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: 48
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48 KY., SW. VA., TENN., MISS., N. ALA., AND N. GA. [CHAP. XLII.
For the better understanding of the campaign, I submit a brief
outline of the topography of the country from the barrens of the
northwestern base of the Cumberland range to Chattanooga and its
vicinity.
The Cumberland range is a lofty mass of rocks, separating the
waters which flow into the Cumberland from those which flow into
the Tennessee, and extending from beyond the Kentucky line, in a
southwesterly direction, nearly to Athens, Ala. Its northwestern
slopes are steep and rocky, and scalloped into coves, in which are
the heads of numerous streams that water Middle Tennessee. Its
top is undulating or rough, covered with timber, soil comparatively
barren, and in dry seasons scantily supplied with water. .Its south-
eastern slope, above Chattanooga, for many miles, is precipitous,
rough, and difficult all the way up to Kingston. The valley between
the foot of this slope and the river seldom exceeds 4 or 5 miles in
width, and with the exception of a narrow border along the banks
is undulating or hilly.
The Sequatchie Valley is along the river of that name, and is a
caion or deep cut, splitting the Cumberland range parallel to its
length. It is only 3 or 4 miles in breadth and 50 miles in length.
The sides of this valley are even more precipitous than the great
eastern and western slopes of the Cumberland which have just been
described. To reach Chattanooga from McMinnville or north of the
Tennessee it is necessary to turn the head of this valley by Pikeville
and pass down the Valley of the Tennessee, or to cross it by Dunlap
or Therman.
That part of the Cumberland range between Sequatchie and the
Tennessee, called Walden's Ridge, abuts on the Tennessee in high,
rocky bluffs, leaving no practicable space sufficient for a good wagon
road along the river. The Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad
crosses that branch of the Cumberland range west of the Sequatchie,
through a low gap, by a tunnel, 2 miles east of Cowan, down the
gorge of Big Crow Creek to Stevenson at the foot of the mountain,
on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, 3 miles from the Tennessee
and 10 miles from Bridgeport.
Between Stevenson and Chattanooga, on the south of the Ten-
nessee, are two ranges of mountains, the Tennessee River separating
them from the Cumberland, its-channel a great chasm cut through
the mountain masses, which in those places abut directly on the river.
These two ranges are separated by a narrow valley, through which
runs Lookout Creek.
The Sand Mountain is next the Tennessee and its northern ex-
tremity is called Raccoon Mountain. Its sides are precipitous and its
top barren oak ridges, nearly destitute of water. There are but few,
and these very difficult, wagon roads, by which to ascend and descend
the slopes of this mountain.
East of Lookout Valley is Lookout Mountain a vast palisade of
rocks rising 2,400 feet above the level of the sea, in abrupt, rocky
cliffs, from a steep wooded base. Its eastern sides are no less precip-
itous. Its top varies from 1 to 6 or 7 miles in breadth, is heavily
timbered, sparsely settled, and poorly watered. It terminates ab-
ruptly upon the Tennessee, 2 miles below Chattanooga, and the only
practicable wagon roads across it are one over the nose of the mount-
ain, at this point, one at Johnson's Crook, 26 miles distant, and one
at Winston's Gap, 42 miles distant from Chattanooga.
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The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Additions and Corrections to Series 1, Volume 30. (Pamphlet)
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/m1/59/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.