The Washington herald., 1913-11-24

operations nightfall found the forces
under Gen. Hooker contesting the erpund
on the northern shoulder of Lookout
Mountain.
They had fought all day on the rough
and rocky mountain slope. The enemy.
though greatly inferior in umbers had
been favored by the character of the
ground. and had disputed the Federal
advance step by step.
The scene of operations was far be-
low the palisaded crest of the mountain,
and between its cliffs and the river. The
Federals had advanced from Lookout
Valley, on the west side of the noun
tain, in the early morning. Their pur-
pose was to sweep the Confederates
from the shoulder of the mountain and
, open communication with the Federal
line in front Of Chattanooga.
Gen. Hookers command consisted of
Gen. John w. Geary's division, Twelfth
Corps. Army of the Potomac; Gen. Peter
]. Osterhaus' division, Fifteenth Army
Corps, (which had ben cut off in Sher-
mans first crossing of the Tennessee
by the breaking of the bridge) and Gen.
Charles Cruft's division of the Army of
the Cumberland, an aggregate of 1851
men.
Origin of "AboVe the Clouds"
Lookout Mountain was held by Con-
federate force under Gen. Carter L.
Stevenson consisting of six brigades
One was on the top of the ridge. a mile
and half south of the shoulder of the
mountain; two were in the valley to the
east. and the shoulder of the mountain.
across which the Federals aimed to ad-
vance. was held by but two brigades,
that of Gen. Edward c. Walthall and
that of Gen. John C Moore. the two be-
ing under command of Gen. J. X. Jack
son. Walthalrs brigade. consisting of
the four Mississippi regiments. the
Twenty-fourth. Twenty-seventh, Twen-
ty-ninth and Thirty y-fourth. held the
west side of the slope with a picket line
nearly two miles long.
MoOres brigade. the Thirty-seventh,
Fortieth. and Forty-second Alabama
Regiments, continued the line over the
ridge to its east base. The total force
was about 1000 men. The pickets num-
bered about 700. the remainder being in
the camps.
A veil of mist obscured the valley
from the Confederates in the morning.
Gen. Hooker, who was on a hill in the
valley, sent Geary's command up Look
out Creek while the remainder of his
men were bridging the creek in front of
the enemy's picket line. Geary crossed
the creek unobserved and moved down
is east bank along the steep side of the
gagged at the bridge.
Enemy Evacuates Mountain.
Gen. walthaIl had advanced his sharp
shooters from their rough rifle pits along
the rocky west face of the slope, and
kept up an effective fire upon the bridge.
Under heavy fire from their batteries,
posted in Lookout Valley and on Moe
casin Point, the Federals began slow
ly to climb the rough slope. The Con-
federates, hidden behind trees, stumps,
and boulders, fired until their assail-
ants were within a few PAGES, then
retreated. Often a handful of sharp
shooters tarried too long for a final
shot and found themselves prisoners.
BY o'clock the battle line had
reached the open space of a farm
known as Craven's, on the open slope
and directly north of the crest. The
Confederates had a line of rife pits here.
and for an hour or more they held them
stubbornly. Walthalrs brigade was re-
enforced by that of Gen. E. w. Pettus,
and Walthall retired to replenish his
ammunition. Only two brigades, there
fore, withstood the assaults Of Hooker's
force, aided as it was by the guns on
Moccasin Point.
These two brigades continued their
resistance with desperate tenacity. At
. o'clock the fog was so dense as to
cause darkness The fighting continued
until 9 in the evening, when the Confed-
crates retired, leaving the Federals in
undisputed control of the mountain
slope.
In the course of the night the Con-
federate troops on the mountain top
were withdrawn, and in the morning
the Stars and Stripes were raised on
Pulpit Rock. at the top of the palisades
above the scene of the days fighting.
by men of the Eighth Kentucky Regi-
ment, who ascended the face of the clie
on ladders.
The misty brow of Lookout Mountain
was visible to watchers in the valley
at Chattanooga during the progress Of
the fighting on the slope under the
crest. Among the officers who noted the
progress of the fight was Quartermaster
Gen. Montgomery c. Meigs. Struck By
its picturesque features, he wrote of il
ali official report, as follows:
THE day had been one Of driving