THE NATIONAL MILITARY PARK CHICKAMAUGA-CHATTANOOGA. 5-610 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE, WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. BY H. V. BOYNTON. CINCINNATI: THE ROBERT CLARKE COMPANY. 1895. PREFACE. Chattanooga was an objective of the Union armies of the central west from an early period of the war. Gen. Thomas, in November, 1861, asked for a force of 20,000 with which he designed to advance through Cumberland Gap on Knoxville, and thence to Chattanooga. Gen. Buell, after having been turned aside from Nashville to co-operate with Gen. Grant toward Corinth, was sent eastward from the latter point against Chattanooga. The objects of Gen. Rosecrans' advance from Nashville were to clear Tennessee and occupy Chattanooga. While other elements, such as securing Nashville, and re-establishing a Union State Government there, entered into previous campaigns, Chattanooga was the direct objective of the Chickamauga campaign. The battle of Chickamauga was one of the best illustrations of the pluck, endurance, and prowess of the American soldier which the war afforded. Measured by the percentages of losses, and the duration of the fighting for the various portions of each army, it was the deadliest battle of modern times. Its strategy will always be notable in the history of wars. So far as the occupation of the field is concerned it was a Confederate victory. Considering the objects of the campaign it was a Union triumph. The battle of Chattanooga was the grandest spectacular engagement of the war. Its features appear in as: bold relief as do Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge upon the fields which they dominate. Twenty-nine of the thirty-three States east of the Rocky Mountains, which comprised the Union at the outbreak of the war, had troops engaged in these campaigns, and five of these were represented on both sides. The latter were Ken tucky, Missouri, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Maryland. Three Union armies took part in the campaign for Chattanooga, the Army of the Cumberland in its entirety, four divisions from the Army of the Tennessee under Gen. Sherman, and four from the Army of the Potomac under Gen. Hooker. On the Confederate side Gen. Bragg was re-enforced by Gen. Longstreet's Corps from the Army of North Virginia, by troops from Gen. Johnson in Mississippi, and by Gen. Buckner's Corps from East Tennessee. Thus the whole country was directly and largely interested in the campaign and battles for Chattanooga, while on each side were many of the most distinguished and prominent officers of the war. It was this universal interest of the country and its armies in these battles, the brilliancy of the strategy, the unsurpassed pluck of the fighting, and the wonderful natural features of the fields of battle, which made it possible to secure the unanimous support of Congress for the project of establishing the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. It was the pioneer project in giving impartial representation to both sides in preserving the history of the fields and marking the lines of battle. The Gettysburg Memorial Association soon followed and the act establishing a Park at Shiloh, the work of preserving the field at Antietam, and the proposed completion of Gettysburg under the Government are proceeding upon the methods inaugurated at Chickamauga and Chattanooga. It is proposed in this volume to present such concise history of the Park project, and the battles for Chattanooga, as its limits will admit; also a comprehensive guide to all parts of these fields. The great extent of the Park, the fact that it can be visited from several directions, each of which requires a different route, and that many visitors will have time only to make themselves familiar with the more prominent features of the movements and battles, render repetitions necessary in describing the general features for the benefit of all visitors. In order to fix the field in mind as it was at the time of the battle it is well to remember: 1. All the roads were surface roads, without cuts or fills. 2. Most of the forest was thickly obstructed with underbrush. 3. Some of the present fields were woods. A list of the fields cleared since the battle will be found in the body of the book. Owing to the intricacies of movements, and the absence of many important reports, the studies of these extended fields are far from complete. The valuable aid of state commissions has supplied many of these lacks, and greatly facilitated this branch of the work. The author will regard it as a special favor if those who discover errors in this volume will notify him. |