Battlefield Atlas
American Civil War · 1863 Members only

Chickamauga, 18–20 September 1863

From 18 to 20 September 1863, Bragg's Army of Tennessee, reinforced by Longstreet's corps from Virginia, attacked Rosecrans's Army of the Cumberland in the woods along West Chickamauga Creek in north-west Georgia. On the second day a misunderstood order opened a gap in the Union line just as Longstreet struck, routing a third of Rosecrans's army. George Thomas's stand on Horseshoe Ridge saved the rest and earned him the name "the Rock of Chickamauga." It was the largest Confederate victory in the Western Theater and the second-bloodiest battle of the war, but Bragg failed to follow it up, and within two months Grant broke the siege of Chattanooga.

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"Battle of Chickamauga" (Kurz & Allison)
"Battle of Chickamauga" (Kurz & Allison) — Kurz & Allison, 1890 — Public domain

The battle, stage by stage

  1. Sept 18

    Bragg crosses the Chickamauga

    Bragg tries to get between Rosecrans and Chattanooga. Forrest and B.R. Johnson force Reed's Bridge against Minty's cavalry; Walker crosses at Alexander's Bridge against Wilder's mounted infantry. The Army of the Cumberland is strung out along the LaFayette Road to the south.

  2. Sept 19, morning

    The battle opens at Jay's Mill

    Thomas sends Brannan and Baird east from the Kelly farm to hunt a "lone brigade"; they run into Forrest and Walker near Jay's Mill and the fight spreads south through the woods.

  3. Sept 19, early afternoon

    Fighting spreads south

    Cheatham, Stewart, Hood and B.R. Johnson are fed in brigade by brigade against Palmer, Van Cleve, Reynolds and Davis around the Brock and Viniard farms; Stewart briefly breaks through to the LaFayette Road.

  4. Sept 19, late afternoon to dusk

    Cleburne's night attack

    Hood's and Johnson's attack across the Viniard field is beaten back by Wilder's Spencer rifles. At dusk Cleburne's division strikes Thomas's line near the Winfrey field. Overnight both armies dig in; Longstreet arrives from Virginia.

  5. Sept 20, 9–11 AM

    Assault on Kelly Field

    Breckinridge, Cleburne and Walker assault Thomas's breastworks around Kelly Field from the north and east; Breckinridge gets around the Union left before Union reserves drive him back.

  6. Sept 20, 11 AM–mid-afternoon

    Longstreet's breakthrough

    Responding to a mistaken order, Wood pulls his division out of the line just as Longstreet's column of eight brigades (Johnson, Law, Kershaw, Hindman) strikes the gap at the Brotherton farm. The Union right collapses; Rosecrans, McCook and Crittenden are swept off the field.

  7. Sept 20, afternoon to dark

    Thomas on Horseshoe Ridge

    Thomas rallies Brannan, Wood and fragments on Snodgrass Hill and Horseshoe Ridge; Granger marches to the sound of the guns and Steedman's division saves the right. Thomas holds until dark and then withdraws, earning the name "the Rock of Chickamauga".

Paintings and photographs

"Battle of Chickamauga" (Kurz & Allison)
"Battle of Chickamauga" (Kurz & Allison) Kurz & Allison's popular chromolithograph of the battle, one of a series of Civil War prints produced in the 1880s–90s. Kurz & Allison, 1890 — Public domain · source
Lee and Gordon's Mills
Lee and Gordon's Mills Lee and Gordon's Mills on West Chickamauga Creek, the southern anchor of Crittenden's corps on 18–19 September. Photographer unknown (collection of Capt. W.C. Margedant), c. 1863 — Public domain · source
The Snodgrass house
The Snodgrass house Alfred Waud's drawing of the Snodgrass farm on Horseshoe Ridge, where Thomas rallied the remnants of the army on the afternoon of 20 September. Alfred R. Waud, 1863 — Public domain · source
George H. Thomas, "the Rock of Chickamauga"
George H. Thomas, "the Rock of Chickamauga" Major General George H. Thomas, whose stand on Horseshoe Ridge saved the Army of the Cumberland from destruction. Mathew Brady studio — Public domain · source

Sources and method

Battle of Chickamauga, 18–20 September 1863. Division and brigade positions are traced from Hal Jespersen's seven phase maps (cwmaps.com, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons), georeferenced to surviving farm buildings and the course of Chickamauga Creek in OpenStreetMap (about 30–50 m accuracy).

How to use: pick one entry under "The battle". Tall blocks moved since the previous map, flat yellow outlines show where they came from, arrows join them, low grey blocks are everyone else. Red = Confederate, blue = Union. Insets on two maps were excluded.