Intro | General Orders No. 296
Oil painting The Battle of Lookout Mountain by James Walker, Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, 1863-1864
Looking Back: The Civil War in Tennessee Collection
After their victory at the Battle of Chickamauga, Bragg's troops besieged the Union Army in Chattanooga. General Ulysses S. Grant was ordered from Vicksburg, Mississippi, to break the Confederate siege. After opening the supply route to Chattanooga and beating off a Confederate counterattack at the Battle of Wauhatchie (October 28-29), Grant began preparing to drive the Confederates from Tennessee.
General Ulysses S. Grant, General John A. Rawlins, General J. D. Webster, Colonel Clark B. Lagow, and Colonel Killyer on Lookout Mountain after the battle, Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, 1863
Library Photograph Collection
On November 23, General Thomas, now in command of the Army of the Cumberland, captured the high ground at Orchard Knob. The next day, Union General Joseph Hooker's troops stormed and captured Lookout Mountain. On the 25th, Grant ordered General William T. Sherman to attack Missionary Ridge from the north and Hooker to attack it from the south. When these attacks stalled, he ordered Thomas, in the center, to move his men to the base of Missionary Ridge. Having reached their objective but still coming under fire from Confederate troops further up the ridge, Thomas' men, without orders, continued their attack and drove the Confederates from the ridge. The Union victory at Chattanooga cemented their control of Tennessee and would provide the base for Sherman's Atlanta Campaign in 1864.
General Orders No. 296, Chattanooga, Tennessee, December 25, 1863
Looking Back: The Civil War in Tennessee Collection
On December 25, 1863, Thomas issued General Orders No. 296 for the creation of a cemetery to "provide a proper resting place for the remains of the brave men who fell upon the fields fought over . . . and for the remains of such as may hereafter give up their lives in this region in defending their country against treason and rebellion." When asked if the Union dead should be buried by state, Thomas replied, "No, no, mix 'em up. I'm tired of States' Rights."
Headquarters of Brigadier General John H. King, USA, Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, 1864
Library Photograph Collection
Muster roll of Company K, 33rd Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, Chattanooga, Tennessee, October 31-December 31, 1863
Looking Back: The Civil War in Tennessee Collection