The Bloody First Day Ends

Throughout the day on September 19, 1863, fighting in the Chickamauga Woods continued into the night as men were thrown into battle as soon as they arrived on the field. Neither side could control the fighting, which expanded southward as the day wore on. In the thick woods, soldiers fought hand to hand and sometimes became confused and fired on their own comrades, and casualties were heavy. At sunset, Confederate commander Gen. Braxton Bragg ordered Cleburne's and Cheatham's Divisions to make one more assault on the Union line near this point. In the growing darkness, the battle raged along the Brotherton Road, and both sides fired at any rifle-musket flashes they saw. Confederate Brig. Gen. Preston Smith, a brigade commander, became lost in the dark woods, stumbled into an enemy position, and was killed by a point-blank Union volley about 220 yards southeast of here. On the night of September 19, Confederate divisions under Cleburne and Cheatham attacked the Union line near this point but made no decisive gain.

Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia · United States