The Confederate Army of Tennessee at Chickamauga

The following is an organizational table showing the composition of General Braxton Bragg's Confederate Army of Tennessee at the time of the Battle of Chickamauga.

The organizational chart for the Confederate Army of Tennessee at Chickamauga is more complicated than the chart in the preceding post for the Union Army of the Cumberland. As the Battle of Chickamauga progressed, Braxton Bragg received reinforcements from Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia - General James Longstreet's corps. Longstreet and his men arrived as the battle was going on; some did not arrive until the battle was over. After Longstreet arrived on the battlefield, late on the evening of September 19, 1863, Bragg reorganized his army into two wings, commanded by Longstreet and Corps Commander Leonidas Polk. This caused much reshuffling among the various units.

Unlike Union units which are numbered, Confederate units are named after commanders. Again, like the Army of the Cumberland organizational chart, this chart shows unit commanders and their successors as caused by the shuffling of the units or casualties. (k)=killed, (mw)= mortally wounded, (w)=wounded, (c)=captured


THE ARMY OF TENNESSEE -- General Braxton Bragg

Dreux's Company, Louisiana Cavalry (Escort) - Lieutenant O. DeBuis

Holloway's Company, Alabama Cavalry (Escort) - Captain Edwin M. Holloway

RIGHT WING -- Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk

Greenleaf's Company, Louisiana Cavalry (Escort) - Captain Leeds Greenleaf

CHEATHAM'S DIVISION (Polk's Corps) -- Major General Benjamin Franklin Cheatham

2nd Georgia Cavalry, Company G - Captain Thomas M. Merritt  

Jackson's Brigade -- Brigadier General John King Jackson

1st Georgia (Confederate), 2nd Battalion - Major James Clark Gordon

5th Georgia - Colonel Charles P. Daniel

2nd Georgia Battalion Sharpshooters - Major Richard H. Whiteley

5th Mississippi - Lieutenant Colonel W. L. Sykes, Major John B. Herring

8th Mississippi - Colonel John C. Wilkinson

Smith's Brigade -- Brigadier General Preston Smith (k), Colonel Alfred Jefferson Vaughan, Jr.

11th Tennessee - Colonel George W. Gordon

12th - 47th Tennessee - Colonel William M. Watkins

13th- 154th Tennessee - Colonel Alfred Jefferson Vaughan, Jr., Lieutenant Colonel R. W. Pitman

29th Tennessee - Colonel Horace Rice

Dawson's Battalion Sharpshooters - Major J. W. Dawson, Major William Green, Major James Purl

Maney's Brigade - Brigadier General George Earl Maney

1st - 27th Tennessee - Colonel Hume R. Field

4th Tennessee (Provisional Army) - Colonel James A. McMurry, Lieutenant Colonel Robert N. Lewis, Major Oliver A. Bradshaw, Captain Joseph Bostick

6th - 9th Tennessee - Colonel George C. Porter

24th Tennessee Battalion Sharpshooters - Major Frank Maney

Wright's Brigade -- Brigadier General Marcus Joseph Wright

8th Tennessee - Colonel John H. Anderson

16th Tennessee - Colonel David M. Donnell

28th Tennessee - Colonel Sidney S. Stanton

38th Tennessee and 22nd Tennessee Battalion Sharpshooters - Colonel John C. Carter

51st - 52nd Tennessee - Lieutenant Colonel John G. Hall 

Strahl's Brigade -- Brigadier General Otho French Strahl

4th - 5th Tennessee - Colonel Jonathan J. Lamb

19th Tennessee - Colonel Francis Marion Walker

24th Tennessee - Colonel John A. Wilson

31st Tennessee- Colonel Egbert E. Tansil

33rd Tennessee - Colonel Warner P. Jones

Artillery -- Major Melancton Smith

Carnes's (Tennessee) Battery - Captain William W. Carnes

Scogin's (Georgia) Battery - Captain John Scogin

Scott's (Tennessee) Battery - Lieutenant John H. Marsh, Lieutenant A. T. Watson, Captain William L. Scott

Smith's (Mississippi) Battery - Lieutenant William B. Turner

Stanford's (Mississippi) Battery - Captain Thomas J. Stanford

HILL'S CORPS -- Lieutenant General Daniel Harvey Hill

CLEBURNE'S DIVISION -- Major General Patrick Ronayne Cleburne

Sanders's Company Tennessee Cavalry (Escort) - Captain Calvin F. Sanders

Wood's Brigade -- Brigadier General Sterling Alexander Martin Wood

16th Alabama - Major John H. McGaughy, Captain Frederick A. Ashford

33rd Alabama - Colonel Samuel Adams

45th Alabama - Colonel E. B. Breedlove

18th Alabama Battalion - Major John H. Gibson (mw)

32nd - 45th Mississippi - Colonel Mark P. Lowrey

15th Mississippi Battalion Sharpshooters - Major A. T. Hawkins, Captain Daniel Coleman

  
Polk's Brigade -- Brigadier General Lucius Eugene Polk

1st Arkansas - Colonel John W. Colquitt

3rd - 5th Confederate - Colonel James A. Smith

2nd Tennessee - Colonel William D. Robison

35th Tennessee - Colonel Benjamin J. Hill

48th Tennessee - Colonel George H. Nixon

  
Deshler's Brigade -- Brigadier General James Deshler (k), Colonel Roger Quarles Mills

19th - 24th Arkansas - Lieutenant Colonel Augustus S. Hutchison

6th - 10th Texas Infantry - 15th Texas Cavalry (Dismounted) - Colonel Roger Quarles Mills, Lieutenant Colonel T. Scott Anderson

17th - 18th - 24th - 25th Texas Cavalry (Dismounted) - Colonel Franklin C. Wilkes, Lieutenant Colonel John T. Colt, Major William A. Taylor

Artillery -- Major Thomas R. Hotchkiss (w), Captain Henry C. Semple

Calvert's Arkansas Battery - Lieutenant Thomas J. Key

Douglas's Texas Battery - Captain James P. Douglas

Semple's Alabama Battery - Captain Henry C. Semple, Lieutenant Richard W. Goldthwaite

BRECKINRIDGE'S DIVISION -- Major General John Cabell Breckinridge

 Foules's Company Mississippi Cavalry (Escort) - Captain Henry I. Foules

Helm's Brigade -- Brigadier General Benjamin Hardin Helm (k), Colonel Joseph Horace Lewis

41st Alabama - Colonel Martin L. Stansel

2nd Kentucky - Lieutenant Colonel James W. Hewitt, Lieutenant Colonel James W. Moss

4th Kentucky - Colonel Joseph P. Nuckols, Major Thomas W. Thompson

6th Kentucky - Colonel Joseph H. Lewis, Lieutenant Colonel Martin H. Cofer

9th Kentucky - Colonel John W. Caldwell, Lieutenant Colonel John C. Wickliffe

Adam's Brigade -- Brigadier General Daniel Weisiger Adams (w & c), Colonel Randall Lee Gibson

32nd Alabama - Major John C. Kimball, Colonel Randall Lee Gibson

13th - 20th Louisiana - Colonel Leon von Zinken. Captain Edgar M. Dubroca

16th - 25th Louisiana - Colonel Daniel Gober

19th Louisiana - Lieutenant Colonel Richard W. Turner, Major Loudon Butler, Captain H. A. Kennedy

