The Maps of Chickamauga: Opening Moves and the First Day, August 29 – September 19, 1863

By David Powell

he Maps of Chickamauga explores this largely misunderstood battle through the use of full-color maps, graphically illustrating the complex tangle of combat’s ebb and flow that makes the titanic bloodshed of Chickamauga one of the most confusing actions of the American Civil War. Track individual regiments through their engagements at fifteen to twenty-minute intervals or explore each army in motion as brigades and divisions maneuver and deploy to face the enemy. The Maps of Chickamauga allows readers to fully grasp the action at any level of interest.

Now available as an ebook short, The Maps of Chickamauga: Opening Moves and the First Day, August 29 – September 19, 1863 plows new ground in the study of the campaign by breaking down the entire campaign in 61 detailed full page original maps. Situation maps reflect the posture of each army on an hourly basis, while tactical maps reveal the intricacies of regimental and battery movements.

The Maps of Chickamauga: Opening Moves and the First Day, August 29 – September 19, 1863 offers seven “action-sections”:

- Rosecrans Crosses the Tennessee
- Braxton Bragg Strikes Back at Rosecrans
- Battle Begins in Winfrey Field
- The Fight for Brock Field and Layfayette Road
- Back and Forth in Viniard Field
- Fleeting Rebel Success in Brotherton and Poe Fields
- Cleburne Attacks in Winfrey Field

The text accompanying each map explains the action in succinct detail, supported by a host of primary sources. Eyewitness accounts vividly underscore the human aspect of the actions detailed in the maps as brigades and regiments collide. Meticulously researched and footnoted by David Powell with cartography by David Friedrichs, The Maps of Chickamauga relies on the participants’ own words to recreate the course of battle.

The Maps of Chickamauga is an ideal companion for battlefield bushwhacking or simply armchair touring. Full color brings the movements to life, allowing readers to grasp the surging give and take of regimental combat in the woods and fields of North Georgia.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Savas Beatie
• Release date: Sep 20, 2013
• ISBN: 9781611211726

David Powell

David A. Powell is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute (1983) with a BA in history. He has published numerous articles in various magazines, and more than fifteen historical simulations of different battles. For the past decade, David’s focus has been on the epic battle of Chickamauga, and he is nationally recognized for his tours of that important battlefield. The results of that study are the volumes The Maps of Chickamauga (2009) and Failure in the Saddle (2010), as well as The Chickamauga Campaign trilogy. The Chickamauga Campaign: A Mad Irregular Battle was published in 2014, The Chickamauga Campaign: Glory or the Grave appeared in September 2015, and the final volume, Barren Victory, was released in September 2016. David and his wife Anne live and work in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. He is Vice President of Airsped, Inc., a specialized delivery firm.

Book preview

© 2009 by David Powell (text) and David Friedrichs (cartography)

The Maps of Chickamauga: Opening Moves and the First Day, August 29 - September 19, 1863

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ISBN-13: 978-1-932714-72-2

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This book is lovingly dedicated to our wives,

Anne Powell and Laura Friedrichs

Contents

Introduction

Acknowledgments

Prelude: The Strategic Situation in 1863

The Army Commanders

William S. Rosecrans

Braxton Bragg

The Chickamauga Campaign: Opening Moves

(August 29 - September 18, 1863)

Map Set 2: Rosecrans Crosses the Tennessee

Map Set 3: Braxton Bragg Strikes Back at Rosecrans

The Battle of Chickamauga

(September 19 - 20, 1863)

Map Set 4: Battle Begins in Winfrey Field

(Morning, September 19)

Map Set 5: The Fight for Brock Field and Lafayette Road

(Midday, September 19)

Map Set 6: Back and Forth in Viniard Field

(Afternoon, September 19)

Map Set 7: Fleeting Rebel Success in Brotherton and Poe Fields

(Late Afternoon, September 19)

Map Set 8: Cleburne Attacks in Winfrey Field

(Night, September 19)

Appendix 2: Chickamauga Order of Battle

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Introduction

By any definition this book you now hold in your hands is a labor of love. The general idea germinated in 1997, when I first began researching the battle of Chickamauga for an entirely different project.

