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Thomas to Halleck: "I have made my last protest while the war lasts. You may hereafter put a stick over me if you choose to do so. I will take care, however, to so manage my command, whatever it may be, as not to be involved in the mistakes of the stick."

After the defeat of the Union army at Chickamauga, which was saved from being a complete rout only by the improbable stand of Thomas against Bragg's entire army (25,000 against 60,000), Rosecrans fortified Chattanooga, abandoning the heights of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge to Bragg. Rosecrans was thus safe for the moment, but his supply situation was critical and got worse.

For various reasons (chaos also in the Confederate supply situation, horrendous losses at Chickamauga, strong fortifications around Chattanooga) Bragg decided to starve Rosecrans out rather than attack whereby it wasn't exactly clear, who was besieging whom. Bragg was also occupied with trying to clean out all of the insubordinate elements in his army who had contributed greatly to limit his options before this battle, indeed since his first foray into Kentucky. At this moment, one of the most insubordinate elements was Longstreet, the savior from the East. He had arrived the night before the battle of Chickamauga, expecting Davis to sooner or later name him Bragg's replacement, and after the battle he jumped feet first into the rebellion among Bragg's officers, aligning himself against Bragg, of course. But then Davis came to Chickamauga, listened, saw, and stuck with Bragg.

Bragg tried to placate Longstreet by giving him the responsibility for the entire left flank (Chattanooga Valley, Lookout Mountain, Lookout Valley, and beyond), but Longstreet was not to be mollified. He displayed complete indifference to his charge, disobeyed Bragg's order to throw back Hazen (who had effected the crossing at Brown's Ferry on 27 Oct.), and disobeyed Bragg's order to use "all necessary force" to oppose Hooker who had entered Lookout Valley from the West on 28 Oct. with a mixed corps. Instead, Longstreet ordered an improvised night attack by a division against Hooker's rear guard - a division at Wauhatchie under Geary. This accomplished nothing, and Hooker was there to stay as long as he wanted. This stabilized the line of supply from the Nashville railroad to Stevenson, Ala., from there via steamboat to Kelley's Ferry, and on to Chattanooga via the easy wagon and RR route past Raccoon Mountain to Brown's Ferry - the "cracker line". Having thrown away Bragg's entire left flank, Longstreet then lobbied with Davis in order to be sent back to Virginia, promising to stop on the way and chase Burnside out of Knoxville.* Davis so ordered, and Bragg concurred, wanting to be rid of Longstreet anyway, and hoping the threat to Burnside would draw away some of Grant's forces from Chattanooga.

For Grant had arrived on 23 Oct. Thomas, on 19 Oct., had taken over the command of the Army of the Cumberland from Rosecrans who had not recovered from the debacle at Chickamauga. Thomas began immediately reorganizing the army and solving the supply problem (following a plan worked out by Baldy Smith and Rosecrans). Grant approved of the plan which was already underway. Meanwhile Grant was preparing his own plan which was designed to highlight Sherman as the agent of the victory in the coming battle against Bragg, with all due reflection upon himself as the architect thereof. At this time Sherman was slowly approaching Chattanooga from western Tennessee with Grant's former army, the Army of the Tennessee, now Sherman's (Grant had been promoted to Cmdr. of the Division of the Mississippi).

However, Thomas and Grant didn't like each other very much. Grant felt uncertain of himself in Thomas's presence, seeing in him the only possible rival for overall command. On the other hand, Thomas didn't like Grant's improvised way of doing battle. Moreover, Thomas didn't really need Grant's help to deal with Bragg. For a complete summary of this situation see my article "Politics in the Union Army at the Battle for Chattanooga". Grant's hidden or not so hidden agenda (promote Sherman, get himself called East to take on Lee, open other paths to success after the war) was therefore in conflict with that of Thomas who merely wanted to decisively defeat Bragg and shorten the war.

1) Fact: The morning of the 25th there was communication between Thomas on Orchard Knob and signalmen on Lookout Mountain because this was how Thomas sent his orders to Hooker at about 9:30 once the fog had lifted. Is it possible that these signalmen, who were in a perfect position to observe Hooker's movements across the valley, did not keep Thomas informed of Hooker's further progress that day? Is it possible that Grant, no more than 20 yards away from Thomas the afternoon of the 25th (Orchard Knob wouldn't permit a greater distance), was not also so informed?

2) Fact: Thomas in his official report of the battle states that on 24 Nov. Hooker "reported by telegraph" that he had defeated the Confederate defenders at Craven's house on Lookout Mountain. Hooker's battle report also mentions telegraph communications. Who cut the telegraph wire on the 25th?

3) Fact: Hooker was known to be extraordinarily ambitious. He was especially motivated to wipe out the stain of Chancerllorsville. What then held Hooker back at the foot of Lookout Mountain the morning of 25 Nov. until 10 AM?

