Why did the confederates slow down the union in Chickamauga the war?

Question

i have this project to do and i have no clue why the confederates slowed down the union when the union was on there way to Georgia and then they started war. Can u answer my question?

Answer 1

Well, the union was not "on there [sic] way to Georgia and then they started war." The American Civil War had been raging for two and a half years by the time the Battle of Chickamauga took place 18 to 20 September, 1863 between the Union Army of The Cumberland under William Rosecrans and the Confederate Army of Tennessee, under Braxton Bragg. Rosecrans advanced from Chattanooga with the aim of capturing Atlanta, Georgia and splitting the Confederacy in two.

The two armies clashed along the banks of Chickmauga Creek a few miles south of Chattanooga, in northern Georgia.

On the third day of the battle (Sep. 20th), during an attack by the Confederates, there was some confusion in the Union army as to where some of the units were positioned, leading Rosecrans to believe that there was a gap in his lines through which the rebels could attack and split his army in two.

Rosecrans ordered a division to pull out of their current position and move to fill in this gap. It turned out that there had been no gap where Rosecrans had thought there was, but in pulling out that one division, he had opened up a real one.

The confederates had just begun an attack on that part of the line and when the hole opened up they poured through and closed in on the flanks of the union forces on either side.

The end result was a rout of the union army all the way back to Chattanooga. The only thing that saved the union army was the action of Major General George Thomas, who held back ferocious rebel attacks long enough for the union army to get away.

This was one of the very few confederate victories in the Western Theater of the war and the only major victory of an army under the command of Braxton Bragg, a quarrelsome and incompetant general who in reality had little to do with how it turned out.

Answer 2

Being from Chattanooga and having gone to school with the grandson of George Thomas and the grandson of Gustavus Adolphus Woods - the first being the only General who really stood, thus Rock of Chickamauga, and the other was the one who opened the hole in the Union lines that allowed the Southern armies to defeat, not slow down, the union forces.

The union forces were forced back into Chattanooga, a city completely surrounded by high ground with the Confederates on all of the high ground except for small hills at Cameron Hill and Orchard Knob. They were unable to move for a month or two, receiving cannon fire from the top of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge.

You can find good materials by looking up various books written by James Livinggood, my history professor at the University of Chattanooga (now UTC), some of his work is coauthored by Gilbert Govan who was the head of the University of Chattanooga's library. I don't think you need to use any other sources unless you want to look at Jefferson Davis' RISE AND FALL OF THE CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT or a compilation of General's submissions and reports that are in a very rare book entited WAR WITH THE SOUTH. WAR WITH THE SOUTH was written as the war progressed and in the information about Gettysburg, the speech of Edward Everett Horton is mentioned, but Lincoln's GETTYSBURG ADDRESS is not in it.

Answer 3

Knight11 has it correct. If you want to get a very good sense of the way both sides dressed during the war, find a copy of the movie "Gettysburg" made by Ted Turner about 15 years ago. It stars Jeff Daniels as Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and Martin Sheen as Gen. Robert E. Lee. Turner recruited Civil War re-enactors from all over the country to recreate the major events of the Battle of Gettysburg, including a chilling and heart-rending simulation of Pickett's charge on the final day of the battle. They did a super job. The Confederates are realistic in a hodgepodge of grey, butternut, homespun and "captured" Yankee garments. Union soldiers appear in Federal blue, Zouave pantaloons and jackets, various forage caps, Hardee hats and many other realistic variations. Even though you'll already know how it ends, I think you'll find the movie exciting. To me, parts of it feel like a window opened on the past.

Answer 4

Considered the 'fire brigade" of the Rebel Army (Similar to the classic-elite Waffen SS division of WWII), Hood's Division was transferred from the Eastern Theatre to the Western Theatre to set things right. At the Battle of Chickamauga, Hood's division broke the Federal line at the Brotherton Cabin, which led to the defeat of General William Rosecrans's Union army.

In succeeding battles, the division was worn down by attrition and succumbed to overwhelming Union forces in later battles. Hood's career faced a similary demise, as he was promoted to higher levels with little successes in battle during the waning months of the war. The 3 regiments from Texas of Hood's Division assumed a distinction for being fierce and brave regiments. At Gettysburg, they nearly took Little Round Top on the 2nd day of Battle.