For our returning viewers, these are the same productions as before, just with our new American Battlefield Trust opening. We wanted a more cohesive look moving forward as our audience continues to grow. As always we appreciate your support and look forward to continuing to share our passion for American history.
I truly appreciate the work that went into this presentation. It illustrates the troop movements very well. If I may offer one constructive criticism, it would be a simple one: what would help folks like me who are unfamiliar with a battle areas if you could put a very small scale at the bottom of the video, much like you find on a printed map: 1" = 15 miles, or something to that effect. It would help convey the distances involved. When I see red or blue lines moving, I ask myself "did they move 1 mile or 20 miles?" The scale would help put the distances involved in perspective. Thank you for hearing me out. I find your animated battle maps to be quite educational and fascinating. Thank you!
All these battles make me so sad. Imagine the posterity lost to this senseless war. So many generations of true Americans lost. So many beautiful , wonderful , dedicated patriots this nation would have today if not for this war.
The live shots are from the reenactment in 1999. It took place at a National Guard training ground. It was so dusty we called it Chickadusty. Great memories.
Thank you for the work you and your friends put into your hobby! If circumstances would allow I'd be right there with you. Bringing history to life is a wonderful way to teach.
I can always tell whether a photo is of re-enactors or a colorized version of an actual civil war photograph. It's not the equipment or uniforms (though far too many "spectacles"). It's the fat and the age. People who lived in that era were generally lean. Exercised. Re-enactors are fatter and older than real soldiers. No offense. This also ruins the battle scenes in Gettysburg, apart from the Little Round Top visuals.
My 3rd G-GPA was there as well. He served with the 31st Indiana Infantry Co G, Crufts Brigade, Palmers Division, Crittendens 21st Corps. Planning to visit this year for the 160th anniversary and follow his footsteps.
It’s crazy how little I know about this battle. I have always lived around this battlefield but they don’t teach about it in school. I only live about a mile away from the battlefield now and I’m just not learning more about it!
I was born and raised in Chattanooga and I think what was so surprising to me about learning about the civil war is how much of it happened right around here. I grew up walking these battlefields.
I grew up in East Ridge Tn. We played in woods that had been part of the Confederate encampment. We used to find buttons and buckles in the dirt from soldier's uniforms.
And the animated series a lot so much that they should make more like maybe the battles of second bull run perryvile stones river and maybe valverde and glorieta pass
This animated battle map is extremely useful in trying to figure out the troop movements. I'm not especially a Civil War buff and have struggled to understand them all until now. Thank you very much!
My Great Grandfather was in the 58th Alabama. They were right in the middle of this battle. 52% casualties. Later, he and his brother were surrounded and captured on Missionary Ridge. Sent to Rock Island Prison, they survived 2 winters in that awful place.
TY for your story. One often hears about Andersonville, but not much about how many rebel soldiers NEEDLESSLY suffered in Union POW camps. Seems they built them deliberately in the worst possible places to promote suffering then withheld food and medical supplies deliberately.
@@indy_go_blue6048 Regarding Andersonville, I have been there and seen what the Union soldiers had to suffer thru at that wooden stockade. They were forced to build and repair that stockade. They had no shelters other than what they could scrounge up. While it doesn't snow that far South, it does get cold. And note that the only man tried for crimes against humanity was the Confederate commander, Captain Henry Wirz. He was hanged. Wirz wasn't even a native born American. He was a Swiss immigrant.Since I moved to the East Coast 35 years ago I have made it a mission to visit every major battle site. I have done most of the big ones.
@@christopherfranklin1881 Yes Christopher, we have heard the Andersonville story many times over many years. What indy_go_blue60 was saying is that it is time for the stories about the many awful Union prison camps to be told.
(to all...) This was war, not "make nice". The idea of the horrible prison camps was to demoralize as well as control the prisoners there. On both sides there were always more prisoners than guards so command had to be kept. Also, you wanted the prisoners to give up their morale, their fight, their hope so that when, if, they returned they would not take up arms again. Add to all that the fact that soldiers fighting got supplies not prisoners taking up space & sitting around. Sorry. But all of this is a fact of war, ANY war.
Great video!! Have been to this battlefield a few times: once as a kid in the 1970s; once in early 2000s; and again roughly 5 years ago. My first visit in early 2000s - the National Park Service offered BICYCLE tours of the battlefield. That was awesome for the tour guide was able to take visitors to places where the automobiles could not get to along foot paths and such. My next visit, I arrived early morning just before the Park opened up. There was a massive fog bank in the area and just seeing the artillery and monuments poking through the fog made for a better experience/perspective. One of my favorite battlefield parks to visit.
After a 3 day reenactment outside Atlanta my sergeant and I in full field Union uniforms stopped at the battlefield on the way back to Indiana and visited the memorial to the Hoosier regiment that his great great uncle was a member of. It was dusk with the mist rising and folks still coming into the closed visitor center. We came out and the new arrivals thought initially we were ghosts of Yankee soldiers marching out!
I also am from Indiana. Thank you for remembering our heroes of the 19th century who preserved the union. If you are ever in Indianapolis and can get to the cities center at monument circle, look to the top of the monument. You will a statue of "victory" a woman with a sword pointed down (for ended hostilities) and the important thing to notice is that she faces south. She is welcoming our Hoosier ancestors home. And that includes your Sgts Great Great Uncle.
I own a Spencer Three band rifle used in this battle serial number 6339 17th Indiana Wilder brigade. Wish I could find out who it was issued to. My great grandpa found it in a barn wrapped in burlap inside a trunk
My great great grandfather (Alonzo Prather) fought at Chickamauga with the 6th Indiana Infantry Regiment and was wounded during the battle. He had fought also at the Battle of Shiloh and was wounded there as well.
@@michaelmbr365 when I was around 10 I walked through the entire battlefield, and I can attest to it being somber and humbling. Not sure about haunted but I probably wasn’t paying attention
I like the many Union monuments at Chickamauga that are large and in the shape of an acorn; other smaller statues/monuments have acorn elements worked into their designs. Did the Natl. Park Service ever get Wilder Tower repaired? I seem to remember something structural was deteriorating. When I was there in 2000, there was a wasp infestation at the very top of the tower and got chased all the way down the stairs! Was privileged to visit Chickamauga a few years later with a contingent of Senior ROTC Cadets of the Spartan Battalion of The University of Tampa; this was the start of an effort to fulfill a U.S. Army ROTC goal of each senior class to visit a military museum or take part in a near-by field walk (quasi "battlefield ride") of any American conflict. Florida has few such Civil War sites, but there are several Seminole War battlefields close-by that could be visited; Georgia offers even more opportunities.
I’m a Brit and your country’s history is so interesting. We had a lot to do with it at first and then you took off on your own sweet way. Not always successful and the split of families of brother against brother shows the futility of war. Our country has done it as well. It seems a human foible we can never shrug off! As to the video, brilliantly executed and the famous names that pop out at the viewer with the realisation of where those names come from, I’m looking at you Fort Bragg! I’m sure Mother Nature has absorbed all traces of man’s futility in that region, but we will leave our mark in future days sadly. I wish you well with your country in its time of current crisis.
Yes you did in fact your country had a lot to do in creating it, thinking that they could drag back under the crown and then the Russian fleet moved in. at that time you moved out.!!
The British gave the United States the Constitutional form of government, common law principles, foundation for our Bill of Rights and ironically the Declaration of Independence.
Very well said sir, I've noticed alot of Brits on all the US History TH-cam channels and FB pages etc. It's really interesting to me to see you guys interested in our short history of being a independent country vs. the long incredible history of the British Empire and the control it had over basically every country on the globe at one point in time or another. Any ideas why??
These productions are really helpful to understand what happened throughout the days of battle. It even helps to understand the horror felt by the troops.
Love how it is always said that Longstreet favors defensive tactics but when he hits hard and on his own terms, his corps is one of the deadliest in US history. Second Manassas, chickamauga, wilderness
Even at Gettysburg, his 18,000 men came within an ace of beating 30,000 crack Union troops on the second day. They in all likelihood would have done so if not for the fact that the terrain was so horrible for offensive operations. He got some help from incompetent Union generalship (hi there, Dan Sickles!) but still. Longstreet favored the defensive because he knew how Civil War-era combat worked (and that it hugely favored the defender), not because he was bad at attacking. Well, except Knoxville. We don't talk about Knoxville. :p
@@omegacon4 Ask Saddam how well defense worked out. There's a constantly shifting balance between offence and defense. The results we witness from the civil war show that offensive operations are more likely to succeed than defensive ones when they are indirect. Whereas direct offensive operations are likely to fail.
@@AngryDogPerformance - Saddam was like Hitler, or Trump - sure of his own genius. His real skill was keeping control of his subordinates by playing them against each other. As with Hitler and Trump. When he tried to actually run a real war, he was almost the MVP for the enemy. Saddam's army never really mounted a coordinated defensive campaign. As an Egyptian general admitted after the Six Day War, the Arabs had armies intended to look good on parade, and when they took to the field, they didn't look so well.
