Lookout Mountain: Then & Now

After the battle of Chickamauga in September of 1863, the Union Army of the Cumberland reoccupied Chattanooga along the Tennessee River. Looking down on them from the heights of Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain was Confederate General Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee.

Moccasin Point (Then)

Photo caption: "From heights such as this Lookout Mountain perch over Moccasin Point on the Tennessee River, General Braxton Bragg's Rebels controlled nearly all routes to Chattanooga, thus throttling the flow of supplies to the Union army in the town." But this position was not as effective as one would imagine. The artillery did not have the necessary range to cover the entire vicinity; because of the extreme angle of the slopes, gunners could not lower their guns enough to cover all attacks; a dense fog (precipitation or battle smoke?) helped mask Union attackers; and, importantly, southern troops suffered from extremely poor provisions.

Moccasin Point (Now)

Private Sam Watkins, Company H, First Tennessee (Confederate), remembers his time spent on Lookout Mountain: "Maney's brigade fortified on top of Lookout Mountain. From this position we could see five states. The Yankees had built a fort across the river, on Moccasin Point, and were throwing shells at us continually. I have never seen such accurate shooting in my life . . . The soldiers were starved and almost naked, and covered all over with lice and camp itch and filth and dirt. The men looked sick, hollow-eyed, and heart-broken, living principally upon parched corn, which had been picked out of the mud and dirt under the feet of officers' horses. We thought of nothing but starvation."

The stranglehold snapped on November 25, when the Federals (joined by Sherman from the west and Hooker from Virginia, and placed under overall command of U.S. Grant) wrestled Lookout Mountain from the southerners' grips in the "Battle Above the Clouds," helping to unlock the valley for Sherman's subsequent march to Atlanta.

Lookout Rock (Then)

In the pre-dawn hours of November 25, 1863, Captain John Wilson and five others of the 8th Kentucky climbed Lookout Mountain and planted the regiment's national flag. Photo caption: "Captain [John] Wilson poses . . . with the five soldiers of the 8th Kentucky who helped him signal victory by carrying the first Union flag to the crest of the mountain. From left to right stand Sergeant Joseph Wagers, Private Joseph Bradley, Sergeant Harris Davis, Private William Witt, and Sergeant James Wood. The bearded, 49-year-old Wilson balances at the edge of the stone outcropping, holding the flag. All of the men were granted 30-day furloughs for their brave and inspiring action."

Lookout Rock (Now)

Wilson remembered: "Those who have seen the awe-inspiring precipice at the top of the great mountain can realize what a serious undertaking was before us . . . Dim daylight was dawning. We crept cautiously upward, clutching at rocks and bushes, supporting each other, using sticks and poles and such other aids as we could gather. At every step we expected to be greeted with deadly missiles of some sort from the enemy. But fortune favored us, and before sun-up I, in front, reached the summit and planted the flag on top of Lookout Mountain. It was the highest flag that was planted during the war . . . [We] were the lions of the day in the Union army."

Sources:

-Mathless, Paul and Henry Woodhead, ed. 1863: Turning Point of the Civil War. Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Inc., 1998.

-Watkins, Sam. Company Aytch: Or, a Side Show of the Big Show. M.Thomas Inge, ed. New York: Penguin Putnam, 1999.