| Chickamauga Creek | |
|---|---|
 Chickamauga Creek and Reeds Bridge | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Georgia (U.S. state), Tennessee |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Mouth | Tennessee River at Chattanooga, Tennessee, in Hamilton County, Tennessee |
North and South Chickamauga Creek are short tributaries of the Tennessee River which join it near Chattanooga, Tennessee on the north and the south. West Chickamauga Creek is a much longer tributary of South Chickamauga Creek.
The two Chickamauga Creeks are part of the Georgia, Middle Tennessee-Chickamauga Watershed. [1]
North Chickamauga Creek begins in an area called The Horseshoe, a portion of Walden Ridge, a branch of the Cumberland Plateau. The creek forms in southeastern Sequatchie County at the confluence of Standifer and Brimer creeks north of the community of Lone Oak, and runs entirely in Tennessee. [2] South Chickamauga Creek is a long and winding valley-floor stream in the northwest corner of Georgia. It flows north from Ringgold, Georgia, over the border into Tennessee and from there into the city of Chattanooga. [3]
A major tributary of the South Chickamauga Creek is West Chickamauga Creek, which rises out of the confluence of Mud Creek and Mill Creek, and is joined by Brotherton Creek, just northeast of the Zahnd Wildlife Management Area between Rising Fawn and Lafayette in Walker County, Georgia. [4] (Note: One EPA Watershed Report shows the West Chickamauga as rising out of the south end of Lookout Mountain, near Sandy Hollow. However, the same map labels that part of the creek as "Hog Jowl Creek", although the pop-up active link shows the Creek as "West Chickamauga Creek" [5] According to the topozone.com topographical map, [6] the length of West Chickamauga Creek is more than 37 miles (60 km) miles long from its start to "mile marker 0", where it joins the South Chickamauga Creek, which is approximately 35 miles (56 km) long. However, the first map labels that part of the creek as "Hog Jowl Creek", although the pop-up active link shows the Creek as "West Chickamauga Creek" [5] If that is the case, its length is closer to 50 miles (80 km). The West Chickamauga flows northeast through Walker and Catoosa counties in Northwest Georgia, and forms the southeast border of the Chickamauga National Military Park in Chickamauga, Fort Oglethorpe and Ringgold, Georgia. It winds northeast to join the South Chickamauga Creek near Brown Acres Golf Course in eastern Hamilton County, Tennessee, just north of the Tennessee/Georgia border. West Chickamauga Creek can be navigated by kayak or canoe from near Gordon and Lee Mill (Chickamauga, GA) northeast, to where it joins with the South Chickamauga Creek, and from there northward to the Tennessee River at Chattanooga, Tennessee. Its mean annual flow velocity (estimate) is 0.77 feet (0.23 m) per second. [7]
The tribal band of the Cherokee which settled near the creeks in the late 18th century became known as the Chickamauga. Under the leadership of Dragging Canoe, they became a frontier adversary to early American expansionism west of the Appalachian Mountains.
There is much discussion about the meaning of "Chickamauga". Although some experts say it translates to "River of Death", that name has no reference to the Battle of Chickamauga itself. [8] It could also come from an ancient Chickasaw autonym- "Chickemacaw" as James Adair spelled it in his book The History of the American Indians.
During the Civil War, one of the bloodiest engagements of the war was fought near West Chickamauga Creek over control of the railroad center at nearby Chattanooga. The conflict became known as the Battle of Chickamauga, fought September 18–20, 1863. However, the creek itself had very little influence on the course of the battle. [9] The first skirmishes of the battle were fought when Confederate troops attempted to cross the West Chickamauga Creek, especially at Alexander's Bridge and Reed's Bridge, near the southeast and northeast borders of the present-day Chickamauga National Military Park [10]
Union General William S. Rosecrans had established his army at Chickamauga, Georgia, 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Chattanooga. Confederate General Braxton Bragg had collected reinforcements and prepared to do battle, assisted by General James Longstreet. [11] After three days of fighting, Rosecrans and a large portion of his army fled the field in disarray. [12] The Battle of Chickamauga marked the end of the Union's "Chickamauga Campaign" in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia, and cost Rosencrans his command.