14th Louisiana Sharpshooters - Major John E. Austin

Stovall's Brigade -- Brigadier General Marcellus Augustus Stovall

1st - 3rd Florida - Colonel William S. Dilworth

4th Florida - Colonel Wiles L. L. Bowen

47th Georgia - Captain William S. Phillips, Captain Joseph S. Cone

60th North Carolina - Lieutenant Colonel James M. Ray, Captain James T. Weaver

Artillery -- Major Rice Evan Graves, Jr. (k)

Cobb's Kentucky Battery -Captain Robert Cobb

Graves's Kentucky Battery - Lieutenant Selden M. Spencer

Mebane's Tennessee Battery - Captain John W. Mebane

Slocumb's Louisiana Battery - Captain Cuthbert  H. Slocumb

  

RESERVE CORPS -- Major General William Henry Talbot Walker

WALKER'S DIVISION -- Brigadier General States Rights Gist

Gist's Brigade -- Brigadier General States Rights Gist, Colonel Peyton H. Colquitt (k), Lieutenant Colonel Leroy Napier

8th Georgia Battalion - Lieutenant Colonel Leroy Napier, Major Zachariah L. Watters

46th Georgia - Colonel Peyton H. Colquitt, Major A. M. Speer

16th South Carolina (not engaged, at Rome) - Colonel James McCullough

24th South Carolina - Colonel Clement H. Stevens (w), Lieutenant Colonel Ellison Capers

  
Ector's Brigade -- Brigadier General Matthew D. Ector

Stone's Alabama Battalion Sharpshooters - Major Thomas O. Stone

Pound's Mississippi Battalion Sharpshooters - Captain Merryman Pound

29th North Carolina - Colonel William B. Creasman

9th Texas - Colonel William H. Young (w)

10th Texas Cavalry (Dismounted) - Lieutenant Colonel Cullen R. Earp

14th Texas Cavalry (Dismounted) - Colonel John L. Camp

32nd Texas Cavalry (Dismounted) - Colonel Julius A. Andrews

  
Wilson's Brigade -- Colonel Claudius C. Wilson

25th Georgia - Lieutenant Colonel Andrew J. Williams

29th Georgia - Lieutenant George R. McRae

30th Georgia - Lieutenant Colonel James S. Bonton

1st Georgia Battalion Sharpshooters - Major Arthur Shaaff

4th Louisiana Battalion - Lieutenant Colonel John McEnery

Artillery:

Ferguson's South Carolina Battery (not engaged, at Rome) - Lieutenant Rene T. Beauregard

Howell's Georgia Battery - Captain Evan P. Howell

LIDDELL'S DIVISION-- Brigadier General St. John Richardson Liddell

Liddell's Brigade -- Colonel Daniel C. Govan

2nd - 15th Arkansas - Lieutenant Colonel Reuben F. Harvey, Captain Alexander T. Meek

5th - 13th Arkansas - Colonel Lucius Featherston, Lieutenant Colonel John E. Murray

6th - 7th Arkansas - Colonel David A. Gillespie, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Snyder

8th Arkansas - 1st Louisiana (Regulars) - Lieutenant Colonel George F. Baucum, Major Anderson Watkins

  
Walthall's Brigade -- Brigadier General Edward C. Walthall

24th Mississippi - Lieutenant Colonel Robert P. McKelvaine, Major William C. Staples, Captain Benjamin F. Toomer, Captain J. D. Smith

27th Mississippi - Colonel James A. Campbell

29th Mississippi - Colonel William F. Brantley

30th Mississippi - Colonel Junius I. Scales, Lieutenant Colonel Hugh A. Reynolds, Major James M. Johnson

34th Mississippi - Lieutenant Colonel Hugh A. Reynolds (mw), Major William G. Pegram, Captain Henry J. Bowen

Artillery -- Captain Charles Swett

Fowler's Alabama Battery - Captain William H. Fowler

Warren Light Artillery (Mississippi Battery) - Lieutenant Harvey Shannon

LEFT WING -- Lieutenant General James Longstreet


HINDMAN'S DIVISION (Polk's Corps) -- Major General Thomas Carmichael Hindman, Jr. (w), Brigadier General James Patton Anderson

Lenoir's Company, Alabama Cavalry (Escort) - Captain Thomas M. Lenoir 

Anderson's Brigade -- Brigadier General James Patton Anderson, Colonel Jacob Hunter Sharp

7th Mississippi - Colonel William H. Bishop

9th Mississippi - Major Thomas H. Lynam

10th Mississippi - Lieutenant Colonel James Barr, Jr.

41st Mississippi - Colonel William F. Tucker

44th Mississippi - Colonel Jacob H. Sharp, Lieutenant Colonel R. G. Kelsey

9th Mississippi Battalion Sharpshooters - Major William C. Richards

Garrity's Alabama Battery - Captain James Garrity

Deas's Brigade -- Brigadier General Zachariah Cantey Deas

19th Alabama - Colonel Samuel K. McSpadden

22nd Alabama - Lieutenant Colonel John Weeden, Captain Harry T. Toulmin

25th Alabama - Lieutenant Colonel George D. Johnston

39th Alabama - Colonel Whitfield Clark

50th Alabama - Colonel John G. Coltart

17th Alabama Battalion Sharpshooters - Captain James F. Nabers

Dent's Alabama Battery - Captain Staunton H. Dent

  
Manigault's Brigade -- Brigadier General Arthur M. Manigault

24th Alabama - Colonel Newton N. Davis

28th Alabama - Colonel John C. Reid

34th Alabama - Major John N. Slaughter

10th - 19th South Carolina - Colonel James F. Pressley

Waters's Alabama Battery - Lieutenant Charles W. Watkins

BUCKNER'S CORPS -- Major General Simon Bolivar Buckner

Clark's Company Tennessee Cavalry (Escort) - Captain J. W. Clark

STEWART'S DIVISION -- Major General Alexander Peter Stewart

Johnson's Brigade -- Brigadier General Bushrod R. Johnson, Colonel John S. Fulton

17th Tennessee - Lieutenant Colonel Watt W. Floyd

23rd Tennessee - Colonel Richard H. Keeble

25th Tennessee - Lieutenant Colonel Robert B. Snowden

44th Tennessee - Lieutenant Colonel John L. McEwen, Jr., Major Gibson M. Crawford

Brown's Brigade -- Brigadier General John C. Brown (w), Colonel Edmund C. Cook

18th Tennessee - Colonel Joseph B. Palmer

26th Tennessee - Colonel John M. Lillard, Major Richard M. Saffell

32nd Tennessee - Colonel Edmund C. Cook, Captain Galoway G. Tucker

45th Tennessee - Colonel Anderson Searcy

23rd Tennessee Battalion - Major Tazewell W. Newman, Captain W. P. Simpson

  
Bate's Brigade -- Brigadier General William B. Bate

58th Alabama - Colonel Bushrod Jones

37th Georgia - Colonel Anthony F. Rudler, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph T. Smith

15th - 37th Tennessee - Colonel Robert C. Tyler, Colonel R. Dudley Frayser, Captain Rufus M. Tankesley

20th Tennessee - Colonel Thomas B. Smith, Major William M. Shy

4th Georgia Battalion Sharpshooters - Major Theodore D. Caswell, Captain Benjamin M. Turner, Lieutenant Joel Towers

  
Clayton's Brigade -- Brigadier General H. D. Clayton

18th Alabama - Colonel James T. Holtzclaw, Lieutenant Colonel Richard F. Inge, Major Peter F. Hunley

36th Alabama - Colonel Lewis T. Woodruff

38th Alabama - Lieutenant Colonel Augustus R. Lankford

Artillery -- Major J. Wesley Eldridge

1st Arkansas Battery - Captain John T. Humphreys

Dawson's Georgia Battery - Lieutenant Ruel W. Anderson

Eufaula Artillery (Alabama Battery) - Captain McDonald Oliver

Co. E, 9th Georgia Artillery Battalion (Everett's, formerly Billington W. York's Battery) - Lieutenant William S. Everett

PRESTON'S DIVISION -- Brigadier General William Preston III

Gracie's Brigade -- Brigadier General Archibald Gracie, Jr.

