Chickamauga
Rosecrans was convinced that Bragg was in a rapid, disorderly retreat and pursued rather recklessly, but this was a clever trick orchestrated by Bragg. Suddenly on September 11, Rosecrans became suspicious of Bragg's movements and ordered Crittenden's Corps and the Lightning Brigade to march on Lee and Gordon's Mill, located between Chattanooga and Lafayette.
The Lightning Brigade encountered the enemy near Tunnel Hill. The enemy in this case turned out to be Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest arid two of his cavalry brigades, those of Scott and Armstrong. Wilder maneuvered his men and caught the Rebels in a crossfire. After about an hour, the enemy withdrew to strong positions on a range of hills near Dalton called "Buzzard's Roost" Gen. Forrest received a minor wound during the battle. Wilder's men camped in the area that night and were so close to Forrest's troopers that they could hear them talking.
The next morning, September 12, the Lightning Brigade moved back to Ringgold and then toward the Lafayette Road.
At a place called Rock Spring, the Lightning Brigade was ambushed by several regiments of Forrest's command under the command of Gen. Pegram. After two hours of desperate combat in heavy woods, the Rebels were pushed back into an open area and soon retreated. A short time later the unit was again ambushed, this time by the forces of Pegram, Scott, Armstrong and an infantry brigade under Gen. Strahl . Wilder soon realized that his brigade was vastly outnumbered and completely surrounded, but he held on until darkness brought the fighting to a halt. He then sent men into the woods to start fires in an effort to make the Rebels bel ieve that his men were camping there for the night. Meanwhile, he had the scouts of the 17th Indiana search for a weak spot in the perimeter of the Rebel forces encircling him. Shortly after dark, the scouts reported that they had indeed found a suspected weak spot and Wilder immediately ordered an all out attack against this position. The fury of the assault threw Gen. Strahl's men back in disarray and the Lightning Brigade escaped down the road to Napier's Gap and through eight miles of extremely difficult terrain to rejoin Crittenden's Corps at midnight. The weary men bedded down , but were awakened at 3 A. M. by the sounds of firing in the distance. This turned out to be Forrest's men attacking the phony campfires they had set in the woods earlier that evening.
By September 17, Rosecrans had finally managed to bring his widely scattered forces, 58,000 strong, together on the west side of Chickamauga Creek. Bragg's army, strengthened by the recent addition of Gen. Longstreet' s Corps from the eastern theatre, now numbered over 66,000 men and was camped on the eastern side of Chickamauga Creek. The stage was now set for the bloodiest battle of the war
The Lightning Brigade and Col. Minty's cavalry brigade were deployed to defend Alexander's Bridge and Reed's Bridge, respectively, in order to prevent Bragg from outflanking the Union left. Each of the brigades had about 1,500 effectives, and by noon they were being attacked by a total of 16,000 Rebels under Forrest, Johnson, and Walker. Minty's position was attacked first, and he quickly sent word to Wilder that he would not be able to hold on unless he received reinforcements. Wilder knew that if Minty was forced back his own position would become undeniable as well. Wilder sent one section of Lilly's battery, the 72nd Indiana, and seven companies of the 123rd Illinois to Minty's aid.
The Lightning Brigade was thus left with two sections of artillery, the 17th Indiana and the 98th Illinois, less than a 1,000 men, to defend Alexander's Bridge. The terrain here was dense woods along both sides of the creek, and the creek here was narrow with very steep banks. The Confederate attackers were composed of Walker's Corps and part of Forrest's cavalry and artillery that had moved down from Reed's Bridge, a total of about 8,000 men. The attackers tried valiantly to take the bridge for over five hours, but could not budge Wilder's stubborn defenders. At a little past 4 P. M., Wilder was informed that Minty had been unsuccessful in his bid to hold Reed's Bridge and had withdrawn from that position. This information, together with the fact that part of Walker's Corps had been sent downstream to ford the creek was enough to convince Wilder to withdraw. He destroyed the bridge and pulled back toward Viniard House. He then formed his men into a battle line a short distance east of the Chattanooga-Lafayette road. Minty's command and the remainder of the Lightning Brigade now rode up.
