As daylight began to fade, Thomas rode to the left to supervise thewithdrawal of his remaining forces from the field, leaving Granger incommand on Snodgrass Hill. Longstreet had committed Preston's division inan all-out final attempt to carry the position, and the movement towardMcFarland's Gap began while Preston's assaults were in progress. Theprotectors of Snodgrass Hill were out of ammunition again, and Granger'sorder to fix bayonets and charge flashed along the lines of the 21st and89th Ohio and the 22nd Michigan, the last three regiments left there. Thedesperate charge accomplished little save a few extra minutes for the restof the army. While the last 563 Union soldiers on the hill were rounded upby Preston's Confederates, the long night march to Chattanooga began forthose fortunate enough to escape. By Longstreet's own estimate, he hadordered 25 separate assaults against Thomas before meeting with success.

The tenacity of the defense of Horseshoe Ridge bought the Army of theCumberland precious time. It also contributed to Bragg's unwillingness tobelieve his forces had won a great victory and might follow it up bysmashing into the demoralized Federals at daybreak. Not even the lustycheers of his soldiers all along the line were enough to convince theircommander. Bragg was preoccupied with the staggering loss of 17,804casualties, 2,389 of them killed, 13,412 wounded and 2,003 missing or takenprisoner. The Union army, after suffering 16,179 casualties, 1,656 dead,9,749 wounded and 4,774 missing or captured, retired behind Chattanooga'sdefenses without further molestation.

History has been less than kind to Bragg, not without cause. Trueenough, over a quarter of his effective force was lost at Chickamauga.Nevertheless, at no other time in four years of fighting was there agreater opportunity to follow up a stunning battlefield triumph with thepursuit of such a beaten foe. Had Bragg attacked and destroyed Rosecranson September 21, there would have been little to stop an advance all theway to the Ohio River. Bragg, however, was true to form. As at Perryvilleand Murfreesboro before, he quickly allowed victory to become hollow.

Rosecrans, on the other hand, had seen one mistaken order wreck hismilitary reputation and almost destroy his army. His nearly flawlesscampaign of the spring and summer had ended with the Army of the Cumberlandholed up in Chattanooga and the enemy tightening the noose by occupying thehigh ground of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. Lincoln lost faithin "old Rosey's" ability to command, saying he appeared "stunned andconfused, like a duck hit on the head."

Chickamauga, the costliest two-day battle of the entire war, proved aspawning ground of lost Confederate opportunity. While Bragg laid siege toChattanooga with an army inadequate to do the job, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S.Grant, the hero of Vicksburg, was given overall command in the West and setabout changing the state of affairs. Reinforcements poured in from eastand west. During the November campaign to raise the siege, the Army of theCumberland evened the score with the rebels in an epic charge up MissionaryRidge. And when Union soldiers next set foot on the battlefield ofChickamauga, they were on their way to Atlanta.

---

Chattanooga, Tenn., native Mike Haskew is a frequent contributor toEmpire Press publications. As further reading, see Glenn Tucker's classicChickamauga: Bloody Battle in the West or William M. Lamers' The Edgeof Glory: A Biography of General William S. Rosecrans, U.S.A.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6