@@DavidSmith-ss1cg Yeah, just like LBJ and Obama were great at micro-managing the commanders in the field, and if there was a failure, they would blame someone else. Oh, and Trump actually DID something against ISIS. If you recall Obama pulled U.S. troops out of Iraq AGAINST the advice of the American Generals, but Obama wanted to look good and be the one who brought the troops home. ISIS fulled the void, just like the Generals said it would and ten's of thousands suffered and died because of Obama's decision. Yeah, how did that one work out? But then, I guess it was Bush's fault that he (Obama) did that, because he blamed Bush well into his (Obama's) second term. When Bush sent General Patraeus to sell the idea of the "surge" to congress, both (then) Senators Obama and Clinton all but called Patraeus a liar. I believe you can watch those exchanges here on TH-cam if you care to look. But I've heard the recordings of the testimony Patraeus gave and Obama's and Clinton's responses. But who did Obama choose to command in Afghanistan? That liar Patraeus. In fact, Obama and Clinton were against a "surge" in Iraq. But Obama sent 30,000 troops to Afghanistan....hummm sounds like a surge to me. But what Obama didn't say was the surge in Iraq under Bush actually worked.....
Just donated at your website. Please keep up the great work and I hope you get the support you deserve. I have been to several battlefields such as Gettysburg and Shiloh but I also hope this helps save some smaller battlefields as well.
Tho our ancestors were on opposite sides, I give a hand salute to your Great grandfather.. I had a Great uncle (Warrington) with the 121st Ohio infantry. Injured here, died in Jan 64 at a federal hospital.. Buried at Chattanooga. May both of them - and all of the others - Rest In Peace. For what its worth I oppose and am offended by the removal and destruction of all the historical statues, plaques.and flags. Your Ggrandfather and his comrades deserve to be remembered.
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@@frederickwise5238 Slavers and traitors do not deserve honor for they lived with none.
@ You dont know who or what the Ggrandfather was. A . L O T ,. of very young men joined to get off the farm.and bustin their butt in the hot summer sun. Be charitable, not a righard. And dont "all lives Matter" OR IS THAT JUST TALK?
@ well that would include the whole country and entire world that participated in the trade....and continues on the continent of Africa this very day....know reality before you jump in
Great video but- you should perhaps mention just how important Thomas’ rear guard action at the end of the battle was. It saved the entire Corps if not the army itself.
My GGGrandfather Alfred H Travis was killed on the first day of this battle. He was in the 4th Tn Prov. Army which was in Polks Corps Cheathams Div. Mandy’s Brigade.
Several of my ancestors fought at Chickamauga with the 41st Alabama, Helms Brigade, Breckinridge's Division. This video really helped put their struggle that day into perspective. Thank you American Battlefield Trust for producing this video.
Same here. My grandfather's grandfather and his two brothers were in the Louisiana 19th. They were at this battle. Both of his brothers died there. He survived and was the regimental color bearer during the Atlanta campaign, where he lost his leg and was taken prisoner.
I grew up reading the Time-Life series, with the static battle maps. It was hard work, trying to connect up the different colored rectangles from one map to the next - but I did it for every single map they provided! How much easier would it have been, if we'd had TH-cam dynamic battle videos in those days!
Seriously complex. I've been to Chickamauga battlefield twice and still dont completely understand it. It really could have gone either way at several points.
I agree. Chickamauga was a highly complex engagement and I think this video drastically oversimplifies this very important battle. Then again, how could it not? Everything is moving in smooth motion over the map so we get the gist of troop movements, but that is highly misleading. You cannot get a true sense of what it was like without being on the ground or ground similar to it and, of course, the battlefield itself has changed mightily over the decades. Still, the scale of the battle becomes real when you're on the ground and once you're there the complexity of the battle engulfs you again.
Thanks to Henry Thomas one of the best Unions general, federal army wasn't annihilated. He saved Rosecrans army from total disaster. Than he proved that he is the best during Franklin- Nashville campaign against Hood.
Tbf any commander with sense and a comparable force could have beaten Hood by that point. The man was not meant for army command, division definitely, corps maybe, but not that level of independence.
Thomas has been largely forgotten in the popular consciousness (by his own intent) but at the time he was considered a national hero. The guy was on money!
I remember visiting the Chickamauga battlefield as a kid, the first Civil War battlefield I ever experienced. It made a lifelong impression on me. My dad also took us to Lookout Mountain, which is nearby. This video helps me understand the whole campaign a lot better.
Thomas deserves mention. Instead of it being a significant Confederate victory that had little effect on the ultimate outcome of the campaign it would have been a total route that could have led to further defeats and prolonged the Civil War several years. Thomas rescued the situation and saved the army to fight another day.
Definitely. Thomas won a crushing local victory on his flank, but was basically abandoned as the Federal right collapsed. Bragg was in such despair over the shellacking the Confederate right suffered in its bloodily repulsed assault, that he was slow to react to the good news from elsewhere.
I’m a Chattanooga native and have confederate ancestors who fought in this battle and the battle of Chattanooga. Thank you for this presentation. Deo Vindice
"At this point it absolutely seems a pity to kill men so. They fell in heaps, and I actually had it in my heart to order the firing to cease in order to end the awful sight. But the merciless Spencer seven-shooter would not cease." -Col John T. WIlder
You don't seem to hear much about Chickamauga. That it was the second-deadliest battle was news to me. The graphics are great and make it very understandable. Thank you!
Great video, I live just north of Chattanooga and I have spent a lot of time at Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mtn, and the Battlefield. Very interesting period of the war. Parents took me to Wilder Tower to see Haley’s Comet back in the 80’s. It’s hard to imagine all of the areas without all of the houses and trees like it was back then. Thanks for the video, I’m binging now.
I assume it's well known by this point, but the US Army still pays tribute and respect to this battle and the men that fought it. In basic and Infantry school(OSUT) at Ft. Benning, my unit was 2/19 Infantry(the rock of Chickamauga). The lineage of the unit is pretty impressive for anyone that likes Civil War history. The unit continued on to fight in the Indian Wars, War with Spain, Philippine Insurrection, WWII, and Korea before eventually becoming a training unit on Sand Hill.
My GGG Grandfather was captured by the Confederates here, after seeing many battles on this campaign. Went blind from smallpox in a prison camp, and was released home to Ohio at the urging of Emily Mason. Had a son, lived a long life, and we still have his walking cain. I wear his son's wedding band as my own.
MY GREAT X3 GRANDFATHER FOUGHT THERE TOO ... 34TH ALABAMA CO'Y 'D'. HE WAS FATALLY WOUNDED BY CANISTER SHOT AT ATLANTA IN A CHARGE ON THE YANKEE BREASTWORKS. DIED 3 DAYS LATER.... NO IDEA WHERE HE WAS BURIED. BUT HE MAY BE AMONG THE 3000 UNKNOWN CONFEDERATES AT OAK LAWN CEMETERY NEAR THE CONFEDERATE HOSPITAL CLOSEST TO THE DE GRASS BREAST WORKS.
I was just visiting and it said that those rifles dropped 300 men in around 3 minutes. People noted that all they had to do was hold up they hand and they could catch a bullet. That the air was filled with rounds.
To probably misquote one rebel defending Atlanta, "with them guns they can load on Sunday and shoot all week." Many of these repeaters were captured, but the rebels weren't able to manufacture the appropriate ammo, so they were useless.
If I remember rightly, they literally thought they had run into an entire corps of infantry, and were baffled how Rosecrans could have gotten the jump on them so badly.
I remember seeing an account by a baffled confederate soldier who was captured. When told he had been fighting a regiment, he responded that he swore they had a full brigade from the volume of fire.
The re-enactments are amazingly well done! The work by all is superb and much appreciated. Thankyou! -- I find these animated maps fascinating. I must in fact stop to remember that these red and blue lines are the representation of real men, real lives, real suffering. But the maps do offer me an insight into mid 19th century military tactics. A subject I hope to study further in the years to come. I have just subscribed to your channel.
Excellent video that helps to understand the dynamics of a battle not possible by looking at civil war battle maps. My 2nd great grandfather, Pvt John F. Barton (1839-1905), was in this battle. He was in Colonel W.F. Tucker's Mississippi 41st Infantry Regiment from 1862-1865. In this battle, the 41st was part of MG Hindman's Division under LTG Longstreet's corps on the confederate's left flank depicted in the latter part of the video. John wrote in his confederate pension application that he had been wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga; he was shot in the head but called it a flesh wound.
They did have the best generals and tough farm boys who would go into battle with little in their bellies but little else. Once the "King Cotton" myth fell apart, simple math proved the South would never be able keep it's armies provisioned for extended campaigns. That's why Grant sent Sheridan to burn out the Shenandoah and Sherman into Georgia.
In this particular theater of war, the performance of the northern man in the ranks was equal or superior to that of his southern counterpart. Almost all soldiers on both sides were “hardy farm boys”. Turn off You Tube and do some reading!