1st Alabama Battalion (Hilliard's Legion) - Lieutenant Colonel John H. Holt, Captain George W. Huguley

2nd Alabama Battalion (Hilliard's Legion) - Lieutenant Colonel Bolling Hall, Jr., Captain Westley D. Walden

3rd Alabama Battalion (Hilliard's Legion) - Lieutenant Colonel John W. A. Sanford

4th Alabama Battalion (Hilliard's Legion - artillery battalion serving as infantry) - Major John D. McLennan

43rd Alabama - Colonel Young M. Moody

63rd Tennessee - Lieutenant Colonel Abraham F. Fulkerson, Major John A. Aiken

Trigg's Brigade -- Colonel Robert C. Trigg

1st Florida Cavalry (Dismounted) - Colonel G. Troup Maxwell

6th Florida - Colonel Jesse J. Finley

7th Florida - Colonel Robert Bullock

54th Virginia - Lieutenant Colonel John J. Wade

  
Kelly's Brigade -- Colonel John H. Kelly

65th Georgia - Colonel Robert H. Moore

5th Kentucky - Colonel Hiram Hawkins

58th North Carolina - Colonel John B. Palmer

63rd Virginia - Major James M. French

9th Georgia Artillery Battalion -- Major Austin Leyden

Company C (Wolihin's Battery) - Captain Andrew M. Wolihin

Company D (Peeples's Battery) - Captain Tyler M. Peeples

Jeffress's Virginia Battery - Captain William C. Jeffress

Reserve Corps Artillery -- Major Samuel C. Williams

Baxter's Tennessee Battery - Captain Edmund D. Baxter

Darden's Mississippi Battery - Captain Putnam Darden

Kolb's Alabama Battery - Captain Reuben F. Kolb

McCants's Florida Battery - Captain Robert P. McCants

JOHNSON'S DIVISION -- Brigadier General Bushrod Rust Johnson

(a provisional division embracing Johnson's Brigade and, part of the time, Robertson's and Anderson's Brigades, as well as Gregg's and McNair's. Attached to Longstreet's Corps under Hood on September 19.)

Gregg's Brigade -- Brigadier General John Gregg (w), Colonel Cyrus A. Sugg

3rd Tennessee - Colonel Calvin H. Walker

10th Tennessee - Colonel William Grace

30th Tennessee - Lieutenant Colonel James J. Turner, Captain Charles S. Douglass

41st Tennessee - Lieutenant Colonel James D. Tillman

50th Tennessee - Colonel Cyrus A. Sugg, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas W. Beaumont, Major Christopher W. Robertson

7th Texas - Colonel Hiram B. Granbury, Major Khleber M. Vanzandt

1st Tennessee Battalion - Major Stephen H. Colms, Major Christopher W. Robertson

Bledsoe's Missouri Battery - Lieutenant Rice L. Wood

  

McNair's Brigade -- Brigadier General Evander McNair (w), Colonel David Coleman

1st Arkansas Mounted Rifles (Dismounted) - Colonel Robert W. Harper

2nd Arkansas Mounted Rifles (Dismounted) - Colonel James A. Williamson

25th Arkansas - Lieutenant Colonel Eli Hufstedler

39th North Carolina - Colonel David Coleman

4th & 31st & 4th Arkansas Battalion (Consolidated) - Major Jesse A. Ross

Culpeper's South Carolina Battery - Captain James F. Culpeper


LONGSTREET'S CORPS* -- Major General John Bell Hood (w)

* Corps's organization taken from return of Lee's army for 8/31/63. Pickett's Division was left in Virginia

MCLAWS'S DIVISION -- Brigadier General Joseph B. Kershaw, Major General Lafayette McLaws

Kershaw's Brigade -- Brigadier General Joseph B. Kershaw

2nd South Carolina - Lieutenant Colonel Franklin Gaillard

3rd South Carolina - Colonel James D. Nance

7th South Carolina - Lieutenant Colonel Elbert Bland (k), Major John S. Hard (k), Captain Elijah J. Goggans

8th South Carolina - Colonel John W. Henagan

15th South Carolina - Colonel Joseph F. Gist

3rd South Carolina Battalion - Captain Joshua M. Townsend (k)

  
Humphreys's Brigade -- Brigadier General Benjamin G. Humphreys

13th Mississippi - Lieutenant Colonel Kennon McElroy

17th Mississippi - Lieutenant Colonel John C. Fiser

18th Mississippi - Captain William F. Hubbard

21st Mississippi - Lieutenant Colonel Daniel N. Moody

Woffords Brigade** -- Brigadier General W. T. Wofford  
Bryan's Brigade** -- Brigadier General Goode Bryan

** Longstreet's report indicates that these brigades did not arrive in time for the battle.

HOOD'S DIVISION -- Major General John B. Hood (w), Brigadier General E. McIver Law

Jenkin's Brigade* -- Brigadier General Micah Jenkins

 
Law's Brigade -- Brigadier General E. McIver Law, Colonel James L. Sheffield

4th Alabama - Colonel Pinckney D. Bowles

15th Alabama - Colonel William C. Oates

44th Alabama - Colonel William F. Perry

47th Alabama - Major James M. Campbell

48th Alabama - Lieutenant Colonel William M. Hardwick

  
Robertson's Brigade** -- Brigadier General Jerome B. Robertson, Colonel Vannoy H. Manning

3rd Arkansas - Colonel Vannoy H. Manning

1st Texas - Captain Richard J. Harding

4th Texas - Lieutenant Colonel John P. Bane, Captain Robert H. Bassett

5th Texas - Major Jefferson C. Rogers, Captain J. S. Cleveland, Captain Tacitus C. Clay

Anderson's Brigade* -- Brigadier General George T. Anderson

 
Benning's Brigade -- Brigadier General Henry L. Benning

2nd Georgia - Lieutenant Colonel William S. Shepard, Major W. W. Charlton

15th Georgia - Colonel Dudley M. DuBose, Major Peter J. Shannon

17th Georgia - Lieutenant Colonel Charles W. Matthews

20th Georgia - Colonel James D. Waddell

*did not arrive in time to take part in battle
** served part of the time in Johnson's Provisional Division

Reserve Artillery -- Major Felix H. Robertson

Barret's Missouri Battery - Captain Overton W. Barret

LeGardeur's Alabama Battery - Captain Gustave LeGardeur, Jr.

Havis's Georgia Battery - Captain Minor W. Havis

Lumsden's Alabama Battery - Captain Charles L. Lumsden

Massenburg's Georgia Battery - Captain Thomas L. Massenburg


CAVALRY -- Major General Joseph Wheeler

WHARTON'S DIVISION -- Brigadier General John A. Wharton

First Brigade -- Colonel Charles C. Crews

9th Alabama - Colonel James C. Malone, Jr.

2nd Georgia - Lieutenant Colonel Francis M. Ison

3rd Georgia - Lieutenant Colonel Robert Thompson

4th Georgia - Colonel Isaac W. Avery

Second Brigade -- Colonel Thomas Harrison

3rd Confederate - Colonel William N. Estes

3rd Kentucky - Lieutenant Colonel J. Warren Griffith 

4th Tennessee - Lieutenant Colonel Paul F. Anderson

8th Texas - Lieutenant Colonel Gustave Cook

11th Texas - Colonel George R. Reeves

White's Tennessee Battery - Captain Benjamin F. White, Jr.

