ments of the army, for it seemed to be utterly routed and at the mercy of the enemy. The result, though sufficiently bad, did not prove in the end so disastrous as was supposed.

Thomas, subsequently styled the rock of Chicamauga, gathering his bleeding forces and massing his guns in a semi-circle on the side of Mission Ridge, stood like a wall of adamant between the routed divisions and the enemy. Squadron after squadron attempted to breast the terrific fire of his artillery but were melted away like frost work in the blaze of the morning sun. Four of the 9 divisions of the army had been swept entirely away, and with the remnants of the remainder he kept the entire rebel army at bay. About 4 o'clock a new peril threatened him. The enemy pressing him in front and on both flanks, discovered a gorge on the right crossing the ridge on which he was posted, and commenced streaming through it to get in his rear. The danger was seen, but he could not spare a single man to avert it. In a few minutes he would be surrounded by a shouting foe and compelled either to surrender or be cut to pieces. Fortunately, at the very moment on which hung the fate of his army, Granger came up and offered the necessary assistance.

Posted at Rossville, and hearing the continuous thunder of battle in the direction of Thomas, he waited impatiently-anxiously for orders to join the conflict. As the tumult swelled and deepened, though contrary to orders, he was unable to resist its loud appeal for help, and started where his intuitions told him assistance was needed. On arriving he reported himself to Thomas, and was at once ordered to the point of danger. His troops, in which was the 115th Illinois, although new recruits, comprehending the momentous issues at stake, were soon breast to breast with the veterans of Hindman, now pouring through the gap and triumphantly shouting. In 20 minutes the gorge was carried and Thomas was saved, but 1,000 of our brave men had been killed and wounded in the charge. Longstreet, the rebel Achilles of the battle, determined to retake it, and repeatedly charged up to the very muzzles of our guns, double-shotted with grape and canister. Finding at length this point impregnable, Bragg determined to improve the remainder of the day in a final assault on the front and left. The national troops, having exhausted their ammunition, waited in the gathering gloom of twilight with fixed bayonets, to receive them. When within striking distance, they precipitated themselves on the enemy with such vigor as not only to rout him but capture some 200 prisoners.

Rosecrans, having informed Thomas to use his own judgement as to the propriety of longer holding his position, he concluded to fall back to Rossville-the want of ammunition, food, and water being the principal inducements for the change. After reaching this place a new line was formed and the advance of the enemy awaited. Although hovering near, he had been too severely punished to renew the attack, and on the night of the 21st Thomas fell back to Chattanooga. Rosecrans estimated his losses in the bloody conflict at 36 pieces of artillery and 16,000 men and claimed the capture of 2,000 prisoners. Bragg admitted a loss of 18,000 men and claimed the capture of 51 guns and 8,000 prisonHe also vauntingly announced a great victory, yet he evidently either lacked the ability or the courage to improve it.

ers.

Thomas offered him battle the next day, and although outuum. bering the federals two to one, he declined it. Furthermore, if Bragg had gained a victory its fruits were confined to the battlefield, while Rosecrans had secured Chattanooga, the strategic object of the campaign. The key to the mountain system extending to the heart of the confederacy, it also served as an impregnable bastion to command the rebel lines of communication which traversed its rugged passes.

Says Pollard: "Rosecrans still held the prize of Chattanooga and with it the possession of East Tennessee. Two-thirds of our nitre beds were in that region and a large proportion of the coal which supplied our founderies. It abounded in the necessaries of life. It was one of the strongest countries in the world, so full of lofty mountains that it has been called, not inaptly, the Switzerland of America. As the possession of Switzerland opened the door for the invasion of Italy, Germany and France, so the possession of East Tennessee gave easy access to Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama."

The representatives of Illinois in the bloody conflict were the 10th, 16th, 19th, 21st, 22d, 24th, 25th, 27th, 34th, 35th, 36th, 38th, 42d, 44th, 51st, 73d, 74th, 75th. 78th, 79th, 80th, 84th, 85th, 86th, 88th, 89th, 92d, 98th, 100th, 104th, 110th, 115th, 123d, 125th and 127th. Cols. Chandler and Mihalotzy and a long list of others, were among the slain. The 21st lost 238, 22d 235, 35th 152, 38th 18, 51st 90, and 79th 121.

The battle of Chicamauga was made the subject of remark both among rebels and Unionists. Bragg, by failing to take advan tage of the victory which he so pompously claimed, completed the overthrow of his reputation, which had been tottering since the battle of Stone River. Rosecrans, suffering greatly in fame, was finally relieved of his command, and Thomas, whose superior fighting qualities had saved the army from destruction, was placed in his stead.