Rosecrans ran away, and total disaster could've been the result, if it hadn't been for General George Thomas. He became known as "The Rock of Chickamauga"!!!
General George Thomas became known as "The Rock of Chickamauga"! I'd of gladly fought under his command. If I'd of been in the Eastern Theatre of the Civil War, I'd of gladly fought under General U. S. Grant's command. These were two of the best Generals of the entire Union. Rosecrans tucked tail, and ran. Not even I could have spoken a word of defense for this guy. He turned out to be a coward! He deserved to be Demoted. You never act in cowardice, and leave any of your Army behind. That's called desertion! I'm not going to hate him, but I have no respect for him. I don't know which one is worse-General Rosecrans, or General McClellan, the Union General that commanded the Union Army in the Eastern Theatre of the Civil War from 1861-Late 1862. These two are two of the worst Generals that the Union ever had!!!
It seems as if Grant and Sherman intentionally shunned Thomas, depriving him of any credit that he deserved for contributing to their success and glory. But Halleck did the same thing to Grant after Shiloh. Many petty jealousies, I suppose in all wars.
My G-G-G- grandfather was in this battle with the Ohio 31st VI and captured on the 19th. This really brought the experience he would have had to light for me. I got to visit there a few years ago and really appreciated it.b He ended up at Andersonville and then on the Sultana. He was a tough farm boy.
The first time I heard of the battle of Chickamauga was in the 1969 movie True Grit, the father of the young girl said his old side arm served him well in the battle of Chickamauga.
I was at Chickamauga this past weekend a newfound appreciation for this video. After spending the weekend walking the battlefield I can truly visualize the battle! Next trip to Vicksburg I will see your video before I go on my trip! Thank you for a great video.
I’m a Thomas. When I was a kid, my family visited Missionary Ridge, and reading a plaque I saw Thomas’ name. “Are we related?” I asked my dad. To my surprise, he said, “Yes.” George Thomas is a cousin, the one southerner of our extended family who went with the Union. My grandfather has always used his name as a slur for his “traitorous” actions against the Confederacy, but I was proud of the Rock of Chickamauga. Rest in peace, cousin.
This was very interesting to me as my great grandfather, with the 65th Ohio Infantry was severely injured and left on the field for dead. He was taken prisoner by the Confederates and after about 10 days was exchanged back to the union as they didn't have enough medical supplies for their own soldiers. He was in hospital for 3 months and on convalescent leave for a further 6 months. I have wondered what happened there and I have looked at other battlefield portrayals but this is by far the best I have seen, Thanks.
Thank you American Battlefield Trust......this is a great tool as I'm headed over to the Battlefield today to put your video to use. You should do these for every major battle. Double thumbs up for your excellent work on this.
I'm probably like many of your viewers in that I have interest in this topic because I had ancestors who served and fought in this engagement. Now I know more of what they wet through. Thank you again for making it.
My gg grandfather, William Macey Sullivan, was there at Chickamauga serving with Baxter's artillery. His stories are passed down through the generations. He described standing on his tip toes with fingers in his ears as the cannons were fired. He later surrendered to Sherman's troops near Macon, Georgia. I support the Battlefield Trust.
Just visited the battlefield yesterday 5/29/2022 for Memorial Day Weekend. There was so much to take in with the vastness of engagements, if you deeply want to understand it, you will need a few days there. Planning to go back later in the year when cooler weather. This animated battle map and history in this video is outstanding.
My great x 3 grandfather lost his arm in this battle On 20 Sep 1863. He was in the 63rd Regiment, Company A, Virginia Infantry. In Buckner's Corps and Preston's Division. This video made it all seem more concise and understandable. I really enjoyed it. I would love to see a reenactment of this battle. Thank you.
Like 6 of my ancestors were at this battle.. 2 died and a few more eventually died of dysentery... Pretty sad. One of their moms went up to look for her sons body/where he was buried. There is a big cemetery in Marietta Ga.
Another great video! I think that these ones for the bigger battles are a perfect length at around twenty minutes. Thank you so much for putting these resources together!
That barren victory at Chickamagua seals the fate of the Confederacy. September 19 ~ 20 1863. The Chattanooga campaign with Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge breaking Bragg’s grip on the region a couple of months later. Sending the Army of Tennessee into a bit of disarray. Opening the way for W. T. Sherman’s march through Georgia in the Atlanta campaign. A fascinating history of our country. So many young people today haven’t got a clue what this history is. The carnage of those battle fields was indescribable. Men mortally wounded left where they fell sometimes through the bitter night and the next day before succumbing to death. By the thousands.
bill could not agree more ....chickamagua showed what even the army of Tennessee could do, even w/bragg as commander, when NOT hindered by being badly outnumbered (only major battle of the war where CSA actually outnumbered fed forces) ....yet bragg FAILED to properly follow up the victory and, in your words, "seals the fate of the Confederacy. I actually believe it was more decisive than gettysburg and a lot more important than vicksburg ....just as you said, the fighting at chattanooga opened the way for the war winning battles associated with sherman's march thru georgia. those campaigns yielded the victory lincoln wanted, NOT the indecisive overland campaign. without rosencrans escaping to chattanooga, NONE of sherman's campaigns would have been possible ...and perhaps mcclelland becomes president
@@LtBrown1956 to be a little more precise, Chickamauga showed what the Army of Tennessee could do...when it was reinforced by Longstreet's corps. After Chickamauga, Davis and Lee took their eyes off the ball and stripped away Longstreet's corps when they should have been pulling out all the stops to capture Chattanooga and Rosecrans' whole army. That wasn't Bragg's fault. Now, the improper positioning of his troops on Missionary Ridge, and the low morale of his army because of his abrasive leadership style...that was Bragg's fault, and he still might have been able to hold Missionary Ridge if he'd been a better general, but it's also likely that by the time Grant was able to open the supply lines to Chattanooga it was already a lost cause.
@@aaronfleming9426 lee only received longstreet back in VA barely in time for the EARLY may campaign that lee was anticipating being another powerful assault by a huge lavishly equipped fed army with overwhelming firepower. MORE BELOW I dont remember the exact circumstances but longstreet was stripped from bragg (maybe by his own request and/or at the authorization of davis) and sent to knoxville in an absolutely complete waste of time and resources ...and you are right, that issue can not be blamed directly at bragg's feet. but lee is NOT to blame as he wanted his formations back in VA where the feds had made all their most serious efforts to win the war quickly. one might say that lee was somewhat somehow shortsighted in this but knowing the magnitude of his responsibility to defend the capital and the govt and knowing what he had to face in the spring I dont think his wanting his 2 divisions back while bragg CAN be blamed for not utilizing them properly. MORE BELOW from a strategic point of view (I agree that cahattanooga was a lost cause virtually from the beginning) the south ALWAYS fared very poorly when involved in a siege ...either as a besieger or a besiegee (warning : made up word) ....it did not matter ....they should have NEVER voluntarily gotten involved in ANY siege as the side with few resources is always at a huge disadvantage in such warfare
@@LtBrown1956 much to agree with in your comments...in my mind much of the blame falls on Davis, who was never able to settle on a clear strategic plan and ended up trying to defend everything poorly instead of defending a few things well. On the other hand, Lee doesn't stack up very well as a strategic general either...he was without a doubt and by far the most influential military man in the South, and as such he did little or nothing to help Davis focus and make hard choices. Lee was myopically concerned with Virginia and used his tremendous prestige to keep the Confederacy focused there when, as I believe we agree, the war would most likely have been won in Tennessee.
