The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 30, In Four Parts. Part 1, Reports. Page: 39
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UCAP. XLII.] THE CIIICKAMAUGA CAMPAIGN. 39
with his reserves to cover our left and rear, arrived upon the field.
He knew nothing of the condition of the battle, but, with the true
instincts of a soldier, he had marched to the sound of the cannon.
General Thomas merely pointed out to him the gap through which
the enemy was debouching, when, quick as thought, he threw upon
it Steedman's brigade of cavalry. In the words of General Rose-
crans' official report-
Swift was the charge and terrible the conflict, but the enemy was broken. A
thousand of our brave men, killed and wounded, paid for its possession, but we
held the gap. Two divisions of Longstreet's corps confronted the position. Deter-
mined to take it, they successively came to the assault. A battery of six guin
placed in the gorge poured death and slaughter into them.' They charged to within
a few yards of the pieces, but our grape and canister, and the leaden hail of our
musketry, delivered in sparing but terrible volleys from cartridges taken, in many
instances, from the boxes of their fallen companions, was too much even for Long-
street's men. About sunset they made their last charge, when our men, being out
of ammunition, rushed on them with bayonet, and they gave way to return no
more.
In the meantime the enemy made,repeated attempts to carry Gen-
eral Thomas' position on the left and front, but were as often driven
back with great'loss. At nightfall the enemy fell back beyond the
range of our artillery, leaving Thomas victorious on his hard-fought
field.
As most of the corps of McCook and Crittenden had retreated to
Chattanooga, it was deemed advisable also to withdraw the left wing
to that place. Thomas consequently fell back during the night to
Rossville, leaving the dead and most of the wounded in the hands of
the enemy. He here received a supply of ammunition, and during
all the 21st offered battle to the enemy; but the attack was not seri-
ously renewed. On the night of the 21sthe withdrew the remainder
of the army within the defenses of Chattanooga.
The enemy suffered severely in these battles, and on the night of
the 20th was virtually defeated; but being permitted to gather the
trophies of the field on the 21st, he is entitled to claim a victory,
however barren in its results. His loss in killed, wounded, and miss-
ing, as reported in rebel papers, was 18,000.
Our loss in these battles was 1,644 killed, 9,262 wounded, and 4,945
missing. If we add the loss of the cavalry, in its several engage-
ments, at about 500, we have a total of 16,351. We lost in mnaftriel,
36 guns, 20 caissons, 8,450 small- arms, and 5,834 infantry accouter-
ments. We captured 2,003 prisoners.
After General Rosecrans' retreat to Chattanooga, he withdrew his
forces from the passes of Lookout Mountain, which covered his line
of supplies from Bridgeport. These were immediately occupied by
the enemy, who also sent a cavalry force across the Tennessee above
Chattanooga, which destroyed a large wagon train in the Sequatchie
Valley, captured McMinnville and other points on the railroad, thus
almost completely cutting off the supplies of General Rosecrans'
army. Fortunately for us the line of railroad was well defended;.
and the enemy's cavalry being successfully attacked by Colonel MNfc-
Cook at Anderson's Cross-Roads on the 2d of October, by General
Mitchell at Shelbyville on the 6th, and by General Crook "at Farming-
ton on the 8th, -were mostly captured or destroyed.
Major-General Grant arrived at Louisville, and on the 19th, in
obedience to the orders of the President, assumed general command
of the Departments of the\Tennessee, Cumberland, and Ohio. In
accordance with his recommendation, Maj. Gen. G. H: Thomas was
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Errata sheets for the Records of the War of the Rebellion include additions and corrections to the text and the index for Series 1, Volume 30.
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United States. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 30, In Four Parts. Part 1, Reports., book, 1890; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152978/m1/50/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.