Minty dismounted his troopers and they formed a battle line to the right of Wilder's forces. These two brigades now comprised the extreme left flank of the Union Army.
The two brigades soon found themselves under attack by the Divisions of Bushrod Johnson and John Bell Hood, and they repulsed the Rebels repeatedly until two hours after dark, when the attacks subsided. Finally at 4 A. M., the two battle weary brigades were relieved in the line by Palmer's Division.
Saturday morning, September 19, found Wilder's men in line along a fence with a dense wooded area to their rear and an open field in front of them. They had built hastily constructed works here during the night. They were positioned just west of the Chattanooga-Lafayette road and north of the Viniard House. The brigade was supported by Van Cleve's Division of Crittenden's Corps on the left and Davis' Division of McCook's Corps on the right. (Rosecrans had reshuffIed the deployment of his three Corps during the night of September 18).
Just after 2 P. M., Hood's Division attacked Davis and drove him back in confusion. Gen. A. P. Stewart simultaneously attacked the men of Van Cleve's Division, who resisted for over an hour before they gave way. Stewart's Division continued to press forward, led by Bate's Brigade, and had almost cut the Federal line in two before Wilder ordered two of his regiments to change facing and charge' into Stewart's left flank. This halted the Rebel advance and they withdrew. Davis' Division became the target of the next big Confederate onslaught, that of Bushrod Johnson's Division. Once again, the enfilade fire of Wilder's men and several timely countercharges broke up the attack and Johnson's men withdrew into the woods to the east side of the Lafayette Road.
Just before dark, Hood unleashed the final Confederate assault of the day. He sent his men directly at the Lightning Brigade. The effective repeater fire and the canister fire from Lilly's guns sent Hood's men scurrying for the rear. Nightfall brought a welcome end to a grueling day of battle.
Late on the evening of September 19, Rosecrans had a conference with his division and corps commanders to discuss the day's action and to issue orders for the next day. Wilder was ordered to take a position south and west of McCook's two divisions on the west side of the Dry Valley Road, in reserve.
It was not to be a pleasant morning for the Army of the Cumberland. A tragic error caused Gen. Wood to withdraw his division from the front line just prior to the devastating attack on that vacated sector of the line by Gen. Longstreet's veteran troops. Johnson's and Hood's Divisions rolled over Van Cleve arid Wood as they were marching northward in column. The entire Union right was swept away almost instantly as the divisions of Van Cleve, Wood, Davis and Sheridan virtually disintegrated. This left only one Union unit intact on this flank....the Lightning Brigade.
Wilder's men formed a battle line and readied themselves for action once again. When all was ready, Wilder gave the order to advance.. As they topped the hill, there were the oncoming Rebels less than fifty yards away, in six solid lines of gray. The men repulsed the Rebel attackers five times and then Wilder gave the order to charge. This charge routed Gen. Manigault's Brigade and they retreated three quarters of a mile before stopping in some woods to reorganize themsel yes. While Wilder was leading this successful counterattack, Gen. Hindman's other two brigades advanced beyond Wilder's position. Wilder regrouped his men, pulled back, and charged these enemy troops in the left flank. A brief melee ensued around "Bloody Pond" and Hindman moved northward toward Snodgrass Hill, where Gen. Thomas had decided to deploy his troops in a defensive line to try and halt the Rebel advance. Johnson and Hindman were now between Thomas and Wilder.
Wilder decided that he would form the brigade into a hollow square and attack the Confederates between himself and Thomas in an effort to aid Thomas. He felt that even though he was outnumbered five to one, placing so many repeaters in the enemy's rear would be sufficient enough force to allow him to break through to Snodgrass Hill where he could join Thomas.
Wilder was issuing the orders to his men when a hysterical man rode up and identified himself as Charles A. Dana, Secretary of War. Dana ordered Wilder to cancel his attack plans, and to leave the field immediately and escort him to Chattanooga. Wilder dispatched some scouts to accompany Dana to Chattanooga, cancelled his attack, but decided that he would disobey Dana's order to leave the field. Wilder felt that Thomas needed him, and he was right.
