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Wauhatchie
October 28-29, 1863
Also known as: Brown�s Ferry
Hamilton, Marion, and Dade Counties, TN
Campaign: Reopening of the
Tennessee River (1863)
Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, USA
Brig. Gen. Micah Jenkins, CSA
Hooker had a reinforced Corps against Hood�s Division.
Both sides lost a little over 400 men.
In an effort to relieve Union forces besieged in Chattanooga, Maj. Gen.
George H. Thomas and Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant initiated the �Cracker Line
Operation� on October 26, 1863. This operation required the opening of the road
to Chattanooga from Brown�s Ferry on the Tennessee River with a simultaneous
advance up Lookout Valley, securing the Kelley�s Ferry Road. Union Chief
Engineer, Military Division of the Mississippi, Brig. Gen. William F.
�Baldy� Smith, with Brig. Gen. John B. Turchin�s and Brig. Gen. William B.
Hazen�s 1st and 2nd brigades, 3rd Division, IV Army Corps, was assigned the task
of establishing the Brown�s Ferry bridgehead. Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Joseph
Hooker, with three divisions, marched from Bridgeport through Lookout Valley
towards Brown�s Ferry from the south. At 3:00 am, on October 27, portions of
Hazen�s brigade embarked upon pontoons and floated around Moccasin Bend to
Brown�s Ferry. Turchin�s brigade took a position on Moccasin Bend across from
Brown�s Ferry. Upon landing, Hazen secured the bridgehead and then positioned a
pontoon bridge across the river, allowing Turchin to cross and take position on
his right. Hooker, while his force passed through Lookout Valley on October 28,
detached Brig. Gen. John W. Geary�s division at Wauhatchie Station, a stop on
the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad, to protect the line of communications
to the south as well as the road west to Kelley�s Ferry. Observing the Union
movements on the 27th and 28th, Confederate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet and Gen.
Braxton Bragg decided to mount a night attack on Wauhatchie Station. Although
the attack was scheduled for 10:00 pm on the night of October 28, confusion
delayed it till midnight. Surprised by the attack, Geary�s division, at
Wauhatchie Station, formed into a V-shaped battle line. Hearing the din of
battle, Hooker, at Brown�s Ferry, sent Maj. Gen. Oliver Otis Howard with two XI
Army Corps divisions to Wauhatchie Station as reinforcements. As more and more
Union troops arrived, the Confederates fell back to Lookout Mountain. The
Federals now had their window to the outside and could receive supplies,
weapons, ammunition, and reinforcements via the Cracker Line. Relatively
few night engagements occurred during the Civil War; Wauhatchie is one of the
most significant.
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