regulars’ right was able to enfilade the Rebel line, trapping them in a murderous fire. The assault was repelled, but the Confederates came on again, only to be repulsed once more. A third time they advanced into the terrible fire, which finally destroyed their assault and killed General Helm (President Abraham Lincoln’s brother-in-law). As the Rebels retreated, King shuffled his battalions. The 15th moved forward and relieved the 18th, which moved to the left to protect the flank.

The Confederates advanced through the woods about 400 yards, the La Fayette Road forming a boundary between them and acting as an arrow pointing to the heart of the Union rear. Colonel Joseph B. Dodge’s brigade gave way under the attack and added to the welter of retreating Federals on the north side of Kelly’s field. The 18th U.S. Infantry moved back as well to a second line of defense.

The 47th Georgia entered Kelly’s field but was driven back by a Union counterattack. During the Confederate attack, the consolidated 1st and 3rd Florida, commanded by Colonel W.S. Dilworth, became separated from their brigade by a rivulet. Captain G.W. Smith of the 18th Regulars laconically reported, ‘I charged the enemy’s line advancing about 600 yards.’ King noted: ‘This charge was the most gallant act of the day. The enemy was again repulsed and my brigade retained its original position.’

While the Confederate generals bickered over their roles in the battle, the Union generals strengthened their lines. Dodge’s brigade was moved to King’s left, and the Regulars contracted their own line, concentrating their firepower. The luckless 24th North Carolina was inauspiciously sited to receive the Regulars’ volleys, and one-third of the command was either killed or wounded. The mangled Confederate brigade fell back, and the door to Rossville Gap remained barred to Braxton Bragg. Still, as Baird recorded, ‘Immediately after this attack on my left ceased, the sound of a tremendous conflict reached us from the southwest.’

The sound was the unraveling of the right wing of the Union army and the military career of William Starke Rosecrans. Misled by the quiet on this front and Thomas’ requests for reinforcements, Rosecrans had issued orders for much of his army to close on and support the hard-pressed army commander. Rosecrans–who was having a difficult time keeping track of his fluid brigades and believed a gap existed in his line where none actually did–ordered Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Wood to move out and plug the phantom opening, inadvertently creating a real gap in the Union line.

Longstreet chose that moment to launch a five-division attack aimed precisely at the gap. Across the Brotherton farm, Lytle Hill and the Dyer field rolled the Confederate assaults. From 11 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., they destroyed or brushed aside Northern units in their path, curving northward toward Rossville. Finally, the attack slowed at Snodgrass Hill, where Thomas had coalesced his line.

Thomas had no idea what had befallen the rest of the army, but he knew that he had to hold out on Snodgrass Hill to ensure a safe passage for the retreating troops. Around 4 p.m., Thomas received orders from Rosecrans, now in Chattanooga, ‘to assume a threatening attitude’ at Rossville. Given positive orders to withdraw and form a defensive line, Thomas decided to withdraw the Kelly field line first, starting with Reynolds’ division. Last to go would be Baird.

The struggle at Snodgrass Hill did not mean quiet on the Kelly field line. ‘Heavy skirmishing continued along my entire front during the entire afternoon, until about half past four o’clock,’ King reported. ‘The enemy again made an attack on my front and flank, my command being exposed to a terrific fire of musketry and canister.’ Once again Regular discipline prevailed, and their fusillades pinned down the attacking Confederates.

Just before the final Confederate assault, Baird received Thomas’ orders to withdraw and sent out aides to deliver the order to his brigade commanders. As they held their position, Baird’s men were passed by the divisions of Maj. Gen. John M. Palmer and General Johnson. It was now time for the Regulars to go. As they pulled out, the Confederate brigades of Brig. Gens. George Maney, Marcus J. Wright and Colonel Randall L. Gibson charged ‘with a deafening hurrah and rapid shock’ and tore into the retreating Regulars.

Gunfire, surging lines of soldiers and shouted commands made the fighting so confused that Lieutenant A.B. Carpenter of the 19th Infantry could locate only six men of his company. In the 15th, one company pulled out of line heading for rear and 1st Sgt. John Mars tried to steady the men. Captain Dod headed them off and ordered them back. Mars saluted and reported that his company was out of ammunition. Dod ordered, ‘Go back and fix bayonets.’ Mars, a Shiloh veteran, obediently headed back but was killed almost immediately. Both battalions of the 18th pulled out and marched over a cornfield, then faced about, fired and moved to the rear. The 19th did not receive the order to retire, and they continued to fight until all were killed or captured.

For about two hours, fighting continued on Snodgrass Hill as the six remaining Union brigades held the attackers at bay. At dusk, Thomas ordered them to retreat, and they followed the rest of the army to Chattanooga. By 10 p.m., the Battle of Chickamauga was over.

Soldiers in the Army of the Cumberland were stunned. Never before had they been compelled to leave a battlefield and abandon their dead and wounded. The army had suffered a staggering 16,000 casualties. A defensive line was formed at Rossville, and the army moved back to Chattanooga to lick its wounds and reorganize. General Rosecrans lost his job over the debacle. He was relieved of the command of the Army of the Cumberland in October and replaced by Thomas. In November, Thomas helped plan and lead the operation that broke the Federals out of Chattanooga.

The Army of Tennessee was also stunned after Chickamauga. The Confederates found themselves unexpectedly in possession of the battlefield, but the army’s squabbling chain of command failed to organize a timely pursuit. More than 18,000 Confederate casualties lay on the field, intermingled with dead and wounded Northerners, and precious days would go by before the army was ready to move.

For the Regular brigade, the battle had been disastrous. Casualties ranged from 20 percent in Battery H to 42 percent in the 19th Infantry. One-third of the officers in the brigade were lost. Ayres found himself in command of a battalion totaling three officers and 51 men. Although the numbers of those killed and wounded were low in the 16th Infantry, 58 percent had been captured on the morning of the 19th. In all, 497 Regulars had been captured during the battle. Only 36 officers and 573 men remained with the colors.

Never again would King’s Regulars fight as a separate brigade. Reinforced with volunteers, however, they would continue fighting from Missionary Ridge to Atlanta, and they would play a major role in crushing Confederate Lt. Gen. John B. Hood at Jonesborough, Ga., in October 1864. That fall, they would be withdrawn from combat along with other Regular regiments to ensure there would be a standing army to occupy the South and reoccupy the West after the war was over.

The Regular army regiments went on to fight their way across Europe and Asia during the nation’s ensuing wars. Mementos of all their campaigns are displayed on their coats of arms, but most prominent are those commemorating their Civil War service. Both the modern 15th and 19th infantry prominently display ‘The Rock of Chickamauga’ on their crests. Also emblazoned on the 19th’s emblem is the shoulder strap of an infantry 2nd lieutenant, a symbol of Ayres’ gallant stewardship of the regiment and the courage and tenacity displayed by the U.S. Regular Army in helping to preserve the Union.