In early September 1863, as Union Major General William S. Rosecrans' Army of the Cumberland entered Georgia with its three infantry corps dangerously spread across a fifty mile radius, Major General George H. Thomas' 14th Corps was especially vulnerable, and Major General James S. Negley's 4,000-man division moved through Steven's Gap into McLemore's Cove on September 9 believing no enemy was ahead. After learning of Negley's isolation, Confederate General Braxton Bragg ordered Major General Patrick R. Cleburne's 5,000-man division to strike through Dug Gap from the front while Major General Thomas C. Hindman's 6,000-man division, backed by two more divisions, entered McLemore's Cove from the north against Negley's exposed left flank. On September 10, Negley's division advanced east across McLemore's Cove until meeting skirmishers from Cleburne's division near Dug Gap, and Negley established headquarters at Davis' Cross Roads in the home of Julia Davis, a forty year old widow with six children. Although Hindman had been ordered to attack on September 10 or early on September 11, he repeatedly delayed because he believed he was outnumbered or might be flanked, even though with his supporting divisions he held three times Negley's strength. By 8:00 am on September 11, Union Brigadier General Absalom Baird's 4,600-man division had arrived to reinforce Negley, and a severe skirmish or small battle followed in which nine men were killed and twenty-two wounded. As the situation worsened, Baird's and Negley's divisions withdrew west toward Steven's Gap, and when Hindman finally advanced at 4:00 pm the Federals were largely gone. The missed attack squandered a major Confederate opportunity to badly damage the Federal army, led Rosecrans to consolidate his scattered forces, and may have cost Bragg his best chance to strike before the Union army united at Chickamauga.

Photo: Bradley Owen

Photo: Mark Hilton

Photo: Mark Hilton

Photo: Mark Hilton