After the Shiloh Campaign in the spring of 1862, Confederate forces under General Braxton Bragg concentrated in the Chattanooga area while the Federal Army under General Don Carlos Buell occupied north Alabama. Fearing a Confederate attack, Buell sent two divisions under Generals Alexander McCook and Thomas Crittenden to fortify the west side of the Tennessee River at the mouth of Battle Creek, where the position was designated Fort McCook and General Alexander McCook was placed in command. On the basis of faulty intelligence, McCook became convinced that the anticipated Confederate offensive was aimed at recapturing Nashville, and Buell began shifting his units to the Cumberland Plateau to block Bragg. McCook then left Battle Creek for the Altamont and Tracy City area, leaving Colonel Leonard A. Harris in charge of Fort McCook with two regiments and a small cavalry detachment and ordering him to gather information on Confederate troop movements. Harris was later directed to send one infantry regiment and all his artillery to McCook on the Plateau. On August 27, 1862, Confederate General Samuel B. Maxey crossed the Tennessee at Bridgeport and moved north toward Fort McCook. After a brief skirmish, the Federals fell back into the fort. Maxey placed artillery on the east side of the river opposite the fort and began a heavy bombardment, and the Federals withdrew during the night. Maxey judged the fort a splendidly constructed field work and the key to the Sequatchie Valley, whose possession completely broke the enemy's chain up the Tennessee River. The Confederates occupied it for a time as Fort Maxey before moving up the valley to invade Kentucky. During the Chickamauga Campaign it was called Fort Thomas when occupied by General John M. Brannan's division of Thomas' 14th Army Corps. Brannan's men built a pontoon bridge over Battle Creek and used scrap lumber to construct rafts to move the division across the river, completing the crossing on September 2 with ammunition and baggage trains after sending the supply train by way of Bridgeport. The crossing was slow and difficult because transportation was limited to hastily built rafts, often requiring wagons to be partially unloaded before being placed on them. During the crossing, one private trying to hold onto a mule on a raft was struck on the head when the animal became upset and thrashed about, was dragged overboard, and drowned. He was buried with military honors beside the river at Battle Creek.

Photo: Lee Hattabaugh

Photo: Lee Hattabaugh

Photo: Lee Hattabaugh

Photo: Lee Hattabaugh