To secure greater unity of design and co-operation, and thereby greater efficiency, the separate armies operating in the region of Chattanooga were placed under the command of Grant. He immediately telegraphed Thomas to hold Chattanooga at all hazards, and received in reply assurances that starvation was the only contingency that could lead to its abandonment. Had he been forced to relinquish it, all its possession had cost would have been thrown away, and the struggle for ascendancy in the valley of the Mississippi again to re-enact. To prevent such a disaster Grant immediately commenced preparations to forward supplies and reinforcements. On the 22d day of September, Sherman, then on Big Black river, was notified by a dispatch to send over one of his divisions, and the next day Osterhaus was steaming up the Mississippi on the way to Chattanooga. Four days after, in accordance with further instructions, Sherman and his entire corps embarked in steamboats and started for the same place. At Memphis he commenced the repair of the Memphis and Charleston R. R., with the design of using it for the conveyance of his supplies as he advanced. While vigorously engaged in pushing forward this enterprise directly in the face of the enemy, he was ordered to abandon it and proceed directly forward to effect a junction with the other forces at Chattanooga.

The partial reverse at Chicamauga also induced Halleck to detach two divisions from the army of the Potomac and send them under Hooker to operate in the same field. Grant himself arrived on the 23d of October, and seeing the precarious condition of supplies, instituted measures to place them beyond the reach of future contingencies. Both troops and animals were already suffering for the want of provisions which had been brought in wagons over the numerous mountain ridges separating Chattanooga from Middle Tennessee. Bragg, aware that he could neither flank nor carry by storm the stronghold which he had so recently lost, was endeavoring to get possession of the river and the railroads leading to it with the intention of starving our army out of it.

For the two-fold purpose of obtaining relief and facilitating the operations of Hooker, who was approaching the city by way of Lookout valley, Grant determined to seize the heights on the west side where it connects with the Tennessee. After a reconnoisance, 1,500 picked troops under Hazen were sent in pontoons down the river to Brown's ferry adjacent the heights, while a cooperating force of 2,500 secretely followed on the north bank of the river. The pontoons carrying the advance party noiselessly floated down the stream to the point chosen for debarkation. Here a picket alarm aroused the neighboring camps of the enemy and Hazen's men jumped quickly ashore and formed to repel an attack. The former, wholly taken by surprise, after a feeble resistance retreated up the valley, and the spurs on the east side of it were seized and fortified. The pontoons were next employed to pass over the force on the opposite side, and at daylight the heights, which gave Grant the key to Bragg's position, were made impregnable. During the day Hooker came down the valley, and having dispersed the rebel forces on the river below, it was opened to navigation and all fears of starvation removed. A bridge was thrown across the river opposite, and should Bragg mass his forces either against Hooker or Chattanooga, we now had the shorter line of concentration.

Battle of Wauhatchie.-The rebels, alarmed at the demonstrations in Lookout valley, determined, on the night of the 28th of October, to interpose a counteracting movement. Bragg, unable to cope with Hooker's entire corps, made an assault on Geary's division encamped at Wauhatchie, the point where he had effected an entrance into Lookout valley. About midnight they rushed forward with loud yells and great impetuosity, but found their antagonists wide awake and ready to receive them with a fire fierce and deadlier than their own. Hooker, hearing the report of guns, and anxious for the safety of Geary, immediately sent forward Schurz's division of Howard's corps to his aid. As the force rapidly marched forward in the moonlight they were suddenly and unexpectedly fired upon by 2,000 rebels posted on an adjoining hill. One of brigades moved on to the assistance of Geary while the other halted to charge the heights. The latter, immediately scaling the steep acclivity with fixed bayonets, cleared the rifle pits on its summit. In the meantime the wild hills which girt Geary about were ablaze with flashes of musketry and exploding shells. Although several times nearly overwhelmed,

he clung to his position and at length forced his assailants back and compelled them to seek refuge in their works on Lookout Mountain.

The 101st Illinois was among the heroes of the battle, and materially aided in the enemy's overthrow.

Battle of Lookout Mountain.-Bragg, weakened by detaching Longstreet's corps to operate against Burnside at Knoxville, now concluded to remain in his trenches and act on the defensive. His position stretched across the valley of Chattanooga, and high on the western and northern slopes of Lookout and Mission Ridge was one of great natural strength. The valley here is narrow and was so enfiladed by batteries planted on the sides of the adjacent mountains as to render it wholly impregnable to a direct assault. Hooker, holding the valley of Lookout, confronted the enemy on the adjacent mountain. Thomas occupied a central position in the valley of Chattanooga in the front of the city, and Sherman was ordered to seize the northern extremity of Mission Ridge. With the 15th army corps he moved from Bridgeport and on entering Lookout valley, dispatched Ewing's division up it to threaten Bragg's extreme left and thus divert attention from his right, where he was ordered to operate. With the remainder of his force he crossed the bridge at Brawn's ferry, and, proceeding unobserved along the north bank of the river, he recrossed it near the mouth of the Chicamauga and seized the position assigned him before the rebels had time to interpose any serious opposition. Ewing's division was now ordered back to rejoin Sherman, but the bridge having given away, he returned and fought under Hooker.

