Compiled by Jim Hachtel, President
Gen. William T. Sherman Memorial Civil War Roundtable
September 22, 1863 - General Rosecrans tries to rally his Army of the Cumberland, now in Chattanooga after being defeated at Chickamauga. General Ulysses S. Grant sends three divisions of the XV Corps from Vicksburg to assist. General William Tecumseh Sherman is sent to assist Rosecrans.
September 22, 1863 - The Confederate Army of Tennessee occupies the high ground around Chattanooga. A siege operation soon begins.
September 22, 1863 - Naval attacks and counter attacks continue. The Union Schooners 'Samuel Pearsall' and 'Alexandria' are seized by Confederate raiders aboard the commandeered 'Alliance' in Chesapeake Bay. The USS 'Connecticut' captures British blockade runner 'Juno' off Wilmington, North Carolina. The USS 'Desoto' recaptures the Federal tug 'Leviathan' in the Gulf of Mexico, and the crew of the USS 'Seneca' destroys salt works near Darien, Georgia.
September 23, 1863 - In the largest ever shuttle of military personnel during the Civil War, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton directs the transfer of 20,000 men of the XI and XII Corps from the Army of the Potomac to Chattanooga. They are moved by rail over 1,233 miles of track with seven different railroad companies and at least two different track gauges.
September 23, 1863 - The commandeered 'Alliance' is run aground by the USS 'Thomas Freeborn' and burned at Milford Haven, Virginia.
September 24, 1863 - Ambrose D. Mann is appointed special agent to the Papal State in Rome by the Confederate government. This after Britain informed the Confederate government that they would not become involved in the United States Civil War.
September 24, 1863 - General Joseph Hooker is appointed to command the XI and XII Corps enroute to Chattanooga. General Rosecrans moves his force into the City of Chattanooga rather than defend Missionary Ridge or Lookout Mountain, both naturally strong positions. Rosecrans adds to his timid reputation.
September 25, 1863 - President Lincoln drafts a letter scolding General Ambrose E. Burnside for failing to reinforce General Rosecrans at Chickamauga. He wrote in frustration ".... to get you to assist General Rosecrans, and you have repeatedly declared you would do it, and yet you move the contrary way". The letter was never completed or sent.
September 27, 1863 - President Lincoln orders General Burnside at Knoxville to forward reinforcements to assist at Chattanooga and follows with this message: "My order to you meant simply that you should save Rosecrans from being crushed out, believing if he lost his position, you could not hold East Tennessee in any event."
September 27, 1863 - General Braxton Bragg orders General Joseph Wheeler to use his cavalry to raid the 60-mile long Union supply line that goes through the Sequatchie Valley. Wheeler has no experience as a raider but tells subordinates: "I have my orders, gentlemen, and I will attempt the work."
September 28, 1863 - General William Rosecrans accuses Generals Alexander McCook and Thomas Crittenden with failing to obey orders at Chickamauga. They are both relieved of command pending a court of inquiry.
