Battle of Missionary Ridge

Battle of Missionary Ridge
Part of the American Civil War
A 1906 illustration of the Army of Tennessee at the Battle of Missionary Ridge on November 25, 1863
Date November 25, 1863 (1863-11-25) Location Chattanooga, Tennessee 35°01′48″N 85°15′25″W / 35.030°N 85.257°W / 35.030; -85.257 Result Union victory
Belligerents
United States (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
Ulysses S. Grant George Henry Thomas William Tecumseh Sherman	Braxton Bragg John C. Breckinridge William Hardee
Units involved
Military Division of the Mississippi: Army of the Cumberland[1] Army of the Tennessee	Army of Tennessee[2]
Strength
56,359[3]	44,010[3]
Casualties and losses
5,824 total (753 killed 4,722 wounded 349 captured/missing)[4]	6,667 total (361 killed 2,160 wounded 4,146 men captured/missing, 40 cannons also captured)[3]

The Battle of Missionary Ridge, also known as the Battle of Chattanooga, was fought on November 25, 1863, as part of the Chattanooga campaign of the American Civil War. Following the Union victory in the Battle of Lookout Mountain on November 24, Union forces in the Military Division of the Mississippi under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant assaulted Missionary Ridge and defeated the Confederate Army of Tennessee, commanded by Gen. Braxton Bragg, forcing it to retreat to Georgia.

In the morning, Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, commanding the Union Army of the Tennessee, made piecemeal attacks to capture the northern end of Missionary Ridge, Tunnel Hill, but were stopped by fierce resistance from the Confederate divisions of Maj. Gen. Patrick Cleburne, William H.T. Walker, and Carter L. Stevenson. In the afternoon, Grant was concerned that Bragg was reinforcing his right flank at Sherman's expense. He ordered the Army of the Cumberland, commanded by Maj. Gen. George Henry Thomas, to move forward and seize the Confederate line of rifle pits on the valley floor and stop there, as a demonstration to assist Sherman's efforts. The Union soldiers moved forward and quickly pushed the Confederates from the first line of rifle pits, but were then subjected to a punishing fire from the Confederate lines up the ridge.

After a short pause to regain their breath, the Union soldiers continued the attack against the remaining lines further up the ridge, found that the defenders' remaining rifle pits were untenable and pursued the fleeing Confederates. This second advance was taken up by the commanders on the spot and also by some of the soldiers. Seeing what was happening, Thomas and his subordinates sent orders confirming orders for the ascent. The Union advance was somewhat disorganized but effective, finally overwhelming and scattering what ought to have been, as General Grant himself believed, an impregnable Confederate line. The top line of Confederate rifle pits was sited on the actual crest rather than the military crest of the ridge, leaving blind spots for infantry and artillery. In combination with an advance from the southern end of the ridge by divisions under Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, the Union Army routed Bragg's army, which retreated to Dalton, Georgia, ending the siege of Union forces in Chattanooga, Tennessee.