@@aaronfleming9426 your grasp of the the strategic danger obvious (obvious to you and I but NOT to many others) in the western theater are 100% accurate ....however, you must realize the strategic dilemma that the CSA was in ...yes, the blows that guaranteed a re-election of lincoln were delivered in the western theater (the idea of georgia being west is amusing) but the dangers in VA were equally real and this was the horns of the dilemma that davis and lee were ensnared on. MORE BELOW now davis exasperated the situation in many ways at different times (for instance: holding back the 2 largest brigades of Pickett's Division before the gettysburg campaign being just one example ...held back just as you described. guarding some deserted stretch of coast line somewhere out of fear of a yankee invasion). but you must understand that lee was only the commander in ONE dept (Davis had been a peacetime sec of war and he loved the dept system that was OK in setting up peace time outposts or garrisons armed against indian raids). MORE BELOW lee had influence with davis ...that is true, but he could NOT exert any and every influence with davis to get what he wanted because davis just would NOT respond to such treatment ....the above described instance with pickett's division is just one example ...that is lee wanted ALL five brigades (not the 3 that he got) but davis would release NO more. and this happened ALL of the time ...moreover, davis would promise some reinforcement or return of troops only to find an excuse NOT to keep the promise OR deliver the additional men much later than lee wanted and too late often to do the most good MORE BELOW dont forget ...it is NOT as if grant wrong footed lee and davis in the spring of 64 by prompting the return of 2 divisions to VA in may and then delivering the coup de grace somewhere else ....the feds were strong enough to go over to the offensive in MORE than one theater of ops at the same time ....Grant crossed the rapihannock river with an army of 119,000 men and countless weapons ...even with longstreet's return lee barely had half the fed numbers and, if longstreet had not arrived JUST in the very nick of time, the wilderness battle would have been lost and lee's army either destroyed or grant between lee and the CSA capital with richmond open to capture OR, most likely, both. make no mistake ...richmond is barely over 100 miles from washington and, as events were to illustrate, the fall of the CSA capital was the effective end of the war. MORE BELOW lee's PRIMARY responsibility was to defend richmond (and the CSA govt) and his formal authority only barely gave him enough clout to accomplish this highly difficult task. lee NEVER came close to the kind of military authority that little mac, halleck or grant had. MORE BELOW this strategic dilemma is the reason (along with the scarcity of resources) is why the csa lost ....they could NEVER really militarily crush the north the way the CSA was eventually crushed ....all the south could hope for was to inflict enough losses on the north that they would tire of the war and elect a prez who would nego peace ...southern defeat in georgia AFTER chickamauga is what delivered the re-election of lincoln and that was the beginning of the end ...however, a fed occupation of richmond would have accomplished the same thing
Having read many books on the American Civil War. I am impressed that the Confederates often heavily outnumbered held their own. Some of the best American soldiers and generals.
Visited this battlefield in June as I was staying in Chattanooga & was in awe as to the size of it. Took the tour which led us to all the important points of the battle. Definitely worth a visit if in the area. I’ve been to a few including the site of the Battle Of Hastings which can be walked around, but this will need a car to appreciate the scale. As a Brit I now have an understanding of the American civil war & so glad I took the time to visit this huge battlefield & visitor centre.
This was my first time on a batllefield. You can feel a heavyness walking around it and how vastly big it was and the postions of the cannons and regimentes and brigades postions. Just amazing.
I'm not even certain my European immigrant forbears were present in the U.S. at the time of the Civil War, but I honor and thank those heroic Union soldiers for their sacrifice against the unspeakable evil of a system of immense wealth based on the forced labor, torture, and rape of human beings.
I noticed that the Union always tries to force an engagement by chasing the enemy, but when the Confederates stopped, the battle would be on their terms, and the Union would be forced to defend. "Let's get em, boys! What's that, they stopped? Oh crap, prepare the defenses! " Like, you're not actually forcing an engagement on your terms, you're walking into their engagements.
It's the clever way to do it, Wellington did similarly. With ranged weapons, prepared defence is often stronger than attack, unless you can concentrate overwhelming firepower. Push into enemy territory to make them fight, then choose a strong position and let them batter themselves against it. Even if you're forced to withdraw, the enemy have taken too much damge to exploit that success and, in the case of the Confederates, lost men they couldn't replace.
All throughout the war, it seems as if the southern soldier had to fight as two men. Hurriedly being shifted from left side of a battlefield to the right side of a Battlefield. The union just had vast numbers that overwhelmed Southern positions. To plug gaps and to bolster lines some soldiers would be taken out of one side of a battlefield to help on another side... Craziness
The 21st Ohio was unique. They were armed with Colt Revolving Rifles. It was these repeaters that enabled them to hold Snodgrass Hill. However, it came at a price. The ammunition used was not the sale as ammunition for the rest of the Army.
Had a great grandfather and several of his brothers in this one as well as among many other battles. One great, great uncle was shot on the last day, Sept 20 and died 2 days later. Another one wounded but survived.
As a reenactor, I can say that this was very common for infantry boots, which were called brogans. The horseshoes are called heel plates. They help with traction in mud and on elevation.
One of them, for sure, and most of that is the ground and lack of visibility. Also, I could be wrong but what I see in this vid doesn't look like the armies are spread as far as the battle in the game with it's further flung objectives... The fighting seems more concentrated here whereas in game I end up with detached brigades and demi-divisions fighting mini battles all over the woods, certainly towards the end and moreso as the Confederates.
I've played it as the south, and man, that's some micromanaging. You gotta leave the objectives occupied, or they'll steal it back. Time's an enemy, too
Is it worth a trip down there from Illinois? My great great great grandpa fought there with the IL 36th Regiment and was wounded. Figured it might be neat to stand where he stood.
@@Banditomojado I think it would be well worth the trip. the park its self is very pretty, with lots of monuments and informative signs that can guide you through the entire battle.
For our returning viewers, these are the same productions as before, just with our new American Battlefield Trust opening. We wanted a more cohesive look moving forward as our audience continues to grow. As always we appreciate your support and look forward to continuing to share our passion for American history.
I truly appreciate the work that went into this presentation. It illustrates the troop movements very well. If I may offer one constructive criticism, it would be a simple one: what would help folks like me who are unfamiliar with a battle areas if you could put a very small scale at the bottom of the video, much like you find on a printed map: 1" = 15 miles, or something to that effect. It would help convey the distances involved. When I see red or blue lines moving, I ask myself "did they move 1 mile or 20 miles?" The scale would help put the distances involved in perspective. Thank you for hearing me out. I find your animated battle maps to be quite educational and fascinating. Thank you!
please make a video on Palmito Ranch
Please do one on the Battle of Nashville. The remnants of the 26'th Alabama were crushed by George Thomas's troops and sent packing back south.
All these battles make me so sad. Imagine the posterity lost to this senseless war. So many generations of true Americans lost. So many beautiful , wonderful , dedicated patriots this nation would have today if not for this war.
MidwestFresh
P
The live shots are from the reenactment in 1999. It took place at a National Guard training ground. It was so dusty we called it Chickadusty. Great memories.
That is fascinating info ! Thank you ! Very realistic .
Those where some great clips. Some of the best I can recall.
Thank you for the work you and your friends put into your hobby! If circumstances would allow I'd be right there with you. Bringing history to life is a wonderful way to teach.
I can always tell whether a photo is of re-enactors or a colorized version of an actual civil war photograph. It's not the equipment or uniforms (though far too many "spectacles"). It's the fat and the age. People who lived in that era were generally lean. Exercised. Re-enactors are fatter and older than real soldiers. No offense. This also ruins the battle scenes in Gettysburg, apart from the Little Round Top visuals.
Gee, a national guard training ground. We did them on the original battlefields.
My great-great-great grandpa was wounded at this battle. He was a Union soldier and was in the 4th Ky Infantry. He survived his injuries, thankfully.
My 3rd G-GPA was there as well. He served with the 31st Indiana Infantry Co G, Crufts Brigade, Palmers Division, Crittendens 21st Corps. Planning to visit this year for the 160th anniversary and follow his footsteps.
Shout-out to both of your ancestors for being on the right side of history.
It’s crazy how little I know about this battle. I have always lived around this battlefield but they don’t teach about it in school. I only live about a mile away from the battlefield now and I’m just not learning more about it!
@@_Tanneerr He was also a POW, I believe he was at Andersonville. I do know it was really bad there. He did make it out though.
@@Casanovaelreywar happens because both parties think they're right, only when it end the victor will says they're the one on “right” course
I was born and raised in Chattanooga and I think what was so surprising to me about learning about the civil war is how much of it happened right around here. I grew up walking these battlefields.
I grew up in East Ridge Tn. We played in woods that had been part of the Confederate encampment. We used to find buttons and buckles in the dirt from soldier's uniforms.
Only place that saw more battles was Virginia, and Missouri is surprisingly 3rd highest in number of battles
This series is perhaps, without a doubt one of the most addictive and informative military history projects EVER!!! We need more of this drug!!!
Agree, agree, agree! If this is our tax dollars at work, I don't mind a bit.
This animated series is OUTSTANDING
And the animated series a lot so much that they should make more like maybe the battles of second bull run perryvile stones river and maybe valverde and glorieta pass
Indeed, even for non US people like me.
You are correct sir!
Agreed. This is most excellent.
@@ericthompson3402 👋
Better than any show on Netflix
Word. It's like old school History channel.
Happy Funtime Can’t wait for the upcoming grant show
@@acdragonrider I am watching it right now
This animated battle map is extremely useful in trying to figure out the troop movements. I'm not especially a Civil War buff and have struggled to understand them all until now. Thank you very much!
👋
My Great Grandfather was in the 58th Alabama. They were right in the middle of this battle. 52% casualties. Later, he and his brother were surrounded and captured on Missionary Ridge. Sent to Rock Island Prison, they survived 2 winters in that awful place.
TY for your story. One often hears about Andersonville, but not much about how many rebel soldiers NEEDLESSLY suffered in Union POW camps. Seems they built them deliberately in the worst possible places to promote suffering then withheld food and medical supplies deliberately.