MARTIN'S DIVISION -- Brigadier General William T. Martin

First Brigade -- Colonel John T. Morgan

1st Alabama - Lieutenant Colonel David T. Blakey

3rd Alabama - Lieutenant Colonel Tyirie H. Maudlin

51st Alabama Partisan Rangers - Lieutenant Colonel Milton L. Kirkpatrick

8th Confederate - Lieutenant Colonel John S. Prather

Second Brigade -- Colonel Alfred A. Russell

4th Alabama - Lieutenant Colonel Joseph M. Hambrick

1st Confederate - Captain Charles H. Conner

Wiggins's Arkansas Battery - Lieutenant James P. Bradley

  
Roddey's Brigade -- Brigadier General T. D. Roddey



FORREST'S CORPS -- Brigadier General Nathan Bedford Forrest

Jackson's Company, Tennessee Cavalry (Escort) - Captain John J. Jackson

 

ARMSTRONG'S DIVISION -- Brigadier General Frank C. Armstrong

Armstrong's Brigade -- Colonel James T. Wheeler

3rd Arkansas - Colonel Amson W. Hobson

2nd Kentucky - Lieutenant Colonel Thomas G. Woodward

6th Tennessee - Lieutenant Colonel James H. Lewis

18th Tennessee Battalion - Major Charles McDonald

Forrest's Brigade -- Colonel George G. Dibrell

4th Tennessee - Colonel William S. McLemore

8th Tennessee - Captain Hamilton McGinnis

9th Tennessee - Colonel Jacob B. Biffle

10th Tennessee - Colonel Nicholas N. Cox

11th Tennessee - Colonel Daniel W. Holman

Shaw's Battalion, Oliver P. Hamilton's Battallion, Robert D. Allison's Squadron (Consolidated) - Major Joseph Shaw

Huggins's Tennessee Battery - Captain Amariah L. Huggins

Morton's Tennessee Battery - Captain John W. Morton, Jr.

PEGRAM'S DIVISION -- Brigadier General John Pegram

Davidson's Brigade -- Brigadier General Henry B. Davidson

1st Georgia - Colonel James J. Morrison

6th Georgia - Colonel John R. Hart

6th North Carolina - Colonel George N. Folk

Rucker's Tennessee Legion - Colonel Edmund W. Rucker

12th Tennessee Battalion, Huwald's Battery - Captain Gustave A. Huwald

  
Scott's Brigade -- Colonel John S. Scott

10th Confederate - Colonel Charles T. Goode

Detachment of John Hunt Morgan's command - Lieutenant Colonel Robert W. Martin

1st Louisiana - Lieutenant Colonel James O. Nixon

2nd Tennessee - Colonel Henry W. Ashby

5th Tennessee - Colonel George W. McKenzie

Robinson's Louisiana Battery (one section) - Lieutenant Winslow Robinson

A Chattanooga Civil War Christmas

Thomas Hooke McCallie lived in Chattanooga during the Civil War and was the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. In 1901, he wrote his memoirs. The following are excerpts from those memoirs taken from an article written by a descendent, T. Hooke McCallie. It was first published in Volume 2, Number 2 of the Chattanooga Regional Historical Journal and was reprinted in the Chattanooga Times-Free Press on Sunday, July 3, 2005, "McCallie forebear was witness to local devastation of Civil War." First, Rev. McCallie's views on secession...

My position at that time was about thus: I could not approve of secession. I did not believe that any state when aggrieved had the right to secede. I felt then that such a doctrine was utterly subversive of the very foundation of the government. But when seven states went out, I was of the opinion that there was no power in the constitution to bring them back by force. That force was the very essence of tyranny...

I was therefore opposed to coercion, but the coercive policy triumphed and Tennessee went out. My judgment was that the whole movement for a separate and independent government here in the South was a blunder and a mistake.

My sympathies were with the South. They were my people. This was my home. I loved my state and the southern people...

For this reason for the whole four years of dreadful strife, I was not an active participant in the struggle. I endeavored to persuade my relatives at the farm not to go into the strife on the Union side and here in Chattanooga my relatives not to go into the Southern army.

Most who lived in Hamilton County but outside of Chattanooga (where the McCallie farm was located) supported the Union. Most Chattanoogans were Southern sympathizers. Apparently, this geographical distinction carried over to the McCallie family.

McCallie describes spending Christmas of 1863 with his wife, Ellen Jarnigan McCallie. This was after the Battle of Missionary Ridge. The Confederate Army of Tennessee had been beaten and driven away. The Union Army was now in possession of the town...

I shall never forget the Christmas of 1863. Christmas Eve came. All without was winter. Horrid war had desolated everything. Our church was used for a hospital and no bell rang out on the air telling us of God, his house, his worship. There was no Sunday school. There was no day school. There was not a religious gathering anywhere in the City. The churches were closed, the pastors, all except myself, gone. The old citizens had gone South or had been sent North. Only a few families remained and they very infrequently saw each other. There were no stores open, no markets of any kind, no carriages on the streets, no civil officers. No taxes, nor tax-collectors, fortunately. Strangers filled our streets, our highways and our houses. The rattle of spurs of officers and the tramp of the soldiers was constantly falling on the ear.

It was winter in the home except for a few precious rays of sunshine. We had no milk, no butter, no cheese, scarcely any fruit, but baking bread such as we could make without milk or yeast, coffee, sugar and a barrel of pickles in the brine, but no vinegar to put them in.

The rays of sunshine were good health, powerful divine protection keeping us in peace where so many were being sent away from their homes, and a sense of God's forgiveness and gracious watch-care over us.

With the tragedies of war all around them and with supplies cut off for months, Christmas would have passed without notice, except for this one particular love:

But Christmas Eve night: The night was dark and stormy. The family had all retired to rest. I was sitting by the fire reading. My wife prepared for bed and then just before retiring she said, "I always have hung up my stocking Christmas Eve night ever since I was a child, and now I am not going to let poverty and the Yankees cheat me out of the joy of being a child again. I hang up my stocking by the fireplace." And so she retired.

"Too bad," I said to myself, "that the dear woman should be cheated out of the joy of waking on Christmas morning and finding that Santa Claus has been here."

So I waited and when quite satisfied that my wife was asleep, I rose up, put on my over-coat and sallied out into the winter night. I soon found a sutler's tent, where the light was burning. I bought some candy, a case of cove oysters, a can of tomatoes and some little things, hied away home, crept in quietly, put the purchased articles in the stocking and retired.

Well, the next morning was a joy to see. The woman was a child again. She could hardly believe her own eyes. She sat down on the floor, woman-like, took her stocking and rolled out its contents. She wondered where on earth these things could have come from. The next thing she said was, "Mr. McCallie, where and when did you get them?"

The Union Army of the Cumberland at Chickamauga

This is an organizational table of the Union Army of the Cumberland at the Battle of Chickamauga.

