The Federal high command was elated by Major-General Ulysses S. Grant’s resounding victory at Chattanooga. Grant’s Federals had broken through General Braxton Bragg’s Confederate Army of Tennessee and very nearly destroyed the army itself. But Grant was also responsible for the Federal army of Major-General Ambrose E. Burnside, which was under siege at Knoxville. While Grant’s superiors congratulated him on his victory, they quickly pointed out that Burnside was still in danger.
President Abraham Lincoln wrote Grant, “Your dispatches as to fighting on Monday and Tuesday are here. Well done. Many thanks to all. Remember Burnside.” General-in-Chief Henry W. Halleck then wrote, “I congratulate you on the success thus far of your plans. I fear General Burnside is hard pressed and that any further delay may prove fatal. I know that you will do all in your power to relieve him.” Grant assigned Major-General Gordon Granger to lead 20,000 men to Knoxville to help Burnside break the siege.
Meanwhile, the Federals continued pursuing Bragg’s Confederates, with Major-General Philip Sheridan’s division in the lead. Major-General William T. Sherman’s forces advanced on Ringgold, 15 miles down the railroad connecting Chattanooga to the vital industrial city of Atlanta. Major-General Joseph Hooker’s Federals also pushed toward Ringgold through Rossville Gap. Assistant Secretary of War Charles A. Dana, observing Federal operations on behalf of the War Department, wired Washington: “Bragg is in full retreat, burning his depots and bridges.”
Bragg’s demoralized Confederates withdrew southeast, past Chickamauga Station and Ringgold toward Dalton. Bragg ordered Major-General Patrick R. Cleburne’s crack division (from Lieutenant-General William Hardee’s corps) to block the Federals at Ringgold “at all hazards.”
Hooker’s lead division under Brigadier-General Peter J. Osterhaus approached Ringgold at 8 a.m. on November 27. By that time, Cleburne’s 4,000 Confederates had entrenched themselves on Taylor’s Ridge south of town. The numerically superior Federals drove in enemy skirmishers and then tried moving around Cleburne’s right (north) flank. When that failed, Osterhaus attacked the Confederate left, but Cleburne repelled that effort as well.
Hooker brought up Brigadier-General John W. Geary’s division, which made little progress until Geary committed Colonel David Ireland’s brigade against the enemy left which, according to Geary, forced the Confederates “to recoil in the zenith of (Ireland’s) audacious charge…” The Federals then brought up several guns and began pounding Cleburne’s left. The Confederate line finally wavered, and Hardee directed Cleburne to withdraw around 1 p.m.
Cleburne lost 221 men while Hooker lost 442; the Confederates also took over 100 prisoners and three stands of colors. As they fell back to rejoin Bragg’s main army, Grant halted the pursuit. His men were moving dangerously far from their supply base and, as Grant later explained:
“Had it not been for the imperative necessity of relieving Burnside, I would have pursued the broken and demoralized retreating enemy as long as supplies could have been found in the country. But my advices were that Burnside’s supplies would only last until the 3rd of December. It was already getting late to afford the necessary relief. I determined therefore to pursue no farther.”
Bragg fell back behind Rocky Face Ridge the next day and arrived at Dalton, where he consolidated his scattered army. The troops cheered the arrival of Cleburne’s men after holding the Federals off at Ringgold. Once halted, Bragg reported to President Jefferson Davis on his defeat at Chattanooga. He cited “the bad conduct of veteran troops who had never before failed in any duty” as the main cause. He wrote:
“A panic which I had never before witnessed seemed to have seized upon officers and men, and each seemed to be struggling for his personal safety regardless of his duty or his character… No satisfactory excuse can possibly be given for the shameful conduct of the troops… in allowing their line to be penetrated. The position was one which ought to have been held by a line of skirmishers against any assaulting column, and wherever resistance was made the enemy fled in disorder after suffering heavy loss…”
Bragg alleged that the army was demoralized due to “the effect produced by the treasonable act of (James) Longstreet, (D.H.) Hill, and (Leonidas) Polk in sacrificing the army in their effort to degrade and remove me for personal ends.” He also blamed Major-Generals John C. Breckinridge and Benjamin F. Cheatham for “drunkenness, most flagrant, during the whole three days of our trials… they take to the bottle at once, and drown their cares by becoming stupid and unfit for any duty.” Bragg and Breckinridge had long been enemies, and Bragg alleged that Breckinridge had gotten so drunk after the battle that a division commander had to care for him during the retreat.
Bragg took no responsibility for erroneously detaching troops to Knoxville, issuing vague orders, and failing to anticipate the Federals’ intentions until it was too late.
Bragg reported from Dalton, “We hope to maintain this position, (but) should the enemy press on promptly we may have to cross the Oostanaula (River, 15 miles south).” He offered a silver lining to the Chattanooga disaster: “My first estimate of our disaster was not too large, and time only can restore order and morale. All possible aid should be pushed on to Resaca.” Bragg then added, “I deem it due to the cause and to myself to ask for relief from command and an investigation into the causes of the defeat.”
Adjutant-General Samuel Cooper responded: “Your dispatches of yesterday received. Your request to be relieved has been submitted to the President, who, upon your representation, directs me to notify you that you are relieved from command, which you will transfer to Lieutenant-General Hardee, the officer next in rank and now present for duty.”
Bragg immediately prepared to relinquish command of the army he had led since June 1862. During that time, he had taken the fight to the Federals by invading Kentucky, but his retreat after Perryville ended his invasion. He then lost Middle Tennessee by retreating after Stones River and Tullahoma. Bragg rebounded after giving up Chattanooga by routing the Federals at Chickamauga, but his siege of Chattanooga failed, and now his Army of Tennessee had been ousted from its home state.
For the Federals, Grant immediately looked to drive the Confederates away from Knoxville and out of eastern Tennessee. After that, he would begin planning a move into the southern heartland which included a drive on Atlanta.
Bibliography
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