4) Fact: Stewart's artillery started firing at Hooker sometime around 1 PM. Hooker got his artillery across Chattanooga Creek around 2 PM and started using it then (at the very latest) against Stewart. Is it possible that Thomas and Grant, Bragg and Breckinridge, Confederate grunt up on the ridge and Union grunt down on the flats didn't hear this cannonfire and the other attendant racket?

5) Facts: the western face of the ridge was mostly cleared for field of fire, the upper Chattanooga valley was a mixture of cultivated fields and forest, and there were no leaves on the hardwood trees. Bragg reports that he saw at about 11 AM "masses of troops coming from Lookout" and heading "toward his front”. Could the Confederate grunts up on the ridge not also see Hooker proceeding unopposed across the valley toward their road back home?

6) Fact as reported by Sword: August Willich, a German born and Prussian trained general officer of Wood's division situated right in front of Orchard Knob, stated afterward that he had understood that, according to his orders, he was to "advance" after reaching the rifle pits. Is it likely that such a person would have misconstrued the order as issued by Grant? Did he then receive a different order, and if so, from whom and through whom?

7) Fact as reported by Cozzens: After Grant's second verbal order to Thomas to have his men move to the rifle pits and stop, Thomas and Gordon Granger (the man who had saved Thomas at Chickamauga) conferred alone for a few minutes, whereupon Granger "went off". What did Thomas say to Granger?

8) Fact as reported by Cozzens: After Grant's second order to take the rifle pits, still nothing happened, whereupon Grant ordered the movement a third time, and the machinery started into motion. Where did Granger go and to whom did he talk between Grant's 2nd and 3rd enunciations of the order?

9) Fact: Grant's order for Thomas to have his men "demonstrate" toward the rifle pits and stop would have, if rigidly adhered to, exposed these troops to grave danger because of the plunging fire. Was Thomas the sort of man to not intervene in some way in order to mitigate the effect of such an order?

10) Fact: Many writers call this order on the part of Grant "foolish" or "ill-considered" or even "quixotic". Was not Grant anything but foolish, and did he not normally reflect on his orders, and isn't the word quixotic an unusual term to describe the behavior of the mature general Grant?

11) Observation: There is an amazing congruity between the chronology of Hooker's progress against the Confederate left flank and the chronology of Grant's repeated ordering of Thomas to move against the rifle pits AND STOP. Is this a coincidence?

12) Fact: According to Sword, some of the official communications of the afternoon of 25 Nov. between Grant and Sherman are missing from the Official Records. Is it possible they were removed, and if so, by whom?

13) Fact as reported by many of the officers of Stewart's Divisions' battle reports (Broadfoot's Supplements to the OR) show that the Confederate retreat began first in his division under the attack from Hooker, before Tucker gave way in the center. Why does Grant state in his battle report, and then again in his Memoirs, that Hooker was held up for four hours at Chattanooga Creek and did not meet the expectations placed in him?

14) Fact: From any elevated point within the former Federal perimeter, one can clearly see the two notches (through which pass today Campbell St. and Lightfoot Mill Road) delineating the northern and southern limits of Tunnel Hill. Why couldn't Sherman, who in his “Memoirs” reports having gone to Ft. Wood, see this?

15) Fact: From various points along Hixon Pike on the northern bank of the Tennessee, you can see the the depressions marking the limits of Tunnel Hill. On 7 Nov. from a hill in that area opposite the mouth of South Chickamauga Creek (probably today's River Hills) Baldy Smith and Thomas did see the campfires on Missionary Ridge. What did Sherman see the afternoon of 16 Nov. when he made his reconnaissance outing to this same spot?

16) Fact: Sherman cited "wrongly laid down maps" which led him to think that Billygoat Hill was Tunnel Hill. Did such defective maps exist, and, if so, to what extent were they defective? Why did Sherman not include the defective maps in his battle report?

17) Fact: Thomas had the most extensive “secret service” of any army of the war. Many specialists were employed in this service, including professional topographical engineers who provided information for Thomas's famous topographical books. What were these engineers doing during the 2 months between the battles of Chickamauga and Chattanooga?

18) Fact: Grant in his orders to Thomas of 18 Nov. complains obliquely about "not being provided with a map giving names of roads, spurs of the mountains, and other places". Why would Grant, after having spent 3 weeks at Chattanooga, admit to any discerning reader of his order that he couldn't get the information he wanted from Thomas? Was he, in fact, hinting at something else?

19) Fact according to Baldy Smith, Thomas's chief engineer: There were scientifically prepared and accurate survey maps of the area in Thomas's HQ. Why didn't Grant ask for a more detailed map if he wanted one, and if he did ask, why didn't he get one? Why would he begin a battle without one?

20) Observation: Grant's behavior in Chattanooga was inconsistent with the common description of him as being modest and unassuming. His subsequent battle report was inconsistent with the common description of him as being honest. Was not Grant as ambitious and occasionally as unscrupulous as many another top commander in this and any other war?