Back then I was designing historical war games (paper games, not computer simulations) and wanted to tackle Chickamauga as my next subject. For those of you who aren't familiar with the rather arcane hobby of historical board games, they are highly detailed (some say overly complicated) manual simulations of past events. Printed maps represent the terrain, overlaid with a hexagonal grid that acts as a sort of chessboard, with die-cut cardboard counters portraying the regiments, battalions, batteries, and leaders who fought these epic encounters. Players use these tools to recreate the struggles of the event portrayed or to explore alternative outcomes. Think of them as a step between reading about the event and participating in a Civil War reenactment of it. My goal was to produce an epic of the genre, including as much detail as I could about Chickamauga. Accurate maps of the battlefield—and lots of them—were of prime importance, as were accurate numbers and losses for the organizations that fought there. The project took about a year to complete, and when the game was finally published it was well received. As I soon discovered, I was not yet finished with Chickamauga.

Like so many other people with a strong interest in the Civil War, I spent many years studying Gettysburg (for which I had also designed a board game). The July 1863 battle was the largest of the war. Much of it was fought across generally open terrain, and neither side was broken or driven from the field. Chickamauga was a very different affair. The combat in North Georgia in September 1863 was the Confederacy's only clear-cut victory in the Western Theater (and a barren one at that, rendered so by the crippling Rebel defeat just two months later at Chattanooga). The dark forests and limited clearings triggered a host of unexpected combats, flanking maneuvers, and direct assaults that left commanders on both sides confused as to the exact ebb and flow of the battle. Commanders William Rosecrans (Army of the Cumberland) and Braxton Bragg (Army of Tennessee) exerted only limited control over the action, groping for whatever meager details of the fighting that came their way. Unlike so many battles, Chickamauga was largely fought by brigade, regimental, and sometimes even company commanders; senior officers often remained frustrated spectators to the chaos swirling around them. Thirty years later when the National Park was created, veterans of the battle recognized this truth when they decreed Chickamauga to have been the quintessential soldiers’ battle. No statues honoring individual generals are to be found on the field.

There were other significant differences. One consideration that drew me to Gettysburg was the wealth of published and easily accessible primary and secondary resources on the battle. I could learn about it in as much detail as I wished. There was always another letter or diary or newspaper account coming to light, or another book being published. I remember at one point many years ago counting nearly ninety Gettysburg-related titles on my personal library shelf. Hundreds more were in print and/or easily available. Gettysburg is—and will likely continue to be—a publishing mainstay.

The opposite is true about Chickamauga. Nearly all of the primary sources penned on the battle are in archival holdings and old newspapers, and so are not readily available. The secondary literature is remarkably sparse. Despite the battle's size and importance to the course of the Civil War, only two modern battle studies exist: Glenn Tucker's Chickamauga dating from the centennial era, and Peter Cozzens’ This Terrible Sound, published in 1992. In the microtactical genre (such as the multiple monographs that exist for each of Gettysburg's three days) Archibald Gracie published in 1911 The Truth About Chickamauga, a detailed study of the September 20 afternoon fighting on Horseshoe Ridge. Unfortunately, Gracie's narrative is jumbled, poorly organized, and deeply confusing, and his analysis remains questionable at best. The redeeming aspect of Gracie's work is that he used extensive quotations from actual participants.

At the campaign level, there are several studies available that place Chickamauga in the larger context of the war, including Steven Woodworth's Six Armies in Tennessee and William G. Robertson's excellent five-part series recently published in Blue & Gray Magazine. As of this writing, Dr. Robertson is finishing a new monograph on the campaign, a much-anticipated work those of us fascinated with Chickamauga have long wished to see.

