Civil War River Crossing

Around midnight on November 23, 1863, Union troops under General William T. Sherman began a planned crossing of the Tennessee River as part of General Ulysses S. Grant's effort to lift the siege of Chattanooga and strike the northern flank of Bragg's army on Missionary Ridge. Pontoon boats had been massed near the convergence of North Chickamauga Creek and the Tennessee River, and after entering the river, part of the flotilla moved silently downstream to land just north of the mouth of South Chickamauga Creek while other pontoons landed south of the creek. The Federals quickly captured surprised Confederate pickets who failed to raise the alarm and soon built substantial earthworks around their position. During the predawn hours of November 24, oarsmen ferried troops across the river while engineers began constructing a twelve hundred-foot pontoon bridge. Its completion around noon, together with the arrival of the side-wheeler Dunbar, greatly eased the movement of Sherman's troops, horses, and cannon. This uncontested crossing placed Union forces in a highly advantageous position on November 24 near the right flank of Bragg's army; the bridge's southern end stood near the large grain silos, and another Union pontoon bridge lay a short distance east of the mouth of South Chickamauga Creek.

Chattanooga, Tennessee · United States