In October 1863, the Union Army of the Cumberland was besieged in Chattanooga, all but surrounded by familiar opponents: The Confederate Army of Tennessee. The Federals were surviving by the narrowest of margins, thanks only to a trickle of supplies painstakingly hauled over the sketchiest of mountain roads. Soon even those quarter-rations would not suffice. Disaster was in the offing. Yet those Confederates, once jubilant at having routed the Federals at Chickamauga and driven them back into the apparent trap of Chattanooga’s trenches, found their own circumstances increasingly difficult to bear. In the immediate aftermath of their victory, the South rejoiced; the Confederacy’s own disasters of the previous summer—Vicksburg and Gettysburg—were seemingly reversed. Then came stalemate in front of those same trenches. The Confederates held the high ground, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, but they could not completely seal off Chattanooga from the north. The Union responded. Reinforcements were on the way. A new man arrived to take command: Ulysses S. Grant. Confederate General Braxton Bragg, unwilling to launch a frontal attack on Chattanooga’s defenses, sought victory elsewhere, diverting troops to East Tennessee. Battle above the Clouds by David Powell recounts the first half of the campaign to lift the siege of Chattanooga, including the opening of the “cracker line,” the unusual night battle of Wauhatchie, and one of the most dramatic battles of the entire war: Lookout Mountain.

*Includes pictures of the battle's important generals. *Includes accounts of the fighting written by important generals like Grant, Sherman, Bragg, Longstreet, and more. *Includes a Bibliography for further reading. In late September 1863, the Confederates began laying siege to the Union Army of the Cumberland around Chattanooga in what would be their last gasp for supremacy in the West. Following the devastating Union defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga on September 20, the army and its shaken commander, General William S. Rosecrans, began digging in around the city and waiting for reinforcements to arrive. Meanwhile, the Confederate Army of Tennessee, under General Braxton Bragg, took the surrounding heights, including Missionary Ridge to the east and Lookout Mountain to the southwest, allowing them control over the vital rail and river supply lines needed by the Union forces in the city. Bragg planned to lay siege to the city and starve the Union forces into surrendering. Having lost faith in Rosecrans after Chickamauga, Washington delegated Ulysses S. Grant with the task of lifting the siege by placing him in command of nearly the entire theater. Grant replaced Rosecrans with George H. Thomas, who had saved the army at Chickamauga, and ordered him to "hold Chattanooga at all hazards." Thomas replied, "We will hold the town till we starve." Meanwhile, President Lincoln detached General Hooker and two divisions from the Army of the Potomac and sent them west to reinforce the garrison at Chattanooga. What followed were some of the most remarkable operations of the entire Civil War. Hooker and his reinforcements helped open up a vital supply line known as the "cracker line," effectively ensuring that enough supplies could reach Knoxville. With that, preparations turned to a pitched battle between the two sides, and in a series of actions in late November, Grant sought to lift the siege and drive back Bragg's Confederate army by attacking their positions on high ground. Although the Chattanooga Campaign is mostly remembered for the Battle of Missionary Ridge, that climactic battle was preceded by the Battle of Lookout Mountain, which witnessed some of the most unique fighting of the war. Also known as the "Battle Above the Clouds," on November 24, 1863, the Union and Confederate soldiers fought each other on mountainous terrain in heavy fog that obscured the battle lines throughout the battle, leading one soldier to call it "undoubtedly the roughest battle field of the war." By mid-afternoon, the heavy clouds had actually made the field dark, and with Confederate and Union commanders literally in the dark, Union soldiers under the command of Fighting Joe Hooker seized the summit of Lookout Mountain on their own initiative and compelled the Confederates to withdraw from what had seemed a daunting and impregnable defensive line. The Union victory at Lookout Mountain would completely alter the dispositions of the two armies and change Grant's battle plan, all of which inadvertently helped produce the Battle of Missionary Ridge the following day. The successes at Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge would save the day for Grant, and his victory in the Chattanooga Campaign is considered the last good chance the South had in the West during the Civil War. The Greatest Civil War Battles: The Battle of Lookout Mountain comprehensively covers the campaign and the events that led up to the crucial battle, the fighting itself, and the aftermath of the battle. Accounts of the fighting by important participants are also included, along with maps and pictures of important people, places, and events. You will learn about the Battle of Lookout Mountain like you never have before, in no time at all.