Gen. Thomas soon learned that the Lightning Brigade was still nearby and sent word for Wilder to deploy his men on his right flank to prevent Rebel cavalry from outflanking his position. The brigade moved to this position and stayed there until daylight the next morning, when Thomas ordered Wilder to withdraw. The Lightning Brigade was the last Union unit to leave the battlefield. Thomas withdrew the Union forces to Rossville.
The Lightning Brigade had saved the Army of the Cumberland from complete disaster twice during the battle. The first instance was at Alexander's Bridge, where Wilder held up the advance of Walker's Corps, thus allowing Rosecrans time to cover his left flank. the second instance was the resistance and counterattack on Hindman's Division, which allowed Thomas the time he needed to deploy his forces on Snodgrass Hill. Thomas lauded Wilder's achievements and two months after the battle recommended that Wilder be promoted to the rank of Brigadier General.
After the Battle of Chickamauga, Wilder took ill and departed on sick leave. Colonel Miller of the 72nd Indiana assumed command of the brigade. On September 28, the Lightning Brigade was assigned to the 2nd Cavalry Division under Gen. George Crook, a regular army officer who would survive this war and become one of the country's most successful Indian fighters.
On the night of September 30, Confederate Gen. Joe Wheeler crossed the Tennessee River at Washington, Tennessee at the head of 6,000 troopers. His orders were to create havoc with Rosecrans' supply lines and be as disruptive as possible in the Union rear areas. Crook's Division was ordered to intercept Wheeler and for the next nine days they tried desperately to do just that. They had several skirmishes, but were just unable to force Wheeler into a pitched battle.
Finally, on October 7, Martin's and Wharton's Divisions turned arid formed a battle line at Farmington to counter the vigorous pursuit by the Lightning Brigade. Col.. Miller deployed his men and started a desperate battle with the numerically superior foe. After two hours of battle, Col. Miller gave the order to charge the enemy. Fifteen minutes later, Wheeler's troopers were rushing in headlong retreat through Farmington, throwing down weapons, blankets and anything else that might slow them down.
Wheeler's men recrossed the Tennessee River on October 9, bringing their cavalry raid to an end. Crook's Division had for the most part fulfilled its orders. By constantly pursuing Wheeler's force, he bothered Wheeler so much as to limit the destruction of Union supplies and property to an acceptable level.
For the members of the Lightning Brigade, this campaign was perhaps the most demanding of the entire war. In only nine days, they had traveled 300 miles over rugged terrain on two days' rations, fought three skirmishes and the one pitched battle at Farmington. The Union supply lines remained open and the Lightning Brigade once again proved their worth to the Union cause.
For the remainder of October and the first half of November, the brigade was camped at Maysville, Alabama, and was engaged in patrol duty as well as intercepting Rebel cavalry raids. No incidents of major importance occurred during this period.
Split Up
On November 18,1863, a surprising and unbelievable event took place. The Lightning Brigade, after fighting together so well for the past eleven months, received orders stating that it was to be split up. Lilly's Battery was to join Gen. Elliot's 1st Cavalry Division near Murfreesboro. The 17th Indiana and the 98th Illinois were sent to join Eli Long's Cavalry Brigade at Woodsville, Alabama. Col. Miller remained near Huntsville, Alabama, with the 72nd Indiana and the 123rd Illinois.
The Lightning Brigade ceased to exist as a unit until April 8, 1864, when the four regiments, joined by Cal. Wilder, were once again placed in the same brigade. The Lightning Brigade teamed up with Minty's and Long's Brigades and the Chicago Board of Trade Battery to make up the 2nd Cavalry Division under the command of Gen. Kenner Garrard, a seasoned West Pointer who, as Cal. of the 146th New York had fought at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. The majority of the Division's actions during the upcoming Atlanta Campaign were to be in support of Gen. McPherson's Army of the Tennessee. The Union forces in this theatre were now under the direction of Gen. Sherman.
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