Battles of Chattanooga: Orchard Knob, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge
- When
- 1863
- Where
- Lookout Mountain, Tennessee; Missionary Ridge, Chattanooga, Tennessee
- Episodes
- 2
Union forces under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant broke the Confederate siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee, in late November 1863. The three-day engagement included the Battle of Chattanooga III on November 23, the Battle of Lookout Mountain on November 24, and the Battle of Missionary Ridge on November 25. These victories routed Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee, securing Union control of the city and opening the path to Sherman's 1864 Atlanta campaign.
Episodes
- Battle of Lookout Mountain
Joseph Hooker assaulted Lookout Mountain on November 24, 1863, defeating Confederate forces and preparing to move east toward Bragg's left flank.
- Battle of Missionary Ridge
Union forces routed Bragg's army on November 25, 1863, ending the siege of Chattanooga and securing Union control of Tennessee.
Background and detail
Background. Following the Union defeat at Chickamauga, Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg besieged Chattanooga by occupying key high terrain, including Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain. These positions threatened Union supply lines and starved the Army of the Cumberland. Grant assumed command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, reinforcing the city and replacing Rosecrans. Thomas opened the "Cracker Line" supply route via Brown's Ferry, setting the stage for the November battles.
Outcome. The Union victory at Missionary Ridge routed Bragg's army, which retreated to Dalton, Georgia, ending the siege. The Union secured undisputed control of Tennessee, including Chattanooga, the "Gateway to the Lower South." This victory established Chattanooga as a logistics base for Sherman's 1864 Atlanta campaign and marked Grant's final battle in the West before assuming command of all Union armies.
People involved
- Ulysses S. Grant · Commander, Military Division of the Mississippi
- Braxton Bragg · Commander, Confederate Army of Tennessee
- Joseph Hooker · Union commander whose command had become part of the Army of the Cumberland, leading forces at Lookout Mountain
- George Henry Thomas · Commander, Union Army of the Cumberland
- William Tecumseh Sherman · Commander, Union Army of the Tennessee
Sources
- Battle of Missionary Ridge Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-05
- Battle of Lookout Mountain Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-05
- Chattanooga campaign Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-14
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.