Bragg had determined to fight to protect his supply train and artillery park. He hoped to cut off the Union army from Chattanooga and drive the Northerners back across the Tennessee River.

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The Regulars and the rest of the Union army had no idea what the terrain was like on the battlefield. From their new position in the Kelly farm field on the La Fayette Road, King’s men could see little ahead of them, and their officers had no chance to perform reconnaissance.

The terrain was thickly wooded all the way to Chickamauga Creek. In fact, Thomas described it in his official report as “original forest timber, interspersed with undergrowth and in many places so dense it was difficult to see 50 paces ahead.” Visibility would be worse during the battle, with gun smoke hanging at ground level in opaque clouds. Unit commanders were unable to see both ends of their line of battle, and the artillery had a difficult time functioning. While the trees provided concealment, when hit by shellfire their wood and bark burst into hundreds of lethal fragments. Sparks from rifles and cannons would also ignite the underbrush, causing fires that immolated the wounded.

Small farms dotted the area, and their names–Kelly, Poe, Brotherton and Snodgrass–came to be associated with some of the bloodiest fighting in America. Chickamauga Creek flowed along the east side of the battlefield. Studded with fords, it was easy to cross, but the few poor roads that traversed the battlefield made the massing of troops difficult and their movement slow.

The battlefield was bisected by the La Fayette Road, which provided good north and south movement. The road was not only connected to the fords on the Chickamauga, but was also the principal artery running to Chattanooga via the Rossville Gap, about eight miles from the battlefield. If the Rebels cut that road, the Union army would be cut off from Chattanooga.

The western boundary of the battlefield was Missionary Ridge, a huge mass of rock running 30 miles southwest from the Tennessee River. Only two gaps in the ridge, McFarland’s and Rossville, allowed passage from the battlefield to Chattanooga. If they were captured, the Army of the Cumberland would be pinned against the ridge and crushed.

While Rosecrans consolidated his army, Bragg planned a holding attack around Lee and Gordon’s Mill by one of his army corps. Three others would cross the Chickamauga north of the mill via Thedford’s Ford, Alexander’s Bridge and Reed’s Bridge, sweeping west and south to seize the La Fayette Road and cut the Yankees off from Rossville Gap.

While the armies moved, Union cavalry stood watch on Chickamauga Creek around Reed’s Bridge, and a small clash occurred in the vicinity on September 18. The next day, Saturday, September 19, Colonel Daniel McCook engaged some troops of Confederate Maj. Gen. Bushrod Johnson’s division. McCook believed a Rebel brigade was alone west of the stream. Burning to attack, he noticed dust clouds rising off the La Fayette Road around 6 a.m. The troops raising the dust were at the head of Baird’s division, moving into position at the Kelly farm. McCook rode to find Thomas and informed him of his estimate of the situation. Thomas could not resist the temptation to capture the Confederate brigade; he agreed to supply infantry for the operation.

As Baird’s division moved into line of battle, the third of Thomas’ divisions, commanded by Brig. Gen. John M. Brannan, moved past their rear and fell in north of Baird. King’s Regulars, on the left of Baird’s line, were soon ordered to move east in search of the enemy. About three-quarters of a mile into the dense forest, Brannan’s men initially found Rebel cavalry, swiftly reinforced by the infantry brigades of Colonel Claudius C. Wilson and Brig. Gen. Matthew D. Ector.

The sounds of battle soon alerted Thomas to the fighting, and he ordered Baird to move forward and reinforce Brannan. Baird’s three brigades plunged into the dense forest, King’s brigade on the left, the brigade of Colonel Benjamin F. Scribner on the right and the brigade of Brig. Gen. John Starkweather trailing, also on the right.

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