Ummagumma

(Note: Read the Introduction post one and First Day post in this series.) General Hill's early morning attack did not occur.  The pause of a couple of hours allowed General Rosecrans to send General Thomas more troops.  As events unfolded, some of the  troops moving north toward Thomas had to be replaced in the Union line.  General Thomas J. Wood was ordered to fill the gap.  All of these troops involved different commands of the Union army.  Brigades from different Divisions and Corps were being mixed around.  Thomas was benefiting but it was confusing for the other Corps and Division commanders. Meanwhile, General Bragg was even more livid.  Could no one follow orders anymore?!  By this time Polk had contacted Hill and the two had gotten into an argument with each other.  If the Northern command was confused, the Southern command (or the right wing of it) was contesting itself.  Both led to dysfunctional decisions. This marker ...

Actually, the first day of the Battle for Chickmauga was September 18.  Skirmishes broke out where the Confederate advance units ran into Federal cavalry guarding fords and bridges along the river.  The Southern troops forced their respective crossings while the Northern cavalry continued to dog them with skirmishers as the day ended.  On September 19, the battle began in earnest. I will be using David Powell's indispensable The Maps of Chickamauga as my sole source for this narrative.  I'm so fond of this volume that I would rank it even above his trilogy itself.  While it does not have the same level of detail it possesses a thorough, terrific factual account of events along with outstanding maps by cartographer and fellow wargamer David A. Friedrichs.  My account here is by no means a complete one.  It merely highlights the areas I explored on this trip to the battlefield. A battlefield interpretation marker near the site of Jay's Mill.  The a...

This wonderful building used to be the entrance to the Chickamauga National Military Park Visitor's Center.  This entryway is now locked and the building serves as the museum. Hard to believe three years has passed since I last chased down a battlefield.  After Chattanooga (see here and here ), I was ready to visit Chickamauga again but the pandemic kinda interfered with that for awhile.  Since Thanksgiving last year, I planned on going but we've had a considerable, consistent amount of rain here.  The odd blue sky day inevitably happened when I had some other obligation, often on Sundays when I help look after Jennifer's mom.   But this past Monday was a flawless day.  So I prepped a bit and then headed to the Chickamuga National Battlefield Park , less than an hour's drive from Twin Oaks.  I had last been there in 2010 .  I couldn't believe so many years had gotten away from me without roaming that battlefield.  I won't let that much time ...