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97 { 6 } The Battle of Chattanooga “General Grant you are besieged.” Major General William T. Sherman’s surprised comment to his friend nicely summed up the situation at Chattanooga on November 15, 1863. From his vantage point in the Union defenses, Sherman viewed the encircling Confederate positions extending “from the river, below the town, to the river above,” confining the Union forces within the “town and its immediate defenses.” To break the Confederate stranglehold on Chattanooga, Major General Ulysses S. Grant developed his plan of attack, modifying it as circumstances required. In the final iteration of his plan, Grant intended to attack General Braxton Bragg’s army on both flanks while holding his center relatively immobile. On November 24, Sherman’s army, and thus the Irish Legion, would cross the Tennessee River and conduct the main attack against the north end of Missionary Ridge, in the process turning the northern flank of the Confederate defenses. Major General Joseph Hooker would probe Confederate defenses at Lookout Mountain. The Army of the Cumberland would occupy Bragg’s attention along the center of Missionary Ridge. However, battles seldom work out as planned, and this one was no exception.1 A lot of things went wrong for Sherman, and therefore for the 90th Illinois, at Chattanooga, but crossing the Tennessee River went off almost like clockwork under the direction of Brigadier General W. F. “Baldy” Smith, who repeated the amphibious tactics used to secure a bridgehead on the Confederate side of the Tennessee River crossing at Brown’s Ferry (see Map 5, in chapter 5). Between about 1:30 a.m. and daylight on November 24, some 116 pontoon boats ferried across two divisions of about eight thousand men, who rapidly entrenched to protect the bridgehead. Sherman did not intend to be surprised again on the banks of the Tennessee River. The resurrected ex-Confederate “commodious” side-wheel 98 • The Battle of Chattanooga steamboat Dunbar, complete with barges in tow, showed up at 8 a.m. under the direction of Brigadier General James Wilson of Grant’s staff, and by noon, Wilson had ferried Brigadier General Hugh Ewing’s Fourth Division, including the 90th Illinois, over the Tennessee River, more or less dry-shod. Not everyone got to ride on the Dunbar; Company D reported crossing in pontoon boats. According to Company C’s report, the Legion formed in line of battle at 11 a.m. A little after noon, other troops completed a pontoon bridge nearly 1,400 feet in length spanning the Tennessee River at the landing site.2 As the topography of Missionary Ridge would largely determine the nature of the forthcoming battle involving the 90th Illinois and strongly affect its outcome, a brief description of the area is in order. From the location of the 90th Illinois on the east bank of the Tennessee River, a relatively level valley extended from the river terminating in a number of cleared fields at the foot of Missionary Ridge, looming some one and a half miles to the east. A little over half a mile to the north of the Legion’s landing site, the valley was bounded by South Chattanooga Creek, which ran in a predominantly east-west direction. At this location, both the Tennessee River and Missionary Ridge ran in a generally north-south direction. Clearly in no hurry, Sherman waited until 1 p.m. before moving Morgan L. Smith’s, John E. Smith’s, and Hugh Ewing’s divisions toward the northern end of Missionary Ridge. The 90th Illinois formed line of battle, awaiting the signal to advance. Finally, the bugles of the multiple units sounded the advance, and the men of the Legion stepped out toward their objective under drizzling rain and low clouds. The three divisions moved cautiously in echelon, arranged in a series of parallel stair-steps, with skirmishers in front. On the right as the bottom step, General Ewing’s Fourth Division, including the 90th Illinois, brought up the rear, prepared to deploy toward Chattanooga to meet an attack from that direction. By 3:30 p.m., Sherman’s troops had captured their objective, the steep hill Sherman thought formed the north end of Missionary Ridge. Company C of the 90th Illinois , in line of battle on the hill by 5 p.m., reported heavy firing as Confederate cannon welcomed the arriving Union troops and other Union units repelled a probe by Confederate skirmishers.3 To secure the capture, General Ewing got some cannon up the...

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