Chickamauga Continues

The Chickamauga Campaign series continues with this issue’s treatment of the movements of Bragg’s and Rosecrans’ armies from the Fall of Chattanooga to Union troops on September 9, 1863, through the events in McLemore’s Cove on September 11. Something I discovered while putting this issue together is that author William Glenn Robertson’s material truly is ground-breaking. You can not find anything similar to it, in such detail, anywhere else in print. Thus, lots of maps.

Though the names Braxton Bragg and William S. Rosecrans generally fail to excite in the manner of, say, Lee and Grant, you will find that the opposing generals in the Chickamauga Campaign during the events covered in this issue were quite daring, if not downright audacious. Rosecrans boldly advances against his enemy on a broad front, his wings separated by some 40 miles as the crow flies; and Bragg, rather than being in demoralized flight after losing Chattanooga, sets a trap into which marches the better part of two Yankee divisions. This is good stuff.

If you only recently started taking Blue & Gray, you might wonder if we are publicity agents for General George Crook. The Crook odyssey began with the Little Bighorn issue last year, where he led the Wyoming column and fought Crazy Horse at the Rosebud. Then there was the issue featuring operations in the Shenandoah Valley in July 1864, where Crook commanded Union forces at 2nd Kernstown. This was followed by the Fall of Chattanooga issue where he led a division of cavalry. In this issue, Crook is elevated to command of the Cavalry Corps operating against Bragg’s forces in the vicinity of Alpine, Georgia, and he’s mentioned in Wiley Sword’s column. And next issue features Cedar Creek, where Crook’s Army of West Virginia is attacked by Jubal Early. Truth is, the Crook phenomenon is purely coincidental.

I want to repeat my call, made on this page in the last issue, for submissions to the ON THE BACK ROADS column. It’s a good way to publicize your local Civil War sites and preservation efforts, or to describe interesting discoveries you’ve made during your Civil War travels.

editor