Mix-up in the Union Command

Shortly before 11:00 a.m. on September 20, Union commander Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans received an erroneous report that Brig. Gen. John M. Brannan's division was out of position and had created a gap in the Union battle line, though Brannan's men were actually concealed in the woods where they should have been. Trying to close the supposed gap, Rosecrans ordered Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Wood to move left to support Maj. Gen. Joseph J. Reynolds. Wood, who had been harshly reprimanded earlier that day for failing to obey orders promptly, complied. The movement opened a real gap in the Union line about 1/4-mile south, and Confederate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet prepared a massive attack aimed at that vulnerable point.

Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia · United States