My own interest in Chickamauga continued unabated even after I finished my game design. I started collecting every primary source I could find, visiting or contacting archives and repositories across the country. I also scanned hundreds of period newspapers looking for letters home and casualty reports from men and regiments that had fought at Chickamauga. Somewhere along the line I developed the idea of assembling a map atlas that would explain the battle at the regimental level, tracking all movements at fifteen minute intervals. I knew my computer graphic talents weren't up to that challenge, so I sought a partner for this ambitious project. David Freidrichs was a fellow wargamer and good friend who had the digital and artistic skills I lacked. When I pitched the project to him he signed on quickly. Although we did not yet have a publisher or even a product, at least we had the concept and the means to execute it.

Originally (and foolishly) I estimated it would take about one year to finish the atlas. It was more than a decade later before I understood enough about the battle to begin sketching out draft maps. The time in between was spent reading primary accounts, walking the battlefield, and trying to integrate often conflicting recollections with the terrain under my feet. It was an often frustrating, but ultimately very rewarding, experience.

Hopefully, readers of this book own one of Brad Gottfried's excellent volumes in the Savas Beatie Military Atlas Series: The Maps of Gettysburg (2007) and The Maps of First Bull Run (2009). If so, you appreciate the wholly unique approach of this series that Brad thought up and Ted Savas (Savas Beatie) helped develop. Full-page maps with facing explanatory text convey simultaneity and clarity in a way that traditional battle narratives simply cannot accomplish. Chickamauga was a very confusing series of nearly non-stop combats driving in and falling back from every point of the compass. This format provides a markedly different view and understanding of this chaotic fighting than heretofore available.

Acknowledgments

Many people have had a hand in bringing this work to publication. First and foremost is my wife Anne, who has lived with Chickamauga as long as I have. Too much of my free time and days off have been spent traveling for this project or writing it up. Anne has given me the space and time to bring everything to completion without a word of complaint.

Two men have been instrumental in developing my understanding of the battle, and they know more about Chickamauga than anyone else alive: Dr. William Glenn Robertson, head of the Combat Studies Institute, and James Ogden, Chief Historian at the Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park. When Dr. Robertson was first tasked by the U.S. Army to develop a modern staff ride program to use history to instruct young officers, he selected Chickamauga. Over the years he has developed that curriculum through an in-depth study of the battle and the campaign, collecting a wealth of resources along the way. I first met Dr. Robertson by tagging along on a staff ride. He has since shared many of his sources with me as I tried to bring this project to fruition. He is the dean of Chickamauga studies, and I thank him for his kindness.

Jim Ogden has been equally gracious with his time, granting me full access to the park library. Jim is always willing to discuss or argue points of contention. He read and offered suggestions on the text and has commented on the maps. For the past six years he has supported and helped guide our annual battlefield tours each March, when we break down the larger battle into detailed tactical segments and explore significant aspects of a given action. Much of my understanding of how events unfolded in 1863 came from these walks with Jim and the discussions that ensued. There is no better time spent than with Jim Ogden on the field at Chickamauga.

A number of friends have lent helping hands. Dan Cicero accompanied me on my first research trip to the park, sharing the driving duties with me from Chicago one rainy weekend to explore the park's library and map materials. Zack Waltz has been invaluable, lending me his time and copying talents on research trips to both the Combat Studies Institute at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and to what is now the Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Copying page after page of transcriptions and regimental histories is a tedious task, but Zack's enthusiasm never flagged. John Reed opened his doors to me in Atlanta, accompanied me (along with Zack and others) on numerous trips to the park, and endured monsoon-like rains more than once. Rick Manion of White Star Tours led me on my first exploration of Chickamauga, a day-long walk that provided the foundation of my understanding of the fighting of September 19. Rick has been an enthusiastic supporter of our yearly March tours. Sam Elliott of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Scott Day of Birmingham, Alabama, offered support and encouragement as we shared our mutual interest in and love for the field. All of us will miss our weekend lodgings at the Log House on the grounds of the Gordon-Lee Mansion in the town of Chickamauga, our base for many excursions to the battlefield.

