Four of the big names in the Battle of Chickamauga would be Bragg, Rosecrans, Longstreet and Thomas.

I will take these one at a time, starting with Rosecrans, and it will take a few months before I have a section on all four of them. In simple terms both commanders came out somewhat diminished from the battle, while the two subordinates were the ‘men of the day.

Bragg would be criticised for failing to take advantage of the situation when Rosecrans crossed the Tennessee and had his army split in three, he had poor control of his generals with Polk moving at his own speed, and he failed to make a decisive move on the Federals when they left the field.

Rosecrans allowed his right wing to be too strung out, while he constantly reinforced Thomas on the left, and he gave the fatal order to Wood that caused the gap in the line.  Also, once the Confederates had come through the gap, he left the field without confirming the situation in which Thomas found himself on the left wing.

Longstreet arrived during the battle and formed his units into a powerful column.  When Wood moved to his left, creating the gap, Longstreet poured through to rout the Federal right. He then rolled up the right and moved against Thomas on Snodgrass Hill.  His was the decisive move that gave Bragg the victory. He urges Bragg to follow-up on the 21st, but Bragg seemed not to have realised that he had in fact won a victory.

Thomas, Rosecrans’ best and steadiest commander earned his sobriquet “The Rock of Chickamauga” for the way he held the left, steadied the Federals and made a night withdrawal of his remaining forces into Chattanooga.

Bear with me while I add the pages on these central characters over the next few months.