Battle of Hoover ' s Gap The Battle of Hoover ' s Gap was the principal battle fought in the Tullahoma Campaign ( also known as the Middle Tennessee Campaign ) of the American Civil War . Background . Following the Battle of Stones River , Maj . Gen . William Rosecrans , commanding the Union Army of the Cumberland , remained in the Murfreesboro , Tennessee , area for over five months . In an effort to block further Union progress , Confederate Gen . Braxton Bragg , commander of the Army of Tennessee , established a fortified line along the Duck River from Shelbyville to Wartrace . On the Confederate right , infantry and artillery detachments guarded Liberty , Hoover ' s , and Bellbuckle Gaps through the Highland Rim . Rosecrans ' s superiors , fearing that Bragg might detach large numbers of men to help break the Siege of Vicksburg , urged him to attack the Confederate positions . Battle . On June 23 , 1863 , Rosecrans deployed forces to feign an attack on Shelbyville while massing forces against Bragg ' s right . His troops struck out toward the gaps . On June 24 , Maj . Gen . George H . Thomas ' s men , spearheaded by Colonel John T . Wilder ' s " Lightning Brigade " , attacked Hoover ' s Gap . Wilder ' s mounted infantry pushed ahead and reached the gap nearly 9 miles ahead of Thomas ' s main body . Wilder ' s men were armed with new Spencer repeating rifle s and when they attacked the Confederate 1st ( 3rd ) Kentucky Cavalry Regiment , under Colonel J . Russell Butler , was easily pushed aside . As Butler ' s unit fell back the entire 7 mile length of Hoover ' s Gap , it ran into Brig . Gen . William B . Bate ' s brigade of Maj . Gen . Alexander P . Stewart ' s division . Wilder entrenched on the hills south of the gap and determined to hold this extremely advanced position . Bate ' s brigade counterattacked throughout the day but could not dislodge the Federals . Wilder received orders from Thomas to fall back through the gap . Wilder refused claiming he could still hold his ground . Meanwhile , Brig . Gen . Bushrod Johnson ' s brigade arrived and now Bate and Johnson planned a final attack on Wilder . This attack was also repulsed and by 7 : 00 p . m . units from Lovell Rousseau and John M . Brannan ' s divisions of Thomas ' s corps arrived at the gap . Just before noon on June 26 , Stewart sent a message to Johnson and Bate stating that he was pulling back and they should also . Although slowed by rain , Rosecrans moved on , forcing Bragg to retreat from his defensive line and fall back to Tullahoma . After reaching Tullahoma , Rosecrans sent Wilder ' s Lightning Brigade ahead to hit the railroad in Bragg ' s rear . Arriving too late to destroy the Elk River railroad bridge , the Federals destroyed railroad track around Decherd . Aftermath . Bragg evacuated his forces from Middle Tennessee and withdrew to the city of Chattanooga , Tennessee . Rosecrans followed and captured that city on September 8 , 1863 . Maneuvering then continued in the Chickamauga Campaign . Rosecrans was frustrated that the victory at Hoover ' s Gap and the Tullahoma Campaign were overshadowed by two other Union victories in the summer of 1863 , the Siege of Vicksburg and Battle of Gettysburg .