@@indy_go_blue6048 Regarding Andersonville, I have been there and seen what the Union soldiers had to suffer thru at that wooden stockade. They were forced to build and repair that stockade. They had no shelters other than what they could scrounge up. While it doesn't snow that far South, it does get cold. And note that the only man tried for crimes against humanity was the Confederate commander, Captain Henry Wirz. He was hanged. Wirz wasn't even a native born American. He was a Swiss immigrant.Since I moved to the East Coast 35 years ago I have made it a mission to visit every major battle site. I have done most of the big ones.
Bless Them Both.
@@christopherfranklin1881 Yes Christopher, we have heard the Andersonville story many times over many years. What indy_go_blue60 was saying is that it is time for the stories about the many awful Union prison camps to be told.
(to all...) This was war, not "make nice". The idea of the horrible prison camps was to demoralize as well as control the prisoners there. On both sides there were always more prisoners than guards so command had to be kept. Also, you wanted the prisoners to give up their morale, their fight, their hope so that when, if, they returned they would not take up arms again. Add to all that the fact that soldiers fighting got supplies not prisoners taking up space & sitting around. Sorry. But all of this is a fact of war, ANY war.
Great video!! Have been to this battlefield a few times: once as a kid in the 1970s; once in early 2000s; and again roughly 5 years ago. My first visit in early 2000s - the National Park Service offered BICYCLE tours of the battlefield. That was awesome for the tour guide was able to take visitors to places where the automobiles could not get to along foot paths and such. My next visit, I arrived early morning just before the Park opened up. There was a massive fog bank in the area and just seeing the artillery and monuments poking through the fog made for a better experience/perspective. One of my favorite battlefield parks to visit.
James
After a 3 day reenactment outside Atlanta my sergeant and I in full field Union uniforms stopped at the battlefield on the way back to Indiana and visited the memorial to the Hoosier regiment that his great great uncle was a member of. It was dusk with the mist rising and folks still coming into the closed visitor center. We came out and the new arrivals thought initially we were ghosts of Yankee soldiers marching out!
Rob 👋
I also am from Indiana. Thank you for remembering our heroes of the 19th century who preserved the union. If you are ever in Indianapolis and can get to the cities center at monument circle, look to the top of the monument. You will a statue of "victory" a woman with a sword pointed down (for ended hostilities) and the important thing to notice is that she faces south. She is welcoming our Hoosier ancestors home. And that includes your Sgts Great Great Uncle.
I own a Spencer Three band rifle used in this battle serial number 6339 17th Indiana Wilder brigade. Wish I could find out who it was issued to. My great grandpa found it in a barn wrapped in burlap inside a trunk
@@DelEast740That was a great find by your great grandpa!
My great great grandfather (Alonzo Prather) fought at Chickamauga with the 6th Indiana Infantry Regiment and was wounded during the battle. He had fought also at the Battle of Shiloh and was wounded there as well.
The National Park at Chickamauga Ga is beautiful and somber, humbling.
Haunted as hell, too, so I hear.
@@michaelmbr365 when I was around 10 I walked through the entire battlefield, and I can attest to it being somber and humbling. Not sure about haunted but I probably wasn’t paying attention
I like the many Union monuments at Chickamauga that are large and in the shape of an acorn; other smaller statues/monuments have acorn elements worked into their designs. Did the Natl. Park Service ever get Wilder Tower repaired? I seem to remember something structural was deteriorating. When I was there in 2000, there was a wasp infestation at the very top of the tower and got chased all the way down the stairs! Was privileged to visit Chickamauga a few years later with a contingent of Senior ROTC Cadets of the Spartan Battalion of The University of Tampa; this was the start of an effort to fulfill a U.S. Army ROTC goal of each senior class to visit a military museum or take part in a near-by field walk (quasi "battlefield ride") of any American conflict. Florida has few such Civil War sites, but there are several Seminole War battlefields close-by that could be visited; Georgia offers even more opportunities.
Man setting the scene for this battle gave me the chills. Great job on the soundtrack
Gon 🎈
Excellent production. That battle was so bloody it staggers the imagination even today.
Fred
I’m a Brit and your country’s history is so interesting.
We had a lot to do with it at first and then you took off on your own sweet way. Not always successful and the split of families of brother against brother shows the futility of war. Our country has done it as well. It seems a human foible we can never shrug off!
As to the video, brilliantly executed and the famous names that pop out at the viewer with the realisation of where those names come from, I’m looking at you Fort Bragg!
I’m sure Mother Nature has absorbed all traces of man’s futility in that region, but we will leave our mark in future days sadly.
I wish you well with your country in its time of current crisis.
Yes you did in fact your country had a lot to do in creating it, thinking that they could drag back under the crown and then the Russian fleet moved in. at that time you moved out.!!
The British gave the United States the Constitutional form of government, common law principles, foundation for our Bill of Rights and ironically the Declaration of Independence.
As an American I apologize and assure you that some of us appreciate your interest and are thankful for your well wishes
Very well said sir, I've noticed alot of Brits on all the US History TH-cam channels and FB pages etc. It's really interesting to me to see you guys interested in our short history of being a independent country vs. the long incredible history of the British Empire and the control it had over basically every country on the globe at one point in time or another. Any ideas why??
@@WKRP187 can't answer that, other than to say I'm another Brit hooked on your history!
These productions are really helpful to understand what happened throughout the days of battle. It even helps to understand the horror felt by the troops.
There are 2 generals who are so under rated: Geo.Thomas ( US) and Cleburne (CSA).
Leonidas Lantz Thomas is my favorite general of the entire war both sides
Seems to me Wood did a pretty darn good job preventing the total annihilation of federal forces, and allowing the safe retreat.
Tyler Smith yet he won battles for uncle sam
@@NeoThomist-sd1ue A southerner by birth, but refuse to betray his nation. True Patriot! His siblings never forgave him for it.
@@tylersmith8360 No. He understood modern war. He was just slow and cautious enough.
Love how it is always said that Longstreet favors defensive tactics but when he hits hard and on his own terms, his corps is one of the deadliest in US history.
Second Manassas, chickamauga, wilderness
Even at Gettysburg, his 18,000 men came within an ace of beating 30,000 crack Union troops on the second day. They in all likelihood would have done so if not for the fact that the terrain was so horrible for offensive operations. He got some help from incompetent Union generalship (hi there, Dan Sickles!) but still. Longstreet favored the defensive because he knew how Civil War-era combat worked (and that it hugely favored the defender), not because he was bad at attacking.
Well, except Knoxville. We don't talk about Knoxville. :p
Just ask any professional sports coach (NFL, NBA, MLB, etc) and they will tell you that DEFENSE wins games.
@@omegacon4 Ask Saddam how well defense worked out. There's a constantly shifting balance between offence and defense. The results we witness from the civil war show that offensive operations are more likely to succeed than defensive ones when they are indirect. Whereas direct offensive operations are likely to fail.
@@AngryDogPerformance - Saddam was like Hitler, or Trump - sure of his own genius. His real skill was keeping control of his subordinates by playing them against each other. As with Hitler and Trump. When he tried to actually run a real war, he was almost the MVP for the enemy. Saddam's army never really mounted a coordinated defensive campaign. As an Egyptian general admitted after the Six Day War, the Arabs had armies intended to look good on parade, and when they took to the field, they didn't look so well.
@@DavidSmith-ss1cg Yeah, just like LBJ and Obama were great at micro-managing the commanders in the field, and if there was a failure, they would blame someone else. Oh, and Trump actually DID something against ISIS. If you recall Obama pulled U.S. troops out of Iraq AGAINST the advice of the American Generals, but Obama wanted to look good and be the one who brought the troops home. ISIS fulled the void, just like the Generals said it would and ten's of thousands suffered and died because of Obama's decision. Yeah, how did that one work out? But then, I guess it was Bush's fault that he (Obama) did that, because he blamed Bush well into his (Obama's) second term. When Bush sent General Patraeus to sell the idea of the "surge" to congress, both (then) Senators Obama and Clinton all but called Patraeus a liar. I believe you can watch those exchanges here on TH-cam if you care to look. But I've heard the recordings of the testimony Patraeus gave and Obama's and Clinton's responses. But who did Obama choose to command in Afghanistan? That liar Patraeus. In fact, Obama and Clinton were against a "surge" in Iraq. But Obama sent 30,000 troops to Afghanistan....hummm sounds like a surge to me. But what Obama didn't say was the surge in Iraq under Bush actually worked.....
Just donated at your website. Please keep up the great work and I hope you get the support you deserve. I have been to several battlefields such as Gettysburg and Shiloh but I also hope this helps save some smaller battlefields as well.
My Great Grandfather died here, served in the army of Georgia
Tho our ancestors were on opposite sides, I give a hand salute to your Great grandfather..
I had a Great uncle (Warrington) with the 121st Ohio infantry. Injured here, died in Jan 64 at a federal hospital.. Buried at Chattanooga.
May both of them - and all of the others - Rest In Peace.
For what its worth I oppose and am offended by the removal and destruction of all the historical statues, plaques.and flags. Your Ggrandfather and his comrades deserve to be remembered.
