This Week in the Civil War

00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.

This Week in the Civil War - 654

Texas Public Radio | By Texas Public Radio

Published September 10, 2013 at 2:44 PM CDT

On Wednesday, September 9, 1863 Braxton Bragg’s Confederate Army of Tennessee abandoned Chattanooga and withdrew southward into Georgia. Federal troops under General William Rosecrans immediately entered the city, while other units marched southward against Bragg.

Jefferson Davis in Richmond earlier in the month had decided to send Longstreet’s corps from Robert E. Lee’s army to assist Bragg. Longstreet was in transit when Bragg abandoned Chattanooga; the fall of the Cumberland Gap to Federal forces meant that Longstreet’s corps would have to travel by rail from Virginia through North Carolina to Atlanta, Georgia to get to the beleaguered Bragg.

It would take ten days before Longstreet could arrive; only then could the Confederates effectively attack Rosecrans and attempt to win back the initiative from Rosecrans’ advancing, Army of the Cumberland.