Field Headquarters - Army of Tennessee

On September 19, 1863, General Braxton Bragg commanded the Army of Tennessee with Polk’s Corps under Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk, Hill’s Corps under Lieutenant General Daniel H. Hill, Reserve Corps under Major General W. H. T. Walker, Buckner’s Corps under Major General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Longstreet’s Corps under Major General John B. Hood, Wheeler’s Corps of cavalry under Major General Joseph Wheeler, and Forrest’s Corps of cavalry under Brigadier General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Because of Rosecrans’ flanking movement over Lookout Mountain south of Chattanooga, Bragg withdrew from that city on September 7 and 8 and that night established headquarters at Snow Hill near Lee and Gordon’s Mill. His lines extended from there to Lafayette, facing the gap in Pigeon Mountain and Lookout Mountain beyond. At midnight on September 9, orders went to Hindman and Hill to attack Thomas’s Corps by way of Davis Cross Roads at Stevens’ Gap, and these orders were repeated at midnight on September 10 from Bragg’s headquarters at Lafayette, but the movement miscarried. On September 12, Polk with his own corps and Walker’s Corps, supported by Buckner, was ordered to attack Crittenden’s Corps, then believed divided between Lee and Gordon’s Mill and Ringgold, but this move also miscarried. On the night of September 17, from headquarters at Leet’s Tan Yard, Bragg ordered a crossing of the Chickamauga at Reed’s and Alexander’s bridges and the fords above them to attack Crittenden’s Corps, then the Union left at Lee and Gordon’s Mill. The crossing was completed on the afternoon and night of September 18 and early on September 19, and orders for attack were issued at about 8 o’clock on September 19. Bragg’s headquarters were established near Thedford’s Ford.

Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia · United States