To many of the Federal soldiers watching the Stars and Stripes unfurl
atop Lookout Mountain on the morning of November 25, 1863, it seemed
that the battle to relieve Chattanooga was complete. The Union Army of
the Cumberland was no longer trapped in the city, subsisting on short
rations and awaiting rescue; instead, they were again on the attack.
Ulysses S. Grant did not share their certainty. For Grant, the job he
had been sent to accomplish was only half-finished. Braxton Bragg’s
Confederate Army of Tennessee still held Missionary Ridge, with other
Rebels under James Longstreet threatening more Federals in Knoxville,
Tennessee. Grant’s greatest fear was that the Rebels would slip away
before he could deliver the final blows necessary to crush Bragg
completely. That blow landed on the afternoon of November 25. Each of
Grant’s assembled forces—troops led by Union Generals William T.
Sherman, George H. Thomas, and Joseph Hooker—all moved to the
attack. Stubbornly, Bragg refused to retreat, and instead accepted
battle. That decision would cost him dearly. But everything did not go
Grant’s way. Despite what Grant’s many admirers would later insist
was his most successful, most carefully planned battle, Grant’s
strategy failed him—as did his most trusted commander, Sherman.
Victory instead charged straight up the seemingly impregnable slopes
of Missionary Ridge’s western face, as the men of the much-maligned
Army of the Cumberland swarmed up and over Bragg’s defenses in an
irresistible blue tide. Caught flat-footed by this impetuous charge,
Grant could only watch nervously as the men started up . . . All Hell
Can’t Stop Them: The Battles for Chattanooga—Missionary Ridge and
Ringgold, November 24-27, 1863—sequel to Battle Above the
Clouds—details the dramatic final actions of the battles for
Chattanooga: Missionary Ridge and the final Confederate rearguard
action at Ringgold, where Patrick Cleburne held Grant’s Federals at
bay and saved the Army of Tennessee from further disaster.
Les mer
The Battles for Chattanooga—Missionary Ridge and Ringgold, November 24-27, 1863
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781611214147
Publisert
2019
Utgiver
Casemate Publishers and Book Distributors, LLC
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter