Battle of Wauhatchie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Battle of Wauhatchie | |||||||
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| Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
 Map of the engagement at Wauhatchie, Tenn. by Julius Bien & Co. |
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| Combatants | |||||||
| United States of America | Confederate States of America | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| William F. Smith Joseph Hooker |
James Longstreet Micah Jenkins |
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| Strength | |||||||
| XI Corps & XII Corps | Jenkin's Brigade, Longstreet's Corps | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| 420 | 408 | ||||||
| Reopening the Tennessee River |
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| Wauhatchie |
The Battle of Wauhatchie, also known as Brown's Ferry, was fought October 28 and October 29, 1863, in Hamilton and Marion Counties, Tennessee, and Dade County, Georgia, in the American Civil War.
After their disastrous defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga, Union forces under Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans retreated to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Confederate General Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee besieged the city, threatening to starve the Union forces into surrender. Bragg's troops occupied Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain, both of which had excellent views of the city, the river, and the Union's supply lines. Confederate troops launched raids on all supply wagons heading toward Chattanooga, which made it necessary for the Union to find another way to feed their men. Rosecrans was relieved of his command and replaced with Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Grant's first priority upon reaching Chattanooga was to resupply his army.
Grant and Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas initiated the "Cracker Line Operation" on October 26, 1863. It was designed to open the road to Chattanooga from Brown's Ferry on the Tennessee River with a simultaneous advance up Lookout Valley, securing the Kelley's Ferry Road. Brig. Gen. William F. "Baldy" Smith, Chief Engineer of the Military Division of the Mississippi, who conceived the overall Cracker Line plan, was assigned the task of establishing the Brown’s Ferry bridgehead. He was assigned two infantry brigades from the 3rd Division, IV Corps, to accomplish this: the 1st Brigade under Brig. Gen. John B. Turchin and the 2nd under Brig. Gen. William B. Hazen.
Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker marched with three divisions from Bridgeport through Lookout Valley towards Brown’s Ferry from the south. At 3:00 a.m. on October 27, portions of Hazen’s brigade embarked upon pontoons and floated around Moccasin Bend to Brown's Ferry. Turchin's brigade took a position on Moccasin Bend across from Brown's Ferry. Upon landing, Hazen secured the bridgehead and then positioned a pontoon bridge across the river, allowing Turchin to cross and take position on his right. Hooker, while his force passed through Lookout Valley on October 28, detached Brig. Gen. John W. Geary's division at Wauhatchie Station, a stop on the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, to protect the line of communications to the south as well as the road west to Kelley's Ferry.
Observing the Union movements on the October 27 and October 28, Confederate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet and Gen. Braxton Bragg ordered Brig. Gen. Micah Jenkins' brigade of South Carolinians to mount a night attack on Wauhatchie Station. Although the attack was scheduled for 10:00 p.m. on the night of October 28, confusion delayed it until midnight. Surprised by the attack, Geary's division formed into a V-shaped battle line. Geary's son, an artillerist, was killed in the battle, dying in his father's arms.
Hearing the sounds of battle, Hooker, at Brown's Ferry, sent Maj. Gen. Oliver Otis Howard with two XI Corps divisions to Wauhatchie Station as reinforcements. The lead division, commanded by Maj. Gen. Carl Schurz, took the wrong road and got mired in the swamp. Geary's men continued to hold fast. Schurz's troops eventually extricated themselves and marched on toward Wauhatchie, only to run into the Confederate brigade of Maj. Gen. Evander M. Law, which was positioned on a small hill that dominated the road from Brown's Ferry. Law's men were greatly outnumbered and almost encircled by Schurz's division, but the hilltop position was naturally strong, and several vigorous Union assaults were repulsed with great slaughter. Then Maj. Gen. Adolph von Steinwehr's division reinforced Schurz, and together they drove the Confederates off the hill with a furious bayonet charge.
As the Union reinforcements began arriving at Wauhatchie, Jenkins realized that the attempt to capture Wauhatchie was failing and, at about 3:30 a.m., ordered his troops to withdraw back to Lookout Mountain. A rumor circulated through the Yankee camps that Union mules that were stampeded by the fight had made the Rebels believe they were being attacked by cavalry, causing the Southern retreat. Union losses in the battle were 78 killed, 327 wounded, and 15 missing. Confederate losses were 34 killed, 305 wounded, and 69 missing. As more and more Union troops arrived, the Confederates fell.
The Union army now had its window to the outside and could receive supplies, weapons, ammunition, and reinforcements via the Cracker Line. The way was clear for the start of the Battle of Chattanooga on November 23.
Relatively few night engagements occurred during the Civil War; Wauhatchie is one of the most significant.
