ORCHARD KNOB.
The Union Army of the Cumberland had made its positions very strong during the time it was besieged by Bragg’s army. One of its strong points was Fort Wood on an elevated point east of the town. Thomas, according to instructions, sent Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan’s and Brig. Gen. T. J. Wood’s divisions to level ground at Fort Wood and there formed them in line—Wood on the left, Sheridan on the right, with Brig. Gen. Absalom Baird supporting Sheridan. Brig. Gen. R. W. Johnson’s troops held the trenches, and Maj. Gen. O. O. Howard’s Corps, which had crossed from the north bank of the river, acted as the reserve.
[Table 3.]—Union Army at Chattanooga
Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant
Army of the Cumberland—Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas Fourth Army Corps—Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger 1st Division—Brig. Gen. Charles Cruft 2d Division—Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan 3d Division—Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Wood Fourteenth Army Corps—Maj. Gen. J. M. Palmer 1st Division—Brig. Gen. Richard W. Johnson 2d Division—Brig. Gen. J. C. Davis 3d Division—Brig. Gen. Absalom Baird Engineer Troops—Brig. Gen. William F. Smith Artillery Reserve—Brig. Gen. J. M. Brannan 1st Division—Col. James Barnett 2d Division Cavalry 2d Division —2d Brigade—Col. Eli Long Post of Chattanooga—Col. John G. Parkhurst Detachment from the Army of the Potomac—Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker Eleventh Army Corps—Maj. Gen. O. O. Howard 2d Division—Brig. Gen. Adolph von Steinwehr 3d Division—Maj. Gen. Carl Schurz Twelfth Army Corps—Maj. Gen. Henry W. Slocum 2d Division—Brig. Gen. John W. Geary Army of the Tennessee—Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman Fifteenth Corps—Maj. Gen. Frank P. Blair, Jr. 1st Division—Brig. Gen. Peter J. Osterhaus 2d Division—Brig. Gen. Morgan L. Smith 4th Division—Brig. Gen. Hugh Ewing Seventeenth Army Corps 2d Division—Brig. Gen. John E. Smith
At 2 p. m. on November 23, the lines of blue moved forward, driving the Confederate outposts and their supports back to the base of Missionary Ridge, and captured Orchard Knob, a low hill a little more than a mile in front of the ridge. The Union forces occupied the captured entrenchments and erected a battery on Orchard Knob. Except for occasional artillery firing, the fighting ended for the day.
[Table 4.]—Confederate Army at Chattanooga
Gen. Braxton Bragg
Hardee’s Corps—Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee Cheatham’s Division—Brig. Gen. John K. Jackson Stevenson’s Division—Maj. Gen. Carter L. Stevenson Cleburne’s Division—Maj. Gen. P. R. Cleburne Walker’s Division—Brig. Gen. States R. Gist Breckinridge’s Corps—Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge Hindman’s Division—Brig. Gen. J. Patton Anderson Breckinridge’s Division—Brig. Gen. William B. Bate Stewart’s Division—Maj. Gen. Ambrose P. Stewart Reserve Artillery Robertson’s Battalion—Capt. Felix H. Robertson Williams’ Battalion—Maj. S. C. Williams