@@frederickwise5238 Slavers and traitors do not deserve honor for they lived with none.
@ You dont know who or what the Ggrandfather was.
A . L O T ,. of very young men joined to get off the farm.and bustin their butt in the hot summer sun. Be charitable, not a righard.
And dont "all lives Matter" OR IS THAT JUST TALK?
@ well that would include the whole country and entire world that participated in the trade....and continues on the continent of Africa this very day....know reality before you jump in
Traitor!
I click. I give a like. I watch.
That's how confident I am about this channel's content!
Wonderful job ... every single time.
Great video but- you should perhaps mention just how important Thomas’ rear guard action at the end of the battle was. It saved the entire Corps if not the army itself.
Perhaps the best rearguard in the face of absolute annihilation. Dude was just made of steel
My GGGrandfather Alfred H Travis was killed on the first day of this battle. He was in the 4th Tn Prov. Army which was in Polks Corps Cheathams Div. Mandy’s Brigade.
Several of my ancestors fought at Chickamauga with the 41st Alabama, Helms Brigade, Breckinridge's Division. This video really helped put their struggle that day into perspective. Thank you American Battlefield Trust for producing this video.
Same here. My grandfather's grandfather and his two brothers were in the Louisiana 19th. They were at this battle. Both of his brothers died there. He survived and was the regimental color bearer during the Atlanta campaign, where he lost his leg and was taken prisoner.
@lawv804 May their names be a song in the mouths of their ancestors until the Stars burn out.
Wow. Despite unavoidable data limitations, these "animated" maps provide an incomparable understanding of battle movements, how battles occur. Thanks.
I grew up reading the Time-Life series, with the static battle maps. It was hard work, trying to connect up the different colored rectangles from one map to the next - but I did it for every single map they provided! How much easier would it have been, if we'd had TH-cam dynamic battle videos in those days!
Thank You! A really clear rendition of a complex Battle
Seriously complex. I've been to Chickamauga battlefield twice and still dont completely understand it. It really could have gone either way at several points.
I agree. Chickamauga was a highly complex engagement and I think this video drastically oversimplifies this very important battle. Then again, how could it not? Everything is moving in smooth motion over the map so we get the gist of troop movements, but that is highly misleading. You cannot get a true sense of what it was like without being on the ground or ground similar to it and, of course, the battlefield itself has changed mightily over the decades. Still, the scale of the battle becomes real when you're on the ground and once you're there the complexity of the battle engulfs you again.
Thanks to Henry Thomas one of the best Unions general, federal army wasn't annihilated. He saved Rosecrans army from total disaster. Than he proved that he is the best during Franklin- Nashville campaign against Hood.
Tbf any commander with sense and a comparable force could have beaten Hood by that point. The man was not meant for army command, division definitely, corps maybe, but not that level of independence.
@@chrisproost7290 I think it was said that he was too young to hold that size of command.
@@chrisproost7290 Chris 🎈
Thomas has been largely forgotten in the popular consciousness (by his own intent) but at the time he was considered a national hero. The guy was on money!
I remember visiting the Chickamauga battlefield as a kid, the first Civil War battlefield I ever experienced. It made a lifelong impression on me. My dad also took us to Lookout Mountain, which is nearby. This video helps me understand the whole campaign a lot better.
Thomas deserves mention. Instead of it being a significant Confederate victory that had little effect on the ultimate outcome of the campaign it would have been a total route that could have led to further defeats and prolonged the Civil War several years. Thomas rescued the situation and saved the army to fight another day.
Definitely. Thomas won a crushing local victory on his flank, but was basically abandoned as the Federal right collapsed. Bragg was in such despair over the shellacking the Confederate right suffered in its bloodily repulsed assault, that he was slow to react to the good news from elsewhere.
I’m a Chattanooga native and have confederate ancestors who fought in this battle and the battle of Chattanooga. Thank you for this presentation. Deo Vindice
The story of the 21st Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry and their Colt 1855 Revolver Rifles is my favorite piece of history at Chikamauga.
i read the standard texts about these battles, and with the visuals you offer i see and understand better.
We can talk about generals, and tactics all day. From what I've seen, the real victor in this campaign was the Spencer Rifle.
Yeah thats some serious fire power!
I seem to remember that was at Thomas' insistence that the spencers were provided.
No it was Wilder himself who co-signed the note to buy them for his men. Nearly half his brigade was supporting Minty on day one.
@@TheWarStoreMan Money well spent
"At this point it absolutely seems a pity to kill men so. They fell in heaps, and I actually had it in my heart to order the firing to cease in order to end the awful sight. But the merciless Spencer seven-shooter would not cease." -Col John T. WIlder
It was very good reenactment. Thanks for sharing! Enjoyed it! ❤️
You don't seem to hear much about Chickamauga. That it was the second-deadliest battle was news to me. The graphics are great and make it very understandable. Thank you!
Great video, I live just north of Chattanooga and I have spent a lot of time at Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mtn, and the Battlefield. Very interesting period of the war. Parents took me to Wilder Tower to see Haley’s Comet back in the 80’s. It’s hard to imagine all of the areas without all of the houses and trees like it was back then. Thanks for the video, I’m binging now.
My great great uncle was a member of the Illinois 78th, wounded at Chickamauga.
I assume it's well known by this point, but the US Army still pays tribute and respect to this battle and the men that fought it. In basic and Infantry school(OSUT) at Ft. Benning, my unit was 2/19 Infantry(the rock of Chickamauga). The lineage of the unit is pretty impressive for anyone that likes Civil War history. The unit continued on to fight in the Indian Wars, War with Spain, Philippine Insurrection, WWII, and Korea before eventually becoming a training unit on Sand Hill.
I live in Chattanooga. This was a great video! Thank you!
Same
My GGG Grandfather was captured by the Confederates here, after seeing many battles on this campaign. Went blind from smallpox in a prison camp, and was released home to Ohio at the urging of Emily Mason. Had a son, lived a long life, and we still have his walking cain. I wear his son's wedding band as my own.
Thomas --The ROCK of Chickamauga-- really saved the day with that stand going into the following battle of Chattanooga
Had a Uncle who died there he was in the 15th Alabama with all three of his brothers.
MY GREAT X3 GRANDFATHER FOUGHT THERE TOO ... 34TH ALABAMA CO'Y 'D'. HE WAS FATALLY WOUNDED BY CANISTER SHOT AT ATLANTA IN A CHARGE ON THE YANKEE BREASTWORKS. DIED 3 DAYS LATER.... NO IDEA WHERE HE WAS BURIED. BUT HE MAY BE AMONG THE 3000 UNKNOWN CONFEDERATES AT OAK LAWN CEMETERY NEAR THE CONFEDERATE HOSPITAL CLOSEST TO THE DE GRASS BREAST WORKS.
sutlers2day Not necessary to have the whole post in all capital letters!!!
Wallace Bell he’s just making sure the folks in the cheap seats of the auditorium can hear him. Lol
May they rest in peace
We need more of these! Would be cool for some smaller battles such as Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove!
Dan 🎈
can you imagine the shock of coming up against the spencer rifle for the first time wtf they must of thought
I was just visiting and it said that those rifles dropped 300 men in around 3 minutes. People noted that all they had to do was hold up they hand and they could catch a bullet. That the air was filled with rounds.
To probably misquote one rebel defending Atlanta, "with them guns they can load on Sunday and shoot all week." Many of these repeaters were captured, but the rebels weren't able to manufacture the appropriate ammo, so they were useless.
If I remember rightly, they literally thought they had run into an entire corps of infantry, and were baffled how Rosecrans could have gotten the jump on them so badly.
@@indy_go_blue6048the quote "load on Sunday and fire all week" is attributed to John S. Mosby and refers to the Henry rifle, not the Spencer.
I remember seeing an account by a baffled confederate soldier who was captured. When told he had been fighting a regiment, he responded that he swore they had a full brigade from the volume of fire.
This was a courageously horrific battle. Even to this day it causes the viewer remorse and terror at such pain and suffering.
Read Ambrose Bierce's shocking short stories such as 'Chickamauga' for a soldier's eye view of the carnage.
Too little too late for the South.
Here's a little tidbit:
"Chickamuga" is an old Cherokee indian word which loosely translates to ***River Of Death***.
Fitting...
Hood is the Black Knight from Monty Python. Repeatedly loosing limbs while insisting victory is in his grasp (see Nashville campaign)
Hood led Texans and let me tell you Texans will loose every limb and still win
at least the Texan Brigade
Hood was a true warrior
It’s only a flesh wound😀
@@joelmoore3469 but they didn't
The re-enactments are amazingly well done! The work by all is superb and much appreciated. Thankyou! -- I find these animated maps fascinating. I must in fact stop to remember that these red and blue lines are the representation of real men, real lives, real suffering. But the maps do offer me an insight into mid 19th century military tactics. A subject I hope to study further in the years to come. I have just subscribed to your channel.
