Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1907-08-07
TUE RATTLE OF oHlckAMAUGA
Stirring Account Of One of the Great
est Dramas of the Civil War.

This battlefield lies on the west
bank of the Chickamauga, and is
about eight miles from Ringgold,
Ga, and about the same distance
from Chattanooga, Tenn. 1t is some
four miles below the Tennessee line,
ard is bounded on the west by Mis-
sionary Ridge "a continuation of
Waldon's Ridge in Tennessee) and
on the east by Chickamauga, or
"River of Blood" as its Indian name
implies. Rossville, the former home
of John Ross, the celebrated chief of
the Cherokees, is two miles north of
the battlefield, and is situated at the
foot of pass in Missionary Ridge.
I will state here that this battle
was fought on the Goth day of Sep
tember, 1863, and the battle of Mis-
sionary Ridge was fought on the
25th of November, 1858; the first
was Confederate victory, and the
second q Federal victory. Hence,
both battlefields have been combined
and dedicated as a national military
park, containing 5,505 acres.
l will also state that Longstreet's
command left Gen. Bragg's army on
the 9th of November, 1868, for
Knoxville, Tenn, and was besieg-
ing that city at the time Bragg
fought the battle of Missionary
Ridge.
1t was in this lovely valley of
Chickapauga and along these noun.
tain passes that the hostile tribes
were wont to meet in battle array
and settle their disputes. 1t was
here that the dusky maiden was
wooed and won by her forest born
lover, and questions of boundary and
dominion were left to their bloody
solution. This was in the years of
long ago, when the Indian held un-
disputed sway in these wild glens
and coves. And yet how faithfully
did the civilized white man, in the
sixties, repeat the history of the
savage red man of his day. The
same passions animated his heart,
the same policies engaged his ooun-
oils, and the same field drank his
blood. The "River of Blood" if
this was the appropriate name for
the crooked, sliding, serpent-shaped
river in the days of the Indian, more
recent events have given to it yet
stronger claim to that sanguinary
title.
This great battle was fought on
the 10th and Goth of September,
1868, but as all of Longstreet's COM
mand did not arrive from Virginia
until late Saturday evening of the
Goth, the first days battle had been
fought and both armies were guard
ing the ground gained and lost,
waiting for the next day to decide
the great issue.
The battle was ordered to begin at
daylight by Gen. Bragg, but the ball
did not open proper until $50
o'clock. Braxton Bragg was in
command of the Confederate forces,
and Rosecrans commanded the Fede-
raj troops. Longstreet commanded
the left wing and Polk the right
wing. Saturday night, the 10th,
part of the first corps, Kershaw and
Humphreys brigade, bivouaoed on
the banks of the Chickamauga. 1t
was a calm, crisp, frosty night, every
thing quiet and serene, save the
sound of the AK in Federal hands
hastily constructing breastworks,
indicating Federal pluck that meant
to stay.
On Sunday morning, as the light
came out of the gates of the East,
throwing it's silver on the waters of
the Chickamauga, and its gold upon
the trees, and its fire upon the
clouds, it was then the strife began.
Two of the grandest armies,
doubtless, that ever met in battle
array on this continent confronted
each other that mornino II uos