Battle of Ringgold Gap The Battle of Ringgold Gap was fought November 27 , 1863 , in northwest Georgia during the Chattanooga Campaign of the American Civil War . The Confederate victory by Maj . Gen . Patrick Cleburne gave the artillery and wagon trains of the Army of Tennessee safe passage to retreat through the " Ringgold Gap " mountain pass and caused high Federal casualties . Background . The disastrous Confederate rout at Missionary Ridge on November 25 forced the Army of Tennessee to retreat into northwest Georgia . The army soon came upon the mountain pass known as the Ringgold Gap . To give time for his artillery and wagon trains to get through the gap , Confederate General Braxton Bragg decided to send Maj . Gen . Patrick Cleburne to defend the pass from the Union army . While Cleburne expressed doubt he could defend the gap adequately with his single division , Bragg refused to send any further troops to assist Cleburne . Cleburne deployed his men at the gap before dawn of the 27 ; Colonel Hiram Granbury ' s brigade was placed to the right of the gap , while the left was defended by the 16th Alabama Infantry . The remainder of the division was deployed in the gap itself as reserves . The Union commander at Chattanooga , U . S . Grant , had ordered a pursuit of the retreating Confederate army on the morning of November 26 but confusion concerning the orders prevented the Union forces from getting an early start . The Confederate rear guard had burned the bridges over the South Chickamauga Creek , which further delayed the Union forces . Joseph Hooker was given command of divisions from the IV Corps , XI Corps , XII Corps , and XV Corps and ordered to cut the Western and Atlantic Railroad near Graysville . However , he decided to concentrate his forces near the town of Ringgold , thinking that he would have a better chance of cutting off the Confederate rear guard . Hooker halted two and a half miles from Ringgold Gap during the night of November 26 – 27 . Battle . The two forces meet at 8 a . m . on November 27 , when the XV Corps division of Peter Osterhaus attacked Granbury ' s brigade . The Confederates held their fire until the Union line was fifty yards away . The initial volley disorganized Osterhaus ' s division and halted his attack , while a Union attack on the Confederate right flank was routed . John Geary ' s XII Corps division was the next to arrive ; one brigade again attacked the Confederate right while another regiment attacked the gap but both attacks were routed . Charles Cruft ' s IV Corps division was sent to attack Cleburne ' s left flank but but was defeated . After holding his position for five hours , Cleburne was ordered about noon to start falling back towards the main Confederate army . Leaving skirmishers along his front to hide his withdraw , he pulled back from the gap about 2 p . m . and burned the bridge on the eastern side of the gap . Cleburne had lost 20 killed and 201 wounded during the battle . Grant arrived near the gap at this time and , due to the scattered position of his army , decided to return to Chattanooga ; no further Union pursuit was organized . Union casualties totaled 509 killed and wounded . Although Hooker was severely criticized for his conduct of the battle by Union Assistant Secretary of War Dana and several of Hooker ' s men , Grant choose to retain Hooker temporarily . Battlefield today . A small park in Ringgold Gap commemorates the battle . A monument to soldiers from New York who sustained heavy casualties stands near Tiger Creek at the Ringgold Water Treatment Plant , while a monument in honor of Major General Patrick Cleburne and his men is located in the park . The nearby Western and Atlantic Depot still shows scars from the damage it received from artillery fire during the battle . The Ringgold Gap Battlefield was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011 .