Park Ranger Lee White has become a good friend over the course of my numerous trips to Chickamauga. Lee is always alert to new resources on the battle, especially in electronic format. He has graciously read much of the text and has offered both praise and criticism. Lee caught and corrected errors on the maps and in the text, and this book is much the better because of his help.

Dr. Keith Bohannon of the University of West Georgia has an equal passion for archival research, and shared many finds with me over the years. Dr. Stephen Wise, director of the Marine Corps Museum at Parris Island, South Carolina, has also been a great booster of my efforts.

Numerous librarians, archivists, and scholars who maintain collections at so many of the institutions where I have spent time poring over old documents have been invaluable to this project. Over the years I have visited or contacted more than 200 archival repositories ranging from major university collections to local regional libraries and historical societies. Everyone was tremendously helpful in unearthing obscure collections and providing copies, and I am indebted to them for their efforts.

Every author eventually realizes that writing is the first stage of a project. I want to thank my first real editor, Terry Johnson, for accepting my articles in North and South magazine and helping me hone my prose into something worthy of publication. I also want to thank Terry for putting me in touch with Theodore P. Savas, Managing Director of Savas Beatie the publisher of this book. Ted helped translate my idea into a concrete product that fits nicely as the third book in the Savas Beatie Military Atlas Series. I would also like to thank some of the great Savas Beatie staff—Sarah Keeney (marketing director), together with Tammy Hall and Veronica Kane (marketing assistants), and Alex Savas (summer marketing assistant)—who worked hard to position and promote this book before its release.

If you helped me along the way and I forgot to mention you here, please accept my apology and know that I appreciate your efforts. Human nature dictates that mistakes will inevitably slip through the final editing process. For any errors that remain, I take all responsibility.

David Powell

Prelude: The Strategic Situation in 1863

Viewed solely from the microcosm of Virginia, by the summer of 1863 the Civil War appeared to be at a stalemate. Confederate forces had frustrated repeated Federal offensives through two long years of war and occupied roughly the same ground they had held in 1861. The primary reason for this success was Gen. Robert E. Lee. As long as he commanded the Army of Northern Virginia, the South seemed to have little to fear from any general that President Abraham Lincoln could find to oppose him.

The proximity of the opposing capitals (Washington and Richmond), coupled with major media centers (Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston) lining the Eastern seaboard, focused much of the nation's attention on the largely static war in the narrow corridor between the District of Columbia and northern Virginia. In reality, the conflict covered a much wider front.

The Western Theater, running from the Appalachians to the Mississippi River, spanned many hundreds of miles (as did the Trans-Mississippi Theater west of the Mississippi). There, the war was anything but static and by nearly any measure was turning decisively against the Confederacy. The vast spaces and plethora of navigable rivers offered Union forces access into the interior of the rebellious states. As the South learned early and often, waging a successful defense there was much more difficult than it was in Virginia.

By 1863, a trio of the South's most important cities—Memphis, Nashville, and New Orleans—containing much of what passed for heavy industry in the South were under Federal control. Their loss significantly damaged the Rebel cause. The Lincoln administration expected that renewed offensive operations that summer would bring more success and perhaps crush the rebellion and end the war.

President Lincoln anxiously anticipated two decisive victories in the West in 1863: the reopening of the Mississippi River with the capture of the Southern stronghold at Vicksburg, and a strong move into East Tennessee. Federal control of the Mississippi from Cairo to the Gulf of Mexico would reestablish a trading route critical to the survival of the Midwest and divide the Confederacy in two (geographically if not in terms of raw population). Two Union armies were poised to conduct these operations. Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks was ordered north from New Orleans to clear the river of Rebel defenses from south to north, an operation aimed largely at Port Hudson, while Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant would do the reverse, clearing the river from north to south from Memphis to Vicksburg. Both operations were well under way by May 1863.

Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside was expected to move on Knoxville, Tennessee, from Kentucky. East Tennessee was important because it was a hotbed of Unionism deep in the heart of Secessia. Pro-Union citizens had long been abused by Confederate authorities. Liberating them would be a major political triumph for Lincoln and demonstrate that the rebellion lacked sustained popular support among the people. The loss of East Tennessee would also sever the Confederacy's only direct rail connection between the Eastern and Western theaters, complicating Confederate troop and supply movements.

At Nashville was Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans’ Army of the Cumberland, the Union's largest army in the theater. Rosecrans had been inactive since the bloody stalemate of Stone's River the previous winter. His objectives were Middle Tennessee and Chattanooga. Success would return Tennessee to Federal control and set the stage for an invasion of Georgia.

Confederate President Jefferson Davis faced a serious dilemma trying to confront these various Union threats. Only two Rebel armies of any size were available to defend this vast region: Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee facing Rosecrans outside Nashville, and Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton's Army of Mississippi at Vicksburg. Smaller garrisons held East Tennessee and other areas. Short of troops, Davis envisioned shifting men between armies to deal with the Union offensives individually—a strategy that would prove to be nearly impossible if the Federal armies advanced simultaneously.

The Army Commanders

William S. Rosecrans

(September 6, 1819 – March 11, 1898)

William Starke Rosecrans was born to Crandell Rosecrans and Jane Hopkins in Delaware City, Ohio. His great-grandfather was a governor of Rhode Island, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and a co-author (with John Adams) of a draft of the Articles of Confederation.

Like many during his age, Rosecrans received only an informal education, but he demonstrated his intelligence and intellectual curiosity early and read everything he could get his hands on. He landed an appointment to West Point and graduated from the military academy in the Class of 1842. His standing (5th out of 56) placed him near the top of one of the most notable classes in the institution's illustrious history. His classmates included future Civil War generals John Newton, James Longstreet, Richard H. Anderson, George Sykes, Abner Doubleday, Seth Williams, Alexander P. Stewart, Lafayette McLaws, Mansfield Lovell, John Pope, Daniel Harvey Hill, and Earl Van Dorn. Rosecrans roomed at West Point with Longstreet and Stewart, two generals who would later play a major role in ending his tenure as an army commander.

Rosecrans entered the engineers because of his class standing, but resigned in 1854 in order to pursue a civilian career path that would include stints as an architect, civil engineer, mining executive, and running a navigation company launched to haul coal. Old Rosy was also a prolific inventor. Unfortunately, he was working in a coil-oil production laboratory in 1859 when a lamp exploded, burning much of his body. Somehow he managed to walk more than one mile home. His injuries were so severe that he was confined to bed for the better part of two long and painful years. The scars on his forehead remained visible for the rest of his life.

Within days after the Civil War broke out in 1861, he was on the staff of Gen. George B. McClellan with the rank of colonel of engineers. Two months later he was the colonel of the 23rd Ohio Infantry—which included two future U.S. presidents, Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley—and was made a

Reviews for The Maps of Chickamauga

[charbonn-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a book in Savas Beattie’s Military History Series. I downgraded by half a star because of numerous small errors. One example: In Map Set 1, there is a certain small Tennessee town identified as “Bradleyville” on the map and “Bradyville” in the text. I am not all that familiar with Tennessee geography, so I turned to a modern road atlas, and found that the town is actually called “Bradyville”, so the error is mapmaker Friedrichs’, not author Powell’s.On the other hand, there has to be a certain art to making the text fit onto one page, no more, no less, so that it fits exactly on the page opposite the map it is describing. In addition, I thought that Friedrichs’ did a slightly better aesthetic job with the maps than did Bradley M. Gottfried, who authored the other books in the series.