The latter in the meantime climbing the precipitous steeps of Lookout, had planted his veteran standards high on its cloudcapped summit. To favor Sherman's movement he had been directed to threaten the enemy. With this object in view, on the morning of the 24th his forces were in motion, but the rain of the previous days had swollen Lookout creek and swept away the pontoons prepared for crossing it. While rebuilding the bridge Geary was ordered to move up the valley and cross at a more available point. Favored by a heavy mist the force unobserved crossed the creek and secured a lodgment on its western bank. By 11 o'clock the bridge was completed, and the force augmented to some 9,000 men, swept down between the creek and the mountain, carried the rifle-pits at its base and captured a large number of prisoners. Next commenced the fearful ascent of the mountain, our men enthusiastically climbing over splintered crests and yawning chasms, directly under the muzzles of the enemy's batteries. Soon the flashes and thunderpeals resembling the crash of heaven's artillery, announced the storm of war raging in the clouds above. When the dense masses of fog that had become banked against the side of the mountain rolled away, and the splendid pageantry of battle burst on the vision of the thousands who had been shrouded in the mist-clouded valleys below, charging squadrons, shouting multitudes and clashing arms appeared high above them, as if the gods, having espoused the cause of the contending armies were warring to decide their fate. Our columns, flushed by success, in the face of a plunging fire of heavy ordnance,

rushed on the foe capturing many prisoners and hurling the remainder of his forces down the pricipitous eastern declivity of the mountain. The entire army with almost painful excitement having witnessed the sublime scene, responded with loud acclaim to the shout which rose from the conquering columns, till the wild mountain gorges became vocal with the echoes and seemed to partake of the rejoicing.

The Illinois regiments in and otherwise connected with the battle were the 12th, 34th, 35th, 59th, 60th, 73d, 75th, 101st and 115th.

Battle of Mission Ridge.-Sherman, after having gained a foothold on Mission Ridge, improved the succeeding night in fortifying his position, and was ready on the morning of the 25th to move against the enemy. The ridge he occupied was not continuous but a succession of eminences. A deep gap lay between him and the elevation on which the enemy was posted, and should he get possession of this, there was still a second higher and farther back whose guns commanded it. At early dawn Gen. M. L. Smith was directed to move along the east base of the ridge, Col. Loomis the west base and Gen. Corse with the 40th Illinois, supported by the 20th and 40th Ohio, along the crest. The latter advanced to within 80 yards of the enemy's works where he gained a secondary crest and commenced an assault, but was unable to carry the works of the rebels, and they unable to drive him from his position. Smith and Loomis were however gaining

each flank, and Bragg massing his forces to protect the most vulnerable points of his position, the battle raged with constantly increasing fury. From every salient point and projecting spur, batteries flamed and thundered, wrapping the combatants in a cloud of smoke. As the day wore away this fearful pounding was continued without intermission and without either belligerant gaining any decided advantage. Grant meanwhile had been listening to the stern work in which his favorite lieutenant was engaged, and anxiously waiting for the time to come when he could relieve him by a move on the centre. At length, when Bragg had weakened this part of his line to support his right, and Hooker had come down from the heights of Lookout without a co-operating force, Thomas was ordered to advance.

That portion of Bragg's position which he was now to assail lay on a bald rugged height of Mission Ridge, 800 feet above Chattanooga. A line of rifle pits protected its base, while on its summit were batteries which had achieved fame in previous battles supported by veteran regiments. As soon as the command was given Wood's, Baird's and Johnson's divisions under Granger, immedidiately started rapidly forward. So openly and deliberately was the movement that the enemy regarded it as a review, and those in the rifle pits, surprised, fled precipitately up the mountain as the assaulting columns approached. The rebels greatly astonished at the attack made at the base of the mountain were more so when they beheld the national troops climbing its precipitous sides to assail them on its summit. Nearly 30 pieces of artillery commenced hurling at them grape and canister to dispute the ascent yet the works were carried simultaneously at six different points. A shout made known the result, and soldiers clinging to steeps and spurs and deep in the valley below, answered with a loud response. Bragg, seeing