The Cost of Chickamauga

More than 4,000 soldiers lost their lives at Chickamauga, the bloodiest battle west of the Appalachian Mountains. A short path leads to the grave of Pvt. John Andrew Ingraham, a local man and one of many who joined the Confederate Army. He was killed at midday on Sept. 19 in heavy fighting that also claimed the lives of more than 2,600 other Confederates. After the battle, friends searched for him, found his body, and buried it here. Of the 124,000 men engaged at Chickamauga, 30% were listed as casualties, and the number killed, wounded, or reported missing exceeded 37,000. Confederate dead were buried in mass graves on the battlefield but were later moved. Many of the Union dead lay on the ground for three months until Union troops recaptured the area and removed the bodies to what would later become a National Cemetery in Chattanooga. Union forces suffered 16,179 casualties out of 58,000 engaged, including 1,656 killed, 9,749 wounded, and 4,774 missing, while Confederate forces suffered 20,950 casualties out of 66,000 engaged, including 2,673 killed, 16,274 wounded, and 2,003 missing.

Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia · United States