THE ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND -- Major General William Starke Rosecrans

1st Battalion Ohio Sharpshooters - Captain Gershom M. Barber

10th Ohio Infantry (Provost Guard) - Lieutenant Colonel William M. Ward

15th Pennsylvania Cavalry (Escort) - Colonel William Jackson Palmer

FOURTEENTH ARMY CORPS -- Major General George Henry Thomas

9th Michigan Infantry (Provost Guard) - Colonel John Gibson Parkhurst

1st Ohio Cavalry, Company L (Escort) - Captain John D. Barker

FIRST DIVISION -- Brigadier General Absalom Baird

First Brigade -- Colonel Benjamin F. Scribner

38th Indiana - Lieutenant Colonel Daniel F. Griffin

94th Ohio -- Major Rue P. Hutchins

2nd Ohio -- Lieutenant Colonel Obadiah Maxwell (w), Major William T. Beatty (w&c), Captain James Warnock

33rd Ohio - Colonel Oscar F. Moore

10th Wisconsin - Lieutenant Colonel John H. Ely (mw&c), Captain Jacob W. Roby

Second Brigade -- Brigadier General John C. Starkweather (w)

1st Wisconsin - Lieutenant Colonel George W. Bingham

21st Wisconsin - Lieutenant Colonel Harrison C. Hobart (w), Captain Charles H. Walker

24th Illinois - Colonel Geza Mihalotzy (w), Captain August Mauff

79th Pennsylvania - Colonel Henry A Hambright

  
Third Brigade -- Brigadier General John H. King

15th United States, 1st Battalion - Captain Alfred B. Dod

16th United States, 1st Battalion - Major Sidney Coolidge (k), Captain Robert E. A. Crofton

18th United States, 1st Battalion -- Captain George W. Smith

18th United States, 2nd Battalion - Captain Henry Haymond

19th United States, 1st Battalion - Captain Edmund L. Smith

Artillery:

1st Michigan Light Artillery, Battery A - Lieutenant George W. Van Pelt (k), Lieutenant Almerick W. Wilbur

4th Battery, Indiana Light Artillery - Lieutenant David Flansburg (w&c), Lieutenant Henry J. Willits

5th United States, Battery H - Lieutenant Howard Mather Burnham (mw), Lieutenant Joshua A. Fessenden

SECOND DIVISION -- Major General James S. Negley

First Brigade -- Brigadier General John Beatty

42nd Indiana - Lieutenant Colonel William T. B. McIntire

88th Indiana - Colonel George Humphrey

104th Illinois - Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Hapeman

15th Kentucky - Colonel Marion C. Taylor

3rd Ohio (not in battle)

  
Second Brigade -- Colonel Timothy R. Stanley (w), Colonel William L. Stoughton

18th Ohio - Lieutenant Colonel Charles H. Grosvenor

19th Illinois - Lieutenant Colonel Alexander W. Raffen

11th Michigan - Colonel William L. Stoughton, Lieutenant Colonel Melvin Mudge (w)

69th Ohio (temporarily assigned to Daniel McCook's brigade) -- Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Brigham

  
Third Brigade -- Colonel William Sirwell

78th Pennsylvania -- Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Blakely

21st Ohio - Lieutenant Colonel Dwella M. Stoughton (mw), Major Arnold McMahan (w), Captain Charles H. Vantine

74th Ohio - Captain Joseph Fisher

37th Indiana - Lieutenant Colonel William D. Ward

Artillery:

Illinois Light Artillery, Bridges's Battery - Captain Lyman Bridges

1st Ohio Light Artillery, Battery M - Captain Frederick Shultz

1st Ohio Light Artillery, Battery G - Captain Alexander Marshall

THIRD DIVISION -- Brigadier General John Milton Brannan

First Brigade -- Colonel John M. Connell

17th Ohio - Lieutenant Colonel Durbin Ward (w)

31st Ohio - Lieutenant Colonel Frederick W. Lister

82nd Indiana - Colonel Morton C. Hunter

38th Ohio (not in battle)

  
Second Brigade -- Colonel John T. Croxton (w), Colonel William H. Hays

4th Kentucky - Lieutenant Colonel P. Burgess Hunt (w), Major Robert M. Kelly

10th Kentucky - Colonel William H. Hays, Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel C. Wharton

10th Indiana -- Colonel William B. Carroll (mw), Lieutenant Colonel Marsh B. Taylor 

74th Indiana -- Colonel Charles W. Chapman

14th Ohio - Lieutenant Colonel Henry D. Kingsbury

  

Third Brigade -- Colonel Ferdinand Van Derveer

9th Ohio - Colonel Gustave Kammerling

35th Ohio -- Lieutenant Colonel Henry Van Ness Boynton

2nd Minnesota - Colonel James George

87th Indiana - Colonel Newell Gleason

Artillery:

1st Michigan Light Artillery, Battery D - Captain Josiah W. Church

1st Ohio Light Artillery, Battery C - Lieutenant Marco B. Gary

4th United States, Battery I -- Lieutenant Frank G. Smith

FOURTH DIVISION -- Major General Joseph J. Reynolds

First Brigade -- Colonel John T. Wilder (mounted brigade, detached)

17th Indiana - Major William T. Jones

72nd Indiana -- Colonel Abram O. Miller

92nd Illinois -- Colonel Smith D. Atkins

98th Illinois - Colonel John J. Funkhouser (w), Lieutenant Colonel Edward Kitchell

123rd Illinois - Colonel James Monroe

 Second Brigade -- Colonel Edward A. King (k), Colonel Milton S. Robinson

68th Indiana - Captain Harvey J. Espy (w)

75th Indiana - Colonel Milton S. Robinson, Lieutenant Colonel William O'Brien

101st Indiana - Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Doan

80th Illinois (in Nashville)

105th Ohio - Major George T. Perkins (w)

Third Brigade -- Brigadier General John B. Turchin

11th Ohio - Colonel Philander P. Lane

36th Ohio - Colonel William G. Jones (k), Lieutenant Colonel Hiram F. Devol

92nd Ohio - Colonel Benjamin D. Fearing (w), Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Putnam, Jr. (w)

18th Kentucky - Lieutenant Colonel Hubbard K. Milward (w), Captain John B. Heltemes

89th Ohio (detached, with Steedman's Division, Reserve Corps)  

Artillery:

Indiana Light Artillery, 18th Battery -- Captain Eli Lilly

Indiana Light Artillery, 19th Battery - Captain Samuel J. Harris (w), Lieutenant Robert S. Lackey

Indiana Light Artillery, 21st Battery - Captain William W. Andrew



TWENTIETH ARMY CORPS -- Major General Alexander McDowell McCook

2nd Kentucky Cavalry, Company I (Escort) - Lieutenant George W. L. Batman

81st Indiana Infantry, Company H (Provost Guard) - Captain William J. Richards

FIRST DIVISION -- Brigadier General Jefferson Columbus Davis

First Brigade -- Colonel P. Sidney Post (at Steven's Gap, guarding trains)

22nd Indiana - Colonel Michael Gooding

59th Illinois - Lieutenant Colonel Joshua C. Winters

74th Illinois - Colonel Jason Marsh

75th Illinois - Colonel John E. Bennett

Second Brigade -- Brigadier General William P. Carlin

21st Illinois - Colonel John W. S. Alexander (k), Captain Chester K. Knight

38th Illinois - Lieutenant Colonel Daniel H. Gilmer (k), Captain Willis G. Whitehurst

81st Indiana - Captain Nevil B. Boone, Major James E. Calloway

101st Ohio - Lieutenant Colonel John Messer (k), Major Bedan B. McDonald (w), Captain Leonard D. Smith

  
Third Brigade -- Colonel Hans C. Heg (mw), Colonel John A. Martin

15th Wisconsin - Lieutenant Colonel Ole C. Johnson (c)

25th Illinois - Major Samuel D. Wall (w), Captain Wesford Taggart

35th Illinois - Lieutenant Colonel William P. Chandler

8th Kansas - Colonel John Alexander Martin, Lieutenant Colonel James L. Abernathy

Artillery:

