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Battle Of Chickamauga Fact

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10 Facts: The Battle of Chickamauga
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September 18-20, 1863
Learn more about the Battle of Chickamauga, the Confederacy's greatest victory in the West.

Fact #1: Chickamauga was the largest Confederate victory in the Western theater.
Braxton Bragg
Braxton Bragg
Library of Congress
At the end of a summer that had seen the disastrous Confederate loss at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, the triumph of the Army of Tennessee at Chickamauga was a well-timed turn around for the Confederates. Bragg’s forces at Chickamauga secured a decisive victory, breaking through Federal …show more content…
With Rosecrans himself retreating back to Chattanooga, Gen. George H. Thomas took control of what was left of the army. His own troops held their ground at Horseshoe Ridge, a strong defensive position. Thomas rallied retreating men from other commands, encouraging them to halt on Snodgrass Hill and begin building breastworks. Longstreet, meanwhile, asked Bragg to reinforce his battle-weary troops, yet Bragg refused. Throughout the afternoon, Longstreet’s assaults on Horseshoe Ridge were repeatedly repulsed. Thomas soon received orders from Rosecrans to take command of the army and order a general retreat, which he did soon after nightfall. For his determination to hold the Union position, even after his commanding officer had left the field, Thomas was later called “the Rock of Chickamauga,” and was considered by Ulysses S. Grant to be one of the finest generals in the Federal …show more content…
Although Bragg’s original plan was the destruction of the Army of the Cumberland and the recapture of Chattanooga, the results of two days of bitter fighting now stalled him. In the Battle of Chickamauga, Bragg had lost 20,000 men – more than twenty percent of his force. Ten Confederate generals had been killed or wounded, and the losses among his junior officers had been severe. With an eye on his losses, Bragg refused to pursue the fleeing Federals, a move which turned the decisive Southern victory at Chickamauga into a strategic defeat. Instead, Bragg planned to occupy the heights surrounding Chattanooga and lay siege to the city. Just two month later, the reinforced Federals drove the Army of Tennessee from their positions around Chattanooga, permanently securing Northern control of the city. Chickamauga—a battle which cost a Bragg fifth of his army—was turned into a hollow

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