Personal Memoirs of General U.S. Grant, vol 2 | Page 9

in full view, and we were within easy range.
They did not fire upon us nor seem to be disturbed by our presence.
They must have seen that we were all commissioned officers. But, I
suppose, they looked upon the garrison of Chattanooga as prisoners of
war, feeding or starving themselves, and thought it would be inhuman
to kill any of them except in self-defence.
That night I issued orders for opening the route to Bridgeport--a cracker
line, as the soldiers appropriately termed it. They had been so long on
short rations that my first thought was the establishment of a line over
which food might reach them.
Chattanooga is on the south bank of the Tennessee, where that river
runs nearly due west. It is at the northern end of a valley five or six
miles in width, through which Chattanooga Creek runs. To the east of
the valley is Missionary Ridge, rising from five to eight hundred feet

above the creek and terminating somewhat abruptly a half mile or more
before reaching the Tennessee. On the west of the valley is Lookout
Mountain, twenty-two hundred feet above-tide water. Just below the
town the Tennessee makes a turn to the south and runs to the base of
Lookout Mountain, leaving no level ground between the mountain and
river. The Memphis and Charleston Railroad passes this point, where
the mountain stands nearly perpendicular. East of Missionary Ridge
flows the South Chickamauga River; west of Lookout Mountain is
Lookout Creek; and west of that, Raccoon Mountains. Lookout
Mountain, at its northern end, rises almost perpendicularly for some
distance, then breaks off in a gentle slope of cultivated fields to near the
summit, where it ends in a palisade thirty or more feet in height. On the
gently sloping ground, between the upper and lower palisades, there is
a single farmhouse, which is reached by a wagon-road from the valley
east.
The intrenched line of the enemy commenced on the north end of
Missionary Ridge and extended along the crest for some distance south,
thence across Chattanooga valley to Lookout Mountain. Lookout
Mountain was also fortified and held by the enemy, who also kept
troops in Lookout valley west, and on Raccoon Mountain, with pickets
extending down the river so as to command the road on the north bank
and render it useless to us. In addition to this there was an intrenched
line in Chattanooga valley extending from the river east of the town to
Lookout Mountain, to make the investment complete. Besides the
fortifications on Mission Ridge, there was a line at the base of the hill,
with occasional spurs of rifle-pits half-way up the front. The enemy's
pickets extended out into the valley towards the town, so far that the
pickets of the two armies could converse. At one point they were
separated only by the narrow creek which gives its name to the valley
and town, and from which both sides drew water. The Union lines were
shorter than those of the enemy.
Thus the enemy, with a vastly superior force, was strongly fortified to
the east, south, and west, and commanded the river below. Practically,
the Army of the Cumberland was besieged. The enemy had stopped
with his cavalry north of the river the passing of a train loaded with

ammunition and medical supplies. The Union army was short of both,
not having ammunition enough for a day's fighting.
General Halleck had, long before my coming into this new field,
ordered parts of the 11th and 12th corps, commanded respectively by
Generals Howard and Slocum, Hooker in command of the whole, from
the Army of the Potomac to reinforce Rosecrans. It would have been
folly to send them to Chattanooga to help eat up the few rations left
there. They were consequently left on the railroad, where supplies
could be brought to them. Before my arrival, Thomas ordered their
concentration at Bridgeport.
General W. F. Smith had been so instrumental in preparing for the
move which I was now about to make, and so clear in his judgment
about the manner of making it, that I deemed it but just to him that he
should have command of the troops detailed to execute the design,
although he was then acting as a staff officer and was not in command
of troops.
On the 24th of October, after my return to Chattanooga, the following
details were made: General Hooker, who was now at Bridgeport, was
ordered to cross to the south side of the Tennessee and march up by
Whitesides and Wauhatchie to Brown's Ferry. General Palmer, with a
division of the 14th corps, Army of the Cumberland, was ordered to
move down the river on the north side, by a back road, until opposite
Whitesides, then cross and hold