Wisconsin Light Artillery, 5th Battery - Captain George Q, Gardner

Minnesota Light Artillery, 2nd Battery - Lieutenant Albert Woodbury (mw), Lieutenant Richard L. Dawley

Wisconsin Light Artillery, 8th Battery - Lieutenant John D. McLean  

SECOND DIVISION -- Brigadier General Richard W. Johnson

First Brigade -- Brigadier General August Willich

49th Ohio - Major Samuel F. Gray (w), Captain Luther M. Strong

32nd Indiana - Lieutenant Colonel Frank Erdelmeyer

15th Ohio - Lieutenant Colonel Frank Askew

39th Indiana (mounted, detached from brigade) - Colonel Thomas J. Harrison

89th Illinois - Lieutenant Colonel Duncan J. Hall (k), Major William D. Williams

  
Second Brigade -- Colonel Joseph B. Dodge

77th Pennsylvania - Colonel Thomas E. Rose (c), Captain Joseph J. Lawson

29th Indiana - Lieutenant Colonel David M. Dunn

30th Indiana = Lieutenant Colonel Orrin D. Hurd

79th Illinois - Colonel Allen Buckner 

  
Third Brigade -- Colonel Philemon P. Baldwin (k), Colonel William W. Berry

6th Indiana - Lieutenant Colonel Hagerman Tripp (w), Major Calvin D. Campbell

1st Ohio - Lieutenant Colonel Bassett Langdon

93rd Ohio - Colonel Hiram Strong (mw), Lieutenant Colonel William H. Martin

5th Kentucky - Colonel William W. Berry, Captain John M. Huston

Artillery:

1st Ohio Light Artillery, Battery A - Captain Wilbur F. Goodspeed

Ohio Light Artillery, 20th Battery - Captain John F. Edward Grosskopff

Indiana Light Artillery, 5th Battery - Captain Peter Simonson  

Third Division -- Major General Philip H. Sheridan

First Brigade - Brigadier General William Haines Lytle (k), Colonel Silas Miller

88th Illinois - Lieutenant Colonel Alexander S. Chadbourne

36th Illinois - Colonel Silas Miller, Lieutenant Colonel Porter C. Olson

24th Wisconsin - Lieutenant Colonel Theodore S. West (w&c), Major Carl von Baumbach

21st Michigan - Colonel William B. McCreery (w&c), Major Seymour Chase

  
Second Brigade -- Colonel Bernard Laiboldt

2nd Missouri - Major Arnold Beck

15th Missouri - Colonel Joseph Conrad

44th Illinois - Colonel Wallace W. Barrett (w)

73rd Illinois - Colonel James F. Jaquess

  
Third Brigade -- Colonel Luther Prentice Baldwin (w), Colonel Nathan H. Walworth

22nd Illinois - Lieutenant Colonel Francis Swanwick

27th Illinois - Colonel Jonathan R. Miles

42nd Illinois - Colonel Nathan H. Walworth, Lieutenant Colonel John A. Hottenstein

51st Illinois - Lieutenant Colonel Samuel B. Raymond

Artillery: 

Indiana Light Artillery, 11th Battery - Captain Arnold Sutermeister

1st Missouri Light Artillery, Battery G - Lieutenant Gustave Shueler

1st Illinois Light Artillery, Battery C - Captain Mark H. Prescott



TWENTY-FIRST ARMY CORPS -- Major General Thomas Leonidas Crittenden

15th Illinois Cavalry, Company K (Escort) - Captain Samuel B. Sherer

FIRST DIVISION -- Brigadier General Thomas John Wood

First Brigade -- Colonel George P. Buell

26th Ohio - Lieutenant Colonel William H. Young

58th Indiana - Lieutenant Colonel James T. Embree

13th Michigan - Colonel Joshua B. Culver (w), Major Willard G. Eaton

100th Illinois - Colonel Frederick A. Bartleson (w&c), Major Charles M. Hammond

Second Brigade - Brigadier General George D. Wagner (not in battle, stationed at Chattanooga)

15th Indiana - Colonel Gustavus A. Wood

40th Indiana - Colonel John W. Blake

51st Indiana (in Nashville)

57th Indiana - Lieutenant Colonel George W. Lennard

97th Ohio - Lieutenant Colonel Milton Barnes

Third Brigade -- Colonel Charles G. Harker

3rd Kentucky - Colonel Henry C. Dunlap

64th Ohio - Colonel Alexander McIlvaine

65th Ohio - Lieutenant Colonel Horatio N. Whitbeck (w), Major Samuel C. Brown (mw), Captain Thomas Powell

125th Ohio - Colonel Emerson Opdycke

73rd Indiana (in Nashville)

Artillery:

Indiana Light Artillery, 8th Battery - Captain George Estep (w)

Indiana Light Artillery, 10th Battery (stationed at Chattanooga) - Lieutenant William A. Naylor

Ohio Light Artillery, 6th Battery - Captain Cullen Bradley

SECOND DIVISION -- Major General John M. Palmer

First Brigade -- Brigadier General Charles Cruft

1st Kentucky (five companies detached as wagon guard) - Lieutenant Colonel Alva R. Hadlock

2nd Kentucky - Colonel Thomas D. Sedgewick

31st Indiana - Colonel John T. Smith

90th Ohio - Colonel Charles H. Rippey

  

Second Brigade -- Brigadier General William Badcock Hazen

41st Ohio - Colonel Aquila Wiley

124th Ohio - Colonel Oliver Hazard Payne (w), Major James B. Hampson

6th Kentucky - Colonel George T. Shackelford (w), Lieutenant Colonel Richard Rockingham (k), Major Richard T. Whitaker

9th Indiana - Colonel Isaac C. B. Suman

  
Third Brigade -- Colonel William Grose

36th Indiana - Lieutenant Colonel Oliver H. P. Carey (w), Major Gilbert Trusler

24th Ohio - Colonel David J. Higgins

6th Ohio - Colonel Nicholas Longworth Anderson (w), Major Samuel C. Erwin

23rd Kentucky - Lieutenant Colonel James C. Foy

84th Illinois - Colonel Louis H. Waters

Artillery:

1st Ohio Light Artillery, Battery B - Lieutenant Norman A. Baldwin

1st Ohio Light Artillery, Battery F - Lieutenant Giles J. Cockerill

4th United States Artillery, Battery H - Lieutenant Harry C. Cushing

4th United States Artillery, Battery M - Lieutenant Francis L. D. Russell

THIRD DIVISION -- Brigadier General Horatio P. Van Cleve

First Brigade -- Brigadier General Samuel Beatty

9th Kentucky - Colonel George H. Cram

17th Kentucky - Colonel Alexander M. Stout

19th Ohio - Lieutenant Colonel Henry G. Stratton

79th Indiana - Colonel Frederick Knefler

  
Second Brigade -- Colonel George F. Dick

44th Indiana - Lieutenant Colonel Simeon C. Aldrich

86th Indiana - Major Jacob C. Dick

13th Ohio - Lieutenant Colonel Elhannon M. Mast (k), Captain Horatio G. Cosgrove

59th Ohio - Lieutenant Colonel Granville A. Frambes

  
Third Brigade -- Colonel Sidney M. Barnes

51st Ohio - Colonel Richard W. McClain (c), Lieutenant Colonel Charles H. Wood

99th Ohio - Colonel Peter T. Swaine

35th Indiana - Major John P. Dufficy

8th Kentucky - Lieutenant Colonel James D. Mayhew (c), Major John S. Clark

21st Kentucky (stationed at Whiteside's) - Colonel Samuel Woodson Price

Artillery:

Indiana Light Artillery, 7th Battery - Captain George R. Swallow

Pennsylvania Light Artillery, Battery B - Captain Alanson J. Stevens (k), Lieutenant Samuel M. McDowell
Wisconsin Light Artillery, 3rd Battery - Lieutenant Cortland Livingston

RESERVE CORPS -- Major General Gordon Granger 

(corps had three divisions, but only three brigades in battle)

1st Missouri Cavalry, Co. F (Escort)

FIRST DIVISION -- Brigadier General James B. Steedman

First Brigade -- Brigadier General Walter C. Whitaker

40th Ohio - Lieutenant Colonel William Jones

89th Ohio (temporarily attached) - Colonel Caleb H. Carlton (c), Captain Isaac C. Nelson

84th Indiana - Colonel Nelson Trusler

96th Illinois - Colonel Thomas E. Champion

115th Illinois - Colonel Jesse Hale Moore

22nd Michigan (temporarily attached) - Colonel Heber Le Favour (c), Lieutenant Colonel William Sanborn (w), Captain Alonzo M. Keeler

Ohio Light Artillery, 18th Battery - Captain Charles C. Aleshire

  
Second Brigade -- Colonel John G. Mitchell

98th Ohio - Captain Moses J. Urquhart (w). Captain Armstrong J. Thomas

113th Ohio - Lieutenant Colonel Darius B. Warner

121st Ohio - Lieutenant Colonel Henry B. Banning

78th Illinois - Lieutenant Colonel Carter Van Vleck (w), Lieutenant George Green

1st Illinois Light Artillery, Battery M - Lieutenant Thomas Burton

SECOND DIVISION --

Second Brigade -- Colonel Daniel McCook, Jr.

85th Illinois - Colonel Caleb J. Dilworth

86th Illinois - Lieutenant Colonel David W. Magee

125th Illinois - Colonel Oscar F. Harmon

52nd Ohio - Major James T. Holmes

69th Ohio (temporarily attached) - Lieutenant Colonel Joseph H. Brigham

2nd Illinois Light Artillery, Battery I - Captain Charles M. Barnett



CAVALRY CORPS -- Major General David S. Stanley (ill), Brigadier General Robert B. Mitchell

FIRST DIVISION -- Colonel Edward M. McCook

First Brigade -- Colonel Archibald P. Campbell

2nd Michigan - Major Leonidas S. Scranton

9th Pennsylvania - Lieutenant Colonel Roswell M. Russell

1st Tennessee - Lieutenant Colonel James P. Brownlow

  
Second Brigade -- Colonel Daniel M. Ray

2nd Indiana - Major Joseph B. Presdee

4th Indiana - Lieutenant Colonel John T. Deweese

2nd Tennessee - Lieutenant Colonel William R. Cook

1st Wisconsin - Colonel Oscar H. LaGrange

1st Ohio Light Artillery, Battery D (one section) - Lieutenant Nathaniel M. Newell

  
Third Brigade -- Colonel Louis D. Watkins

4th Kentucky - Colonel Wickliffe Cooper

5th Kentucky - Lieutenant Colonel William T. Hoblitzell

6th Kentucky - Major Louis A. Gratz

SECOND DIVISION -- Brigadier General George Crook

First Brigade -- Colonel Robert H. G. Minty

3rd Indiana (battalion) - Lieutenant Colonel Robert Klein

4th Michigan - Major Horace Gray

7th Pennsylvania -- Lieutenant Colonel James J. Seibert

4th United States - Captain James B. Mcintyre

  
Second Brigade -- Colonel Eli Long

2nd Kentucky - Colonel Thomas P. Nicholas

1st Ohio - Lieutenant Colonel Valentine Cupp (mw), Major Thomas J. Patten

3rd Ohio - Lieutenant Colonel Charles B. Seidel

4th Ohio - Lieutenant Colonel Oliver P. Robie

Artillery:

Chicago Board of Trade Battery - Captain James H. Stokes  


The Army of the Cumberland had an estimated 56,965 men at the Battle of Chickamauga. Thomas's 14th Corps had an estimated 20,000; McCook's 20th Corps, 11,000. Crittenden reported 12,052 men in his 21st Corps; Granger, 3913 in his Reserve Corps. The organizational chart shows officers killed (k), mortally wounded (mw), wounded (w), and captured (c) during the battle. Union losses in the battle numbered 16,179 men. 1656 killed, 9749 wounded, 4774 missing.

King's Pyramid

At the Chickamauga Battlefield, pyramids of cannonballs mark where high-ranking officers died during the battle. This pyramid marks the spot where Col. Edward A. King (USA) died. The Kelly family's home is in the background.

The Parrott Rifle

This is another post in a series on Civil War weaponry.

In 1860 Robert P. Parrott developed the Parrott gun at his West Point Foundry in Cold Spring, New York.  The first models were 10-, 20- and 30-pounders, but by the end of the Civil War 300-pounders were in production.  They were made of cast and wrought iron and identifiable by the reinforcing band around their breeches.  The guns were used in all theaters of the war by both armies and navies; the Confederates produced their own versions.


a 10-pounder Parrott gun -- photo taken at the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitors' Center

Parrotts were extremely practical.  They could be operated and manufactured easily, but there were safety issues.  They tended to crack and burst.  In 1862, Henry J. Hunt, Chief of Artillery for the Army of the Potomac, tried to ban them from that army's inventory, and in 1889 the New York Times called on the Ordnance Bureau to ban them altogether after a series of mishaps at West Point.

Parrott's patent for his guns centered on the process of attaching the reinforcing band to the breech.  On most guns, the band was heated, slipped on the gun and allowed to cool.  Sometimes the band and tube were threaded and sometimes they were tapered, but the tube always remained stationary while the band was attached.  Parrott's method involved rotating the tube on rollers and spraying water inside to keep it cool while the hot band was slipped on.  Rotating the tube caused the band to clamp itself in place uniformly as it cooled.

Robert Parker Parrott was born in Lee, New Hampshire on October 5, 1804.  He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1824, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 3rd U.S. Artillery Regiment.  He served as an assistant to the chief of the Ordnance Bureau and was assigned as an inspector of ordnance at the West Point Foundry in Cold Spring, New York.  He eventually resigned from the army to accept a position as superintendent of the foundry.  Parrott worked here for the next 41 years, eventually becoming lessee and operator of the foundry.

Before the war the foundry manufactured all types of cannon, but during the war years, the foundry's heyday, it focused on the manufacture of Parrott guns.  Parrott also developed the Parrott shell, the Parrott sight and the Parrott fuse.  After the war, Parrott retired from the foundry, but continued to experiment with artillery projectiles and fuses until his death in 1877.

The most famous Parrott gun was the Swamp Angel, which was used by the 11th Maine to bombard Charleston, South Carolina, in 1863.  The gun fired on the city 32 times before bursting.  The gun is now a monument in Cadwallader Park in Trenton, New Jersey.  Its fame comes from the Herman Melville poem "The Swamp Angel."

  A Parrott at Point Park on Lookout Mountain

William Crutchfield

In accordance with my previous post, I thought a few words about the ardent Unionist William Crutchfield were in order...

William "Bill" Crutchfield was born in Greenville, Tennessee, on November 16, 1824. His family moved to Chattanooga in the late 1830s, but William left home in 1840, moving first to McMinnville, Tennessee, then in 1844 to Jacksonville, Alabama, where he established a grain farm and became a captain in the local militia.

William's father, Thomas, a successful brick contractor and land speculator died in 1850, and William moved back to Chattanooga to help his younger brother, Thomas Jr., manage the estate and the large hotel their father had built, the Crutchfield House. Crutchfield was elected alderman in 1851 and again in 1854. He was instrumental in establishing the town's police and fire departments.