*Includes pictures of the battle's important generals. *Includes accounts of the fighting written by important generals like Grant, Sherman, Bragg, Longstreet, and more. *Includes a Bibliography for further reading. In late September 1863, the Confederates began laying siege to the Union Army of the Cumberland around Chattanooga in what would be their last gasp for supremacy in the West. Following the devastating Union defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga on September 20, the army and its shaken commander, General William S. Rosecrans, began digging in around the city and waiting for reinforcements to arrive. Meanwhile, the Confederate Army of Tennessee, under General Braxton Bragg, took the surrounding heights, including Missionary Ridge to the east and Lookout Mountain to the southwest, allowing them control over the vital rail and river supply lines needed by the Union forces in the city. Bragg planned to lay siege to the city and starve the Union forces into surrendering. Having lost faith in Rosecrans after Chickamauga, Washington delegated Ulysses S. Grant with the task of lifting the siege by placing him in command of nearly the entire theater. Grant replaced Rosecrans with George H. Thomas, who had saved the army at Chickamauga, and ordered him to "hold Chattanooga at all hazards." Thomas replied, "We will hold the town till we starve." Meanwhile, President Lincoln detached General Hooker and two divisions from the Army of the Potomac and sent them west to reinforce the garrison at Chattanooga. What followed were some of the most remarkable operations of the entire Civil War. Hooker and his reinforcements helped open up a vital supply line known as the "cracker line", effectively ensuring that enough supplies could reach Knoxville. With that, preparations turned to a pitched battle between the two sides, and in a series of actions in late November, Grant sought to lift the siege and drive back Bragg's Confederate army by attacking their positions on high ground. Although the Chattanooga Campaign is mostly remembered for the Battle of Missionary Ridge, that climactic battle was preceded by the Battle of Lookout Mountain, which witnessed some of the most unique fighting of the war. Also known as the "Battle Above the Clouds", on November 24, 1863, the Union and Confederate soldiers fought each other on mountainous terrain in heavy fog that obscured the battle lines throughout the battle, leading one soldier to call it "undoubtedly the roughest battle field of the war." By mid-afternoon, the heavy clouds had actually made the field dark, and with Confederate and Union commanders literally in the dark, Union soldiers under the command of Fighting Joe Hooker seized the summit of Lookout Mountain on their own initiative and compelled the Confederates to withdraw from what had seemed a daunting and impregnable defensive line. The Union victory at Lookout Mountain would completely alter the dispositions of the two armies and change Grant's battle plan, all of which inadvertently helped produce the Battle of Missionary Ridge the following day. The successes at Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge would save the day for Grant, and his victory in the Chattanooga Campaign is considered the last good chance the South had in the West during the Civil War. The Greatest Civil War Battles: The Battle of Lookout Mountain comprehensively covers the campaign and the events that led up to the crucial battle, the fighting itself, and the aftermath of the battle. Accounts of the fighting by important participants are also included, along with maps and pictures of important people, places, and events. You will learn about the Battle of Lookout Mountain like you never have before, in no time at all.

Important American periodical dating back to 1850.

A military history of one American Civil War battle unit based on soldiers’ correspondence, memoirs, war records, and obituaries. Here is the story of the Confederate Ninth Tennessee Infantry, known as the “Southern Confederates,” one of the most well-educated, zealously religious, and unbelievably gallant groups of men to engage in the American Civil War. Using the soldiers’ actual letters, memoirs, war records, and obituaries, James R. Fleming documents this immortal “band of brothers,” which included five of his own ancestors, as they endure the privations of life on the western front. This valuable historical and genealogical resource also includes discussions of the battles at Columbus, Perryville, and Atlanta, as well as the regiment’s Order of Battle and each soldier’s service record. The Confederate Ninth Tennessee Infantry contains a wealth of archival information taken from primary sources. The letters and reminiscences of Capt. James I. Hall, an educator who joined the war to watch over his young students, are published here in full for the first time. The author has also included C. B. Simonton’s detailed contemporary account of the unit’s organization, as well as transcripts of the speeches given at the presentation and acceptance of the company’s first flag. Mr. Fleming also features a regimental chronology and a roster containing approximately eleven hundred official war records from the Compiled Service Records. Praise for The Confederate Ninth Tennessee Infantry “This volume is a worthy contribution to the regimental history genre. . . . Useful for anyone interested in the Ninth or any of the campaigns and battles in which the regiment participated.” —William H. Mulligan, Jr., The Civil War News “Nothing brings an event alive more than the words of the actual participants. . . . A must read for anyone interested in the history of Tennessee troops in the Civil War.” —Connie Slaughter, historian, Wilson’s Creek National Military Park “Civil War buffs, this book’s for you.” —Charles D. Townsend, National Genealogy & Heraldry, Fellowship of Rotarians

To many of the Federal soldiers watching the Stars and Stripes unfurl atop Lookout Mountain on the morning of November 25, 1863, it seemed that the battle to relieve Chattanooga was complete. The Union Army of the Cumberland was no longer trapped in the city, subsisting on short rations and awaiting rescue; instead, they were again on the attack. Ulysses S. Grant did not share their certainty. For Grant, the job he had been sent to accomplish was only half-finished. Braxton Bragg’s Confederate Army of Tennessee still held Missionary Ridge, with other Rebels under James Longstreet threatening more Federals in Knoxville, Tennessee. Grant’s greatest fear was that the Rebels would slip away before he could deliver the final blows necessary to crush Bragg completely. That blow landed on the afternoon of November 25. Each of Grant’s assembled forces—troops led by Union Generals William T. Sherman, George H. Thomas, and Joseph Hooker—all moved to the attack. Stubbornly, Bragg refused to retreat, and instead accepted battle. That decision would cost him dearly. But everything did not go Grant’s way. Despite what Grant’s many admirers would later insist was his most successful, most carefully planned battle, Grant’s strategy failed him—as did his most trusted commander, Sherman. Victory instead charged straight up the seemingly impregnable slopes of Missionary Ridge’s western face, as the men of the much-maligned Army of the Cumberland swarmed up and over Bragg’s defenses in an irresistible blue tide. Caught flat-footed by this impetuous charge, Grant could only watch nervously as the men started up . . . All Hell Can’t Stop Them: The Battles for Chattanooga—Missionary Ridge and Ringgold, November 24-27, 1863—sequel to Battle Above the Clouds—details the dramatic final actions of the battles for Chattanooga: Missionary Ridge and the final Confederate rearguard action at Ringgold, where Patrick Cleburne held Grant’s Federals at bay and saved the Army of Tennessee from further disaster.