September 19 - 20, 1863
The World Book describes the Battle of Chickamauga as follows:
Battle of Chickamauga. In September 1863, Rosecrans advanced on Chattanooga with a force of about 55,000 men. Bragg, who was seeking to keep his army free for action, evacuated the city and withdrew to Georgia. Rosecrans recklessly pursued him. Bragg had received reinforcements by rail from Virginia, and his forces numbered approximately 66,000. He fell on Rosecrans savagely at Chickamauga, Ga., on September 19 and 20. The Northern right flank broke completely. Only the Union left flank fought on under General George H. Thomas, who earned the nickname "The Rock of Chickamauga" for holding his line. In the end, Rosecrans' entire army had to retreat to Chattanooga. The Battle of Chickamauga was the Confederacy's last important victory in the Civil War.
The following links will take you to National Park Service information:
Another reference book describes the Chickamauga Campaign (August-September 1863) as follows:
.... Rosecrans, realizing his army's peril, recalled all his corps to Lee and Gordon's Mills. Roughly 4 mi northwest, late on the 18th, fighting opened at Reed's Bridge on twisting Chickamauga Creek. The 2-day battle began the next morning, bringing Federals north from Lee and Gordon's Mills and the action west from Reed's Bridge. In 48 hours battle lines drawn up roughly along the north-south LaFayette Road, with Federals on the west, Confederates on the east, curled. Thomas commanded a tattered Union line around Snodgrass Hill, ...; behind him Rosecrans' army streamed through McFarland's Gap in the southern Missionary Ridge.
The Battle of Chickamauga on the 19th and the 20th of September are described as follows:
“On the mornng of the 19th fighting began between Reed’s Bridge and the LaFayette Road, Federals on the west, Confederates on the east. A vicious day-long struggle in dense woods and scattered clearings, it was characterized by attacks and counterattacks along a 4-mile front between the LaFayette Road and Chickamauga Creek on the east. While the Federals’ northern line took a beating, there was no apparent victor.
On the 20th, Bragg resumed sledgehammer blows to the Union left. Near 11a.m., Rosecrans was told a gap existed in his line. Unable to see a unit in position shielded by trees, he ordered Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Wood to move his men from their location on the right to fill the supposed hole. Wood protested, said there was no gap, then obeyed. Where Wood had been, Longstreet's Confederate column surged through. Rosecrans and half his army were swept from the field. Thomas, the senior Union officer present, redeployed brigades along the crest of Snodgrass Hill in the rear. In the face of savage attacks, these soldiers held ground until dusk, when Thomas withdrew most troops, leaving the field to the Confederates.
Rosecrans and many survivors began a march for Tennessee that afternoon. Thomas set up a rear guard at Rossville Gap, holding through the 21st, then followed the rest of the army into Chattanooga, where it was besieged.
Chickamauga was Bragg's greatest victory. To the frustration of many he failed to follow it up, and losses were staggering. Bragg listed 2,312 dead, 14,674 wounded, and 1,468 missing; Rosecrans reported 1,657 Union dead, 9,756 wounded, and 4,757 missing.
The Chickamauga Campaign ended where it began, at Chattanooga.
Of note:
(Copied from the American Civil War Battle Summaries at Ancestry.com. )
Graysville, Ga., Sept. 10, 1863. 1st Kentucky Infantry.
As an incident of the Chickamauga campaign, while Gen. Wood was following the Confederate army, the latter's cavalry charged his advance. Four companies of the 1st Ky. were cut off from the main column and 52 men and officers were captured. There were no other casualties on either side. Source: The Union Army, Vol. 5, p. 473
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