Although the family owned slaves, many of whom worked as cooks, housekeepers and laundry workers in the hotel, William Crutchfield, a Whig, became more and more outspoken in his opposition to secession as the war approached. Crutchfield gained regional fame and notoriety for his confrontation with Jefferson Davis as chronicled in my previous post.

Crutchfield was hardly alone in his Unionist leanings. East Tennessee was a bastion of Unionist sentiment (more on that in a later post); while most Chattanoogans leaned toward secession, Hamilton County was overwhelmingly Unionist. The attitude in the very early days of the war, especially before Tennessee finally seceded in June 1861, seemed to be live and let live. That all changed in November.

In connection with a planned Union attack from Kentucky through the Cumberland Gap into East Tennessee (which General William Tecumseh Sherman cancelled at the last minute), East Tennessee Unionists burned a series of railroad bridges throughout the region. Only five of nine targeted bridges were destroyed and they were quickly rebuilt, but the Confederate authorities came down hard on the region. Several bridge burners were executed, martial law was declared in some areas, and dozens of Unionists, including William Crutchfield, were arrested. The 7th Alabama Infantry Regiment, led by Colonel S. A. M. Wood, was sent to Chattanooga to keep the peace.

Crutchfield escaped his imprisonment and fled the area. Although he never joined the Union army he served as a scout and guide throughout the Chattanooga Campaign. In 1862, he led General James Negley to a spot opposite the town on the Tennessee River on Stringer's Ridge where he could shell the town. In 1863, he led Colonel John Wilder to the same spot. Wilder also shelled the town there, opening the Chattanooga Campaign. Crutchfield also fought at Chickamauga, assisted Generals William Hazen and John Turchin at the Battle of Brown's Ferry, and Ulysses S. Grant and George Thomas at the Battle of Missionary Ridge, and James Steedman in the post-campaign Union occupation of the town.

Phil Sheridan wrote in his memoirs that Crutchfield's "devotion to the Union cause knew no bounds." Oliver Perry Temple, in his Notable Men of Tennessee, described Crutchfield as "eccentric and peculiar beyond description. He was vehement in manner and impetuous in action. Yet, with all his violence of manner, his heart was as kind and true as ever beat in the human breast. And he was brave, too, to the verge of desperation."

In April 1864, Crutchfield was a part of Hamilton County's three-man delegation to the East Tennessee Convention in Knoxville. The convention was called to discuss Lincoln's ten percent plan in which states would be readmitted to the Union if ten percent of their prewar voting populations took the Oath of Allegiance and pledged to support emancipation. The convention quickly devolved into infighting and disbanded without accomplishing anything.

In October 1865, Crutchfield was elected alderman in Chattanooga's provisional civil government. In December, he was reelected for a full term.

In 1872, Crutchfield ran for the 3rd District seat in the U. S. House of Representatives. He edged his Democratic opponent, David Key, 10,041 to 8960. In Washington, he gained widespread attention for his eccentricities and manner of dress. A Washington Star correspondent noted that...

Since the days of Davy Crockett, Tennessee has always managed to have one mountaineer character in Congress, and Crutchfield, the latest, is said to resemble Crockett more in originality and style than any of the intervening line. He is a sunburnt, wiry little man, with foxy hair and whiskers, and though, by report, of considerable means, wears the cheapest of homespun suits, a good deal frayed at the edges, and with a pair of heavy, well-greased brogans that were the perpetual despair of the Pullman boot-blacks. He is not only a mighty hunter, like Crockett, but is moreover a shrewd business man.

That same correspondent, in the same article, used eye dialect to record a speech that Crutchfield gave, mocking his thick Southern accent.

While in Congress, Crutchfield managed to obtain a $600,000 appropriation to make improvements in the Tennessee River watercourse. He also obtained smaller amounts for the Little Tennessee and Hiwassee Rivers, but the money was never spent.

Crutchfield struck up a bit of controversy when he attached an amendment to a civil rights bill "that any white lady refusing the attention of a negro, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, shall be fined for each and every offense not less than five hundred nor more than one thousand dollars, and imprisoned not more than six months." He added, "Tack on this amendment and I'll vote for the whole thing."

Crutchfield said he was testing the devotion of Ben Butler and other Republicans to the social equality of the negro, and would have twenty of the choicest beaux from his plantation at each session of Congress so that those congressmen with daughters of marriageable age could take their pick.

He was bitterly denounced by his Republican colleagues, but he said he really didn't understand what they were so upset about. He was sure that Butler and his allies thought negroes were equal to themselves. "What's sauce for the goose isn't sauce for the gander. Civil rights are very fine for southern, but won't do for northern society."

His constituents back home in Tennessee were also outraged. He did not seek reelection in 1874.

After his time in Congress, he spent most of his time on his 500-acre fruit orchard south of Chattanooga in what is now Flintstone, Georgia. He died in Chattanooga on January 24, 1890 and is interred in Chattanooga's Citizens Cemetery. His epitaph reads, "The noblest work of God, an honest man."

Jeff Davis Stops Over in Chattanooga

William Crutchfield

One of the more interesting bits of Chattanooga Civil War lore concerns the time when Jefferson Davis almost got into a duel with a Chattanooga Unionist...

It was January 22, 1861. The Deep South states had seceded and Jefferson Davis had just given an emotional farewell to his colleagues in the Senate. He was on his way home to Mississippi by train and stopped for the night in Chattanooga. He checked into the Crutchfield House, Chattanooga's finest hotel at the time, which was operated by Thomas and William Crutchfield.

A crowd gathered in the hotel dining room, imploring Davis to speak on the issues of the day. Davis obliged, giving, according to David Key, "a short talk, very moderate in character; it had nothing in it personal or offensive in expression or manner." The gist of the speech was that Mississippi should be allowed to leave the Union in peace and that Tennessee should vote for a secession convention in its upcoming election on February 9. Davis then left the room.

Accounts vary as to whether William Crutchfield, who was a very outspoken Unionist, was asked to speak to rebut Davis's arguments or just took it upon himself. Regardless, Crutchfield jumped up on a counter and delivered a scathing speech/tirade against Davis.

He began with "Behold, your future military despot..." and went downhill from there. Crutchfield accused Davis and his ilk of deserting their seats in Congress when they were in the majority and might have prevented any legislation that might have been hostile to the institutions of the South, said that instead of Davis poking his nose into the affairs of Tennessee his time might be better spent advising his fellow Mississippians to pay their state debts, and denounced all secessionists as traitors. Tennesseans, Crutchfield said, would not be "hood winked, bamboozled and dragged into your Southern, codfish, aristocratic, tory blooded, South Carolina mobocracy."

Davis, informed as to what was going on, reentered the room while Crutchfield was still speaking and began speaking the language of the code duello, asking if Crutchfield was responsible for the insults to his honor and demanding satisfaction. Davis's supporters, of which there were many in the room, had "pistols drawn and cocked for immediate use."

Most accounts of the proceedings say that violence was averted when Thomas Crutchfield dragged his brother down from the counter and out of the hotel. An short account in Louis J. DuPre's Fagots from the Camp Fire states that John W. Vaughn, the sheriff of Monroe County, Tennessee, who was traveling with Davis, "instantly, in defence of Davis' wounded honor, broke a black bottle, snatched from the shelf of the bar-room, over Crutchfield's head. The bleeding, stunned Crutchfield was borne helpless and senseless from the scene of conflict, shedding the first blood spilled in the war."