Excellent video that helps to understand the dynamics of a battle not possible by looking at civil war battle maps. My 2nd great grandfather, Pvt John F. Barton (1839-1905), was in this battle. He was in Colonel W.F. Tucker's Mississippi 41st Infantry Regiment from 1862-1865. In this battle, the 41st was part of MG Hindman's Division under LTG Longstreet's corps on the confederate's left flank depicted in the latter part of the video. John wrote in his confederate pension application that he had been wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga; he was shot in the head but called it a flesh wound.
Brian 🎈👋❤️
*Considering the CSA lacked so many provisions necessary for battle, the accomplishments of it's soldiers was truly amazing!*
They did have the best generals and tough farm boys who would go into battle with little in their bellies but little else. Once the "King Cotton" myth fell apart, simple math proved the South would never be able keep it's armies provisioned for extended campaigns. That's why Grant sent Sheridan to burn out the Shenandoah and Sherman into Georgia.
@@JohnP538 Cause the union was lying sorry scum that cheated was greedy over land and are the real terrorist for invading southern land
@What you on about mate Put it this way if you’re in a group who’s killing, stealing land, raping and pillaging villages, would you stay?
In this particular theater of war, the performance of the northern man in the ranks was equal or superior to that of his southern counterpart. Almost all soldiers on both sides were “hardy farm boys”. Turn off You Tube and do some reading!
They accomplished the utter destruction of the South
Great job on this video!
That was excellent! Love seeing videos that show the underrated genius of George Thomas.
Rosecrans ran away, and total disaster could've been the result, if it hadn't been for General George Thomas. He became known as "The Rock of Chickamauga"!!!
General George Thomas became known as "The Rock of Chickamauga"! I'd of gladly fought under his command. If I'd of been in the Eastern Theatre of the Civil War, I'd of gladly fought under General U. S. Grant's command. These were two of the best Generals of the entire Union. Rosecrans tucked tail, and ran. Not even I could have spoken a word of defense for this guy. He turned out to be a coward! He deserved to be Demoted. You never act in cowardice, and leave any of your Army behind. That's called desertion! I'm not going to hate him, but I have no respect for him. I don't know which one is worse-General Rosecrans, or General McClellan, the Union General that commanded the Union Army in the Eastern Theatre of the Civil War from 1861-Late 1862. These two are two of the worst Generals that the Union ever had!!!
It seems as if Grant and Sherman intentionally shunned Thomas, depriving him of any credit that he deserved for contributing to their success and glory. But Halleck did the same thing to Grant after Shiloh. Many petty jealousies, I suppose in all wars.
@@pammullinsx6026 Actually Grant and Thomas had a decent time going Sherman on the other hand...
My G-G-G- grandfather was in this battle with the Ohio 31st VI and captured on the 19th. This really brought the experience he would have had to light for me. I got to visit there a few years ago and really appreciated it.b He ended up at Andersonville and then on the Sultana. He was a tough farm boy.
The first time I heard of the battle of Chickamauga was in the 1969 movie True Grit, the father of the young girl said his old side arm served him well in the battle of Chickamauga.
I was at Chickamauga this past weekend a newfound appreciation for this video. After spending the weekend walking the battlefield I can truly visualize the battle! Next trip to Vicksburg I will see your video before I go on my trip! Thank you for a great video.
You guys are excellent! This channel is going to be freaking huge!
What great telling and visualising of history, usually have to be watched multiple times to get it all in(if not (or even) familiar with events.
DeClean💓
With a name like bushrod Johnson that would make you tough on its own account
I’m a Thomas. When I was a kid, my family visited Missionary Ridge, and reading a plaque I saw Thomas’ name. “Are we related?” I asked my dad. To my surprise, he said, “Yes.” George Thomas is a cousin, the one southerner of our extended family who went with the Union. My grandfather has always used his name as a slur for his “traitorous” actions against the Confederacy, but I was proud of the Rock of Chickamauga. Rest in peace, cousin.
This was very interesting to me as my great grandfather, with the 65th Ohio Infantry was severely injured and left on the field for dead. He was taken prisoner by the Confederates and after about 10 days was exchanged back to the union as they didn't have enough medical supplies for their own soldiers. He was in hospital for 3 months and on convalescent leave for a further 6 months. I have wondered what happened there and I have looked at other battlefield portrayals but this is by far the best I have seen, Thanks.
Thank you American Battlefield Trust......this is a great tool as I'm headed over to the Battlefield today to put your video to use. You should do these for every major battle. Double thumbs up for your excellent work on this.
I'm probably like many of your viewers in that I have interest in this topic because I had ancestors who served and fought in this engagement. Now I know more of what they wet through. Thank you again for making it.
My gg grandfather, William Macey Sullivan, was there at Chickamauga serving with Baxter's artillery. His stories are passed down through the generations. He described standing on his tip toes with fingers in his ears as the cannons were fired. He later surrendered to Sherman's troops near Macon, Georgia. I support the Battlefield Trust.
Have to note how good the sound work is in this series, great practical sounds as well as conscious choices for music. Keep up the amazing work.
Outstanding documentary. Keep up the great work. I love learning history and your documentary is making me glued to it.
Just visited the battlefield yesterday 5/29/2022 for Memorial Day Weekend. There was so much to take in with the vastness of engagements, if you deeply want to understand it, you will need a few days there. Planning to go back later in the year when cooler weather. This animated battle map and history in this video is outstanding.
Another tip for anyone visiting - watch out for ticks and snakes. Came up on a snake at Kelly's Field.
You were there about a week before me. It truly is a fantastic historic site. I spent three days, then came back a year later for more.
My great x 3 grandfather lost his arm in this battle On 20 Sep 1863. He was in the 63rd Regiment, Company A, Virginia Infantry. In Buckner's Corps and Preston's Division. This video made it all seem more concise and understandable. I really enjoyed it. I would love to see a reenactment of this battle. Thank you.
My great great great grandfather was wounded in the hand on the same day at the battle. He was with Company G of the 36th IL regiment.
Two 3x grandfathers of mine fought with Company I, 13th Michigan Inf. One was wound and captured and later died at Danville, Va.
Frank 🎈
Like 6 of my ancestors were at this battle.. 2 died and a few more eventually died of dysentery... Pretty sad. One of their moms went up to look for her sons body/where he was buried. There is a big cemetery in Marietta Ga.
Brent 🤔
Another great video! I think that these ones for the bigger battles are a perfect length at around twenty minutes. Thank you so much for putting these resources together!
That barren victory at Chickamagua seals the fate of the Confederacy.
September 19 ~ 20 1863.
The Chattanooga campaign with Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge breaking Bragg’s grip on the region a couple of months later. Sending the Army of Tennessee into a bit of disarray. Opening the way for W. T. Sherman’s march through Georgia in the Atlanta campaign.
A fascinating history of our country. So many young people today haven’t got a clue what this history is. The carnage of those battle fields was indescribable.
Men mortally wounded left where they fell sometimes through the bitter night and the next day before succumbing to death. By the thousands.
bill
could not agree more ....chickamagua showed what even the army of Tennessee could do, even w/bragg as commander, when NOT hindered by being badly outnumbered (only major battle of the war where CSA actually outnumbered fed forces) ....yet bragg FAILED to properly follow up the victory and, in your words, "seals the fate of the Confederacy.
I actually believe it was more decisive than gettysburg and a lot more important than vicksburg ....just as you said, the fighting at chattanooga opened the way for the war winning battles associated with sherman's march thru georgia. those campaigns yielded the victory lincoln wanted, NOT the indecisive overland campaign.
without rosencrans escaping to chattanooga, NONE of sherman's campaigns would have been possible ...and perhaps mcclelland becomes president
@@LtBrown1956 to be a little more precise, Chickamauga showed what the Army of Tennessee could do...when it was reinforced by Longstreet's corps.
After Chickamauga, Davis and Lee took their eyes off the ball and stripped away Longstreet's corps when they should have been pulling out all the stops to capture Chattanooga and Rosecrans' whole army. That wasn't Bragg's fault. Now, the improper positioning of his troops on Missionary Ridge, and the low morale of his army because of his abrasive leadership style...that was Bragg's fault, and he still might have been able to hold Missionary Ridge if he'd been a better general, but it's also likely that by the time Grant was able to open the supply lines to Chattanooga it was already a lost cause.
