The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1863-11-13
From the Doth.
From the Doth.
Camp 99th Regiment o. V. l.,
Chattanooga, Tenn, Oct. Both, '63.

soon after our late battle, the rebels
occupied Lookout mountains and the
adjacent valley, and country toward
Shell Mound, thus entirely cutting Off
all communication on the South side
Of the river, and also prohibiting us
using the river. More-their sharp
shooters held the only pass by which
teams could reach Bridgeport, on the
North side Of the river, without going
over Walden's Ridge, (Which is avery
rough and steep mountain J thus max
ing our route from Chattanooga to
Bridgeport--ourn nearest point for sup
plies--from forty to seventy miles,
according to the point at which we
crossed the mountain, instead of %
miles, the true distance. This state
of affairs bad existed as long as the
of the army would permit,
and something necessarily had to be
done. Our mules were worn ont, and
the rains had made the mountains
next to impossible. Rations were
growing extremely scarce, with pros
HtNb vi EtNtlbE lbOlC GO-tOl0ANANAiiil
that we lost near four hundred wag.
ons, and their freight, in the raid Of
Wheeler's cavalry. Thus stood things
when the order came relieving Gen.
Rosecrans from duty in this depart
mont For q few days all was gloom;
men congregated and talked of what
they thought the result. Soon the
news came that the uncouquerable and
tried officer, Gen. Grant, was to take
command fthe department. Widen
ed and enlarged cheerfulness took
the place of dependency, and all
moved on as before. Still the "crack-
er line" was very long, and the sup
ply at this end alarmingly small.
A few days later, and Gen. Grant
arrived here. He Immediately exam
ined the different lines of communica-
ton from below, and from late devel-
opments, found them inadequate to
the wants of this army. The rail
road could not be opened while the
rebels held, undisputed, Lookout Val
ley and Mountain. The most feasible
plain seemed to be to remove the en-
emy from the valley, and cross the
river TO the North, below the mountain
This was freught with many uncer-
tainties--the probability Of large
rebel force occupying the valley. be
ing not one Of the least of them. -
Brig. Gen. Smith, Chief Engineer of
this department, examined the differ
ent fords and ferries along below, and
soon found one adapted to his pur-
pcse. On the evening of the Goth, an
expedition was organized at Chatta-
nooga. 1t consisted ofabout fifty new
.pontoons; and a detail was made from
different regiments for men to row
the boats. At three o'clock on the
morning of the 9th, while n heavy
fog overhung the river, twelve hun
drcd men, of Gen. Hogen's command,
were embarked, and the little fleet
moved silently down the river. After
they had proceeded about mile, one
shore--thc North one--was held by
our men, the other bv the rebels
Ovr picllets were aware of the move
melt, and paid no attention to the
boats. As they giided along rebel
was heard TO remark to his comrades:
There goes the Yankee pontoons,
all burst to thunder" the rebels hay
ing, sometime previous thrown n raft
from above onto one of our pontoon
bridges, and broken it, supposed the
same thing had been repeated, and
was not surprised at the sight-rath-
or pleased Unmolested, they soon
brought up at the point designated
for landing, some four miles below
Lookout, and eight from town by riv-
or, and three by land. AS the boats
rounded to shore the sentinel fired on
them; this brought up the reserve, and
soon n rebel regiment came up to sup
port the picket. Our men moved up
the bank and drove the rebels back
The boatmen were instructed TO i'm.
mediately y go to the opposite shore,
and rs rapidly rs possible bring over
troops, that were there in readiness,
Through the efficient management of
Col. Stanley, of the 18th o. V. l., the
boats were hastily loaded and de-
spatched to the other shore Soon
several thousand troops were loaded,
and with such men as Hazen and
Turchin to lead them, you may guess
the rebels had 10 leave quickly. Gen,
Smith supervised the entire move
ment. Along the South bank Of the
river were several hills, very narrow
crested, and on these our men hasten
ed to post themselves. The day was
well improved in laying n pontoon
bridge across at this point, which was
successfully laid by four o clock in the
afternoon.
During this time Gen. Hooker. who
has been near Stephenson for some
time, moved up the valley from the
direction Of Trenton, and next day
was in communication with our men
over the river. Before night of the
28th he had moved up to within sew
en- miles of Lookout point. At mid
night the rebels attacked his advance,
and severe engagement ensued, and
after near three hours terrible fighting,
the rebels were driven from their best
position in the valley, and it was per-
manently occupied by Gen. Hooker 8
command. Our loss was not very
heavy considering the desperate char
acter of the musketry on both sides,
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