Several new dispositions had been made along the Union centre, on the 24th, in anticipation of a great battle on the following day. Wood’s forces, strengthened by those of General Baird, had been appointed to storm the rebel heights at Blackford, which is a gap in the centre of Missionary Ridge. Sheridan’s command, strengthened by General King’s brigade—of regulars and volunteers—had been deputed to assault at Thurman’s House, a point further toward the enemy’s left. General Gordon Granger assumed command of the divisions of Wood and Baird, and General Palmer took command of those of Sheridan and King. The object of these movements was to cut the rebel army in two, in the centre, while Hooker on its left, and Sherman on its right, should flank it, and cut it to pieces.
BATTLE OF MISSIONARY RIDGE.
November 25, 1863.
Such was the position of affairs on the morning of the 25th of November. At ten o’clock General Sherman commenced the battle of Missionary Ridge, by pushing forward Colonel Loomis’s brigade of Ewing’s division, on the right, against the enemy posted at Glass Station, back of the railroad. This attack was promptly repulsed. General Corse then made a direct assault upon Tunnel Hill, mounting the hill without difficulty, and in gallant style. But it was only on reaching the crest of this eminence, and coming upon the plateau, that the Union troops came under fire of the guns of Fort Buckner, the strongest rebel fortification at this point. They gained the plateau at precisely eleven o’clock, and, at once, were greeted with a tremendous fire from the guns of the fort, under which they retreated to the crest of the hill, leaving their dead and wounded in the enemy’s rifle-pits. At this juncture, Colonel Loomis’s brigade made a second charge from the right, driving the rebels from their fortifications along the railroad track, and forcing them up the hill to the right of Fort Buckner. General Corse was reinforced, while his movement was going on, and, with fresh troops, he now proceeded to make a second charge against the fort. A bloody conflict ensued. The Union soldiers, swept by a continuous and merciless fire, advanced to within twelve yards of the rebel works—then wavered, then again fell back to their original position, once more leaving their dead and wounded in possession of the enemy. This repulse took place at a quarter past twelve, and from that time until half past one, no further movement was made in Sherman’s front. At this hour, however, a third assault of the hill was made by the combined force of Colonel Loomis and Mathias, supported by two regiments of Colonel Raum’s brigade, the Eightieth Ohio, and the Seventeenth Iowa. The charge of the Union forces on this occasion has been described by an eye-witness as the most magnificent act of gallantry that it is possible to imagine. It was made in the face of a destructive fire, from six pieces of artillery, and a long line of musketry, and—a somewhat navel expedient in modern warfare—a fire of rocks and stones, which the rebels hurled down from their fastness, in great abundance. Meanwhile, the hill flashed and flared with flame, and echoed with the terrible roar of artillery. For half an hour the strife continued. Then the column of Mathias broke and fled—but only to the line of Raum’s reserves, where it was rallied as if by magic. At precisely a quarter past two o’clock, a last grand charge was made, all along the line. Fifty yards in front lay the rebel works. The rebel cannon, double-shotted with canister, belched out death upon the advancing patriots. The men drew their blue cloth caps over their eyes, and pressed stubbornly onward. It was a very critical moment for the rebels—and they knew it, for their commander suddenly called up reserves from his centre, and so, under the combined sweep of a front, flank, and cross fire, the gallant troops of Sherman were finally obliged to fall back from Tunnel Hill. Such advantages as he had gained, however, General Sherman held,—ordering his line into position, and intrenching himself to secure the ground for new operations.
But that is not always failure which seems so at the moment. The disaster to Sherman proved, in fact, the main-spring of victory to General Grant. That commander, posted at Orchard Knob, and narrowly watching the contest on his left, was not slow to observe that General Bragg had been obliged to weaken the rebel centre in order to save Tunnel Hill; and, with General Grant, to see an advantage was to improve it. The moment Bragg’s reserves had been drawn away, General Grant ordered a charge upon the rebel centre. At the same moment an artillery fire was opened on the enemy from Orchard Knob and Fort Wood. The men went forward in fine style, charging at the point of the bayonet, across Citico Creek and up the hillside. For a little while, as it toiled upward, the line looked broken and ragged; but the moment it reached the crest of Missionary Ridge, it formed in perfect order, and rushed on like the wind. Astonished and dismayed, the rebels fled before the determined valor of the patriots. Through Fort Hindman danced the rebel flag, borne along by the frightened hordes of Confederates, and after it, streaming grandly in the stormy air, floated onward the flag of the Union. At four o’ clock the ridge was won. General Grant himself, following in the wake of the advancing columns, appeared among his troops, and, by his presence, inspired them with new courage and intrepid resolution.
In the mean while General Hooker, following up his victory of the 24th, had completely possessed himself of Lookout Mountain, had descended into the valley, crossed the Chattanooga creek, passed through Rossville, and advanced northward along Missionary Ridge, to cooperate with General Grant. His advance drove the rebels out of Fort Breckinridge, and captured many prisoners. He came up late in the afternoon of the 25th. A final effort, made by Bragg, to retake Fort Hindman, was successfully repulsed, and then the rout of the Confederates was complete. They fled in great disorder towards Ringgold, leaving hundreds of killed and wounded in their track. A few vollies of grape and canister converted their retreat into a wild rout.
BATTLE OF MISSIONARY RIDGE.
PURSUIT TOWARDS RINGGOLD, GA.
Though utterly defeated and disorganized, the rebel army was still powerful in numbers and material, and the Federal commander, fully sensible of the importance of following up his advantage, ordered a vigorous pursuit. By daylight the next morning the Union forces were pressing close upon the dispirited and fleeing enemy. So disheartened were the rebels that hundreds threw away their arms and surrendered, soon as the victorious Union columns came within range. All day the pursuit continued, and, when night came on, the country for miles around was lighted with huge fires, where the rebels were compelled to destroy their stores, to prevent them from falling into patriot hands. The road was strewed with commissary stores, and broken-down caissons and wagons. The line of retreat was mostly along the railroad by the valley of Ringgold.