Ringgold is a city in and the county seat of Catoosa County, Georgia, United States. Its population was 3,414 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chattanooga, Tennessee–GA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Chickamauga is a city in Walker County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,917 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chattanooga, TN–GA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Battle of Chickamauga, fought on September 19–20, 1863, between Union and Confederate forces in the American Civil War, marked the end of a Union offensive, the Chickamauga Campaign, in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia. It was the first major battle of the war fought in Georgia, the most significant Union defeat in the Western Theater, and involved the second-highest number of casualties after the Battle of Gettysburg.
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles (1,049 km) long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, as the Cherokee people had their homelands along its banks, especially in what are now East Tennessee and northern Alabama. Additionally, its tributary, the Little Tennessee River, flows into it from Western North Carolina and northeastern Georgia, where the river also was bordered by numerous Cherokee towns. Its current name is derived from the Cherokee town, Tanasi, which was located on the Tennessee side of the Appalachian Mountains.
William Starke Rosecrans was an American inventor, coal-oil company executive, diplomat, politician, and U.S. Army officer. He gained fame for his role as a Union general during the American Civil War. He was the victor at prominent Western Theater battles, but his military career was effectively ended following his disastrous defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863.
The Army of the Cumberland was one of the principal Union armies in the Western Theater during the American Civil War. It was originally known as the Army of the Ohio.
The Second Battle of Chattanooga was a battle in the American Civil War, beginning on August 21, 1863, as the opening battle in the Chickamauga Campaign. The larger and more famous battles were the Battles for Chattanooga in November 1863.
The Chickamauga campaign of the American Civil War was a series of battles fought in northwestern Georgia from August 21 to September 20, 1863, between the Union Army of the Cumberland and Confederate Army of Tennessee. The campaign started successfully for Union commander William S. Rosecrans, with the Union army occupying the vital city of Chattanooga and forcing the Confederates to retreat into northern Georgia. But a Confederate attack at the Battle of Chickamauga forced Rosecrans to retreat back into Chattanooga and allowed the Confederates to lay siege to the Union forces.
The Battle of Davis's Cross Roads, was fought September 10–11, 1863, in northwestern Georgia, as part of the Chickamauga Campaign of the American Civil War. It was more of a series of maneuvers and skirmishes than an actual battle and casualties were negligible.
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The Battle of Ringgold Gap was fought November 27, 1863, outside the town of Ringgold, Georgia, by the Confederate and Union armies during the American Civil War. Part of the Chattanooga Campaign, it followed a heavy Confederate loss at the Battle of Missionary Ridge from which General Braxton Bragg's artillery and wagon trains were forced to retreat south. The five hour Battle of Ringgold Gap resulted in the Confederate victory of Major General Patrick R. Cleburne and gave the Army of Tennessee safe passage to retreat through the Ringgold Gap mountain pass.
The western theater of the American Civil War encompassed major military operations in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee, as well as Louisiana east of the Mississippi River. Operations on the coasts of these states, except for Mobile Bay, are considered part of the Lower Seaboard Theater. Most other operations east of the Appalachian Mountains are part of the eastern theater. Operations west of the Mississippi River took place in the trans-Mississippi theater.
Fort Harker, located near Stevenson, Alabama, was a military fortification built by the Union Army during the American Civil War. Constructed in the summer of 1862 by soldiers and freed slaves of the Army of the Cumberland, the fort helped secure strategic railroad lines to ensure the free movement of Union troops and supplies in southeastern Tennessee and northeastern Alabama. Union General William Rosecrans established his headquarters at Fort Harker in July, 1863, from where he directed a successful campaign against the position of Confederate General Braxton Bragg in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The fort would be abandoned after the war and fall into disrepair. After restoration, the site became a city park in 1985.
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The 92nd Regiment Illinois Infantry, also known as 92nd Illinois Mounted Infantry Regiment, was an infantry and mounted infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The Chattanooga campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in October and November 1863, during the American Civil War. Following the defeat of Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans's Union Army of the Cumberland at the Battle of Chickamauga in September, the Confederate Army of Tennessee under Gen. Braxton Bragg besieged Rosecrans and his men by occupying key high terrain around Chattanooga, Tennessee. Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was given command of Union forces in the West, now consolidated under the Division of the Mississippi. Significant reinforcements also began to arrive with him in Chattanooga from Mississippi and the Eastern Theater. On October 18, Grant removed Rosecrans from command of the Army of the Cumberland and replaced him with Major General George Henry Thomas.
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