@@aaronfleming9426
lee only received longstreet back in VA barely in time for the EARLY may campaign that lee was anticipating being another powerful assault by a huge lavishly equipped fed army with overwhelming firepower. MORE BELOW
I dont remember the exact circumstances but longstreet was stripped from bragg (maybe by his own request and/or at the authorization of davis) and sent to knoxville in an absolutely complete waste of time and resources ...and you are right, that issue can not be blamed directly at bragg's feet. but lee is NOT to blame as he wanted his formations back in VA where the feds had made all their most serious efforts to win the war quickly. one might say that lee was somewhat somehow shortsighted in this but knowing the magnitude of his responsibility to defend the capital and the govt and knowing what he had to face in the spring I dont think his wanting his 2 divisions back while bragg CAN be blamed for not utilizing them properly. MORE BELOW
from a strategic point of view (I agree that cahattanooga was a lost cause virtually from the beginning) the south ALWAYS fared very poorly when involved in a siege ...either as a besieger or a besiegee (warning : made up word) ....it did not matter ....they should have NEVER voluntarily gotten involved in ANY siege as the side with few resources is always at a huge disadvantage in such warfare
@@LtBrown1956 much to agree with in your comments...in my mind much of the blame falls on Davis, who was never able to settle on a clear strategic plan and ended up trying to defend everything poorly instead of defending a few things well. On the other hand, Lee doesn't stack up very well as a strategic general either...he was without a doubt and by far the most influential military man in the South, and as such he did little or nothing to help Davis focus and make hard choices. Lee was myopically concerned with Virginia and used his tremendous prestige to keep the Confederacy focused there when, as I believe we agree, the war would most likely have been won in Tennessee.
@@aaronfleming9426
your grasp of the the strategic danger obvious (obvious to you and I but NOT to many others) in the western theater are 100% accurate ....however, you must realize the strategic dilemma that the CSA was in ...yes, the blows that guaranteed a re-election of lincoln were delivered in the western theater (the idea of georgia being west is amusing) but the dangers in VA were equally real and this was the horns of the dilemma that davis and lee were ensnared on. MORE BELOW
now davis exasperated the situation in many ways at different times (for instance: holding back the 2 largest brigades of Pickett's Division before the gettysburg campaign being just one example ...held back just as you described. guarding some deserted stretch of coast line somewhere out of fear of a yankee invasion). but you must understand that lee was only the commander in ONE dept (Davis had been a peacetime sec of war and he loved the dept system that was OK in setting up peace time outposts or garrisons armed against indian raids). MORE BELOW
lee had influence with davis ...that is true, but he could NOT exert any and every influence with davis to get what he wanted because davis just would NOT respond to such treatment ....the above described instance with pickett's division is just one example ...that is lee wanted ALL five brigades (not the 3 that he got) but davis would release NO more. and this happened ALL of the time ...moreover, davis would promise some reinforcement or return of troops only to find an excuse NOT to keep the promise OR deliver the additional men much later than lee wanted and too late often to do the most good MORE BELOW
dont forget ...it is NOT as if grant wrong footed lee and davis in the spring of 64 by prompting the return of 2 divisions to VA in may and then delivering the coup de grace somewhere else ....the feds were strong enough to go over to the offensive in MORE than one theater of ops at the same time ....Grant crossed the rapihannock river with an army of 119,000 men and countless weapons ...even with longstreet's return lee barely had half the fed numbers and, if longstreet had not arrived JUST in the very nick of time, the wilderness battle would have been lost and lee's army either destroyed or grant between lee and the CSA capital with richmond open to capture OR, most likely, both. make no mistake ...richmond is barely over 100 miles from washington and, as events were to illustrate, the fall of the CSA capital was the effective end of the war. MORE BELOW
lee's PRIMARY responsibility was to defend richmond (and the CSA govt) and his formal authority only barely gave him enough clout to accomplish this highly difficult task. lee NEVER came close to the kind of military authority that little mac, halleck or grant had. MORE BELOW
this strategic dilemma is the reason (along with the scarcity of resources) is why the csa lost ....they could NEVER really militarily crush the north the way the CSA was eventually crushed ....all the south could hope for was to inflict enough losses on the north that they would tire of the war and elect a prez who would nego peace ...southern defeat in georgia AFTER chickamauga is what delivered the re-election of lincoln and that was the beginning of the end ...however, a fed occupation of richmond would have accomplished the same thing
Having read many books on the American Civil War. I am impressed that the Confederates often heavily outnumbered held their own. Some of the best American soldiers and generals.
I go to Chattanooga all the time. Lookout Mt. is steep! I couldn’t imagine fighting large armies on it.
They say, take the high ground, but supplies come in from the hill bottom, surround the hill, starve them out, instead of fighting your way up
Visited this battlefield in June as I was staying in Chattanooga & was in awe as to the size of it. Took the tour which led us to all the important points of the battle. Definitely worth a visit if in the area. I’ve been to a few including the site of the Battle Of Hastings which can be walked around, but this will need a car to appreciate the scale. As a Brit I now have an understanding of the American civil war & so glad I took the time to visit this huge battlefield & visitor centre.
I am related to the widow Glenn, whose cabin was located near the current Wilder tower monument.
Another excellent video map by the American Battlefield Trust.
Wow. That flickering coating of dust sounds eerily similar to mid east "moondust".
This was my first time on a batllefield. You can feel a heavyness walking around it and how vastly big it was and the postions of the cannons and regimentes and brigades postions. Just amazing.
I'm shocked Chickamauga isn't given the attention as Gettysburg and other battles. I'm also critical of Rosecrans and don't understand why he left.
Larry 👋
Because except for General Thoams heroic stand to cover the Union retreat, it was an embarrassment for the North that their troops had to withdrawn.
Absolutely loved the video. Love straight from Arkansas 💗
I'm not even certain my European immigrant forbears were present in the U.S. at the time of the Civil War, but I honor and thank those heroic Union soldiers for their sacrifice against the unspeakable evil of a system of immense wealth based on the forced labor, torture, and rape of human beings.
I noticed that the Union always tries to force an engagement by chasing the enemy, but when the Confederates stopped, the battle would be on their terms, and the Union would be forced to defend.
"Let's get em, boys! What's that, they stopped? Oh crap, prepare the defenses! "
Like, you're not actually forcing an engagement on your terms, you're walking into their engagements.
It's the clever way to do it, Wellington did similarly. With ranged weapons, prepared defence is often stronger than attack, unless you can concentrate overwhelming firepower. Push into enemy territory to make them fight, then choose a strong position and let them batter themselves against it. Even if you're forced to withdraw, the enemy have taken too much damge to exploit that success and, in the case of the Confederates, lost men they couldn't replace.
I had really enjoyed the video, especially the factual commentator's verbal details, thanks
War is very tragic to both sides, sons will never never to return to their families!
9 of my ancestors fought here. 5 were in Longstreet's corps and had served in Gettysburg, 3 artillery, two infantry.
sometimes watching these makes me feel sick. So glad I don’t have to live through this kind of conflict
Everytime I watch one of these videos it reminds me of how amazing the game ultimate general civil war is. If you've never played it then you need to!
Geary 🎈
Very well done!!!
I used to live in Atlanta, so I could come to this battlefield on a day trip.
All throughout the war, it seems as if the southern soldier had to fight as two men. Hurriedly being shifted from left side of a battlefield to the right side of a Battlefield. The union just had vast numbers that overwhelmed Southern positions. To plug gaps and to bolster lines some soldiers would be taken out of one side of a battlefield to help on another side... Craziness
@Hermus Glodiac 👍 Well said!
Rebs outnumbered the Union at Chickamauga
The 21st Ohio was unique. They were armed with Colt Revolving Rifles. It was these repeaters that enabled them to hold Snodgrass Hill. However, it came at a price. The ammunition used was not the sale as ammunition for the rest of the Army.
Great vid. Thank you.
Had a great grandfather and several of his brothers in this one as well as among many other battles. One great, great uncle was shot on the last day, Sept 20 and died 2 days later. Another one wounded but survived.
Did anyone notice the dead Confederate soldier with "horseshoes nailed to the heels of his boots"? This is the first time I have ever seen that..
As a reenactor, I can say that this was very common for infantry boots, which were called brogans. The horseshoes are called heel plates. They help with traction in mud and on elevation.
@@KrisWustrow Thank you for this information..
Who downvotes these videos?!? This is great production material.
People who believe the past is unimportant
Quality content as usual!
These videos are well made, informative, and outstanding!
This is the hardest Union battle in UG:CW, imo.
you should know, you were in some pretty tough fights yourself!
One of them, for sure, and most of that is the ground and lack of visibility. Also, I could be wrong but what I see in this vid doesn't look like the armies are spread as far as the battle in the game with it's further flung objectives... The fighting seems more concentrated here whereas in game I end up with detached brigades and demi-divisions fighting mini battles all over the woods, certainly towards the end and moreso as the Confederates.
I've played it as the south, and man, that's some micromanaging. You gotta leave the objectives occupied, or they'll steal it back. Time's an enemy, too
I live half a mile from Chickamauga in Fort Oglethorpe Georgia
You're fortunate to live so close. I live in Florida. I'm a big civil war buff and love to see these civil war reenactments.
Is it worth a trip down there from Illinois? My great great great grandpa fought there with the IL 36th Regiment and was wounded. Figured it might be neat to stand where he stood.
@@Banditomojado I think it would be well worth the trip. the park its self is very pretty, with lots of monuments and informative signs that can guide you through the entire battle.
I'm actually a derict descendent of Genral Gorge Henry Thomas. I'm glad we share the same last name.