The 145th Chickamauga Site

By Mike Ventura

The 849-acre site for the 145th Battle of Chickamauga is "historic land." This land was traversed and maneuvered on by Maj. General James Negley's Federal Division leading the 14th Army Corps through Stephen's Gap. Her is a brief account of the action that took place here:

On September 8th Negley’s Division advanced into McLemore’s Cove. He did not expect any opposition, a failing of the Federal cavalry to provide adequate information on the disposition of Bragg’s forces. As they crossed McLemore’s Cove they could see Dug Gap, their route through Pigeon Mountain towards Lafayette Because of the inadequate information from the cavalry, they did not expect to find any real Confederate strength in Lafayette, or on the route to it, they would soon be surprised. Confederate skirmishers opened fire on them, and they reformed into line at Davis’ Cross Roads, between Stevens Gap and Dug Gap, after a short advance they could see that they were all but surrounded by Confederates, with no Federal force in support. Negley now found that he had Major General Hindman’s division on his left, supported by Buckner’s Corps and the forward elements of D.H. Hill’s Corps in his front and right flank.

Negley felt it prudent to withdraw west a little to the Widow Davis’ house and called on Thomas for support. During the night he adjusted his front to face Hindman. Thomas sent Baird’s division to support him, and late on the afternoon of September 10 they began their rapid march to relieve Negley, where he positioned himself on Negley’s left. While this did strengthen Negley’s position, the other two divisions under Thomas were still west of Lookout Mountain leaving Negley and Baird in a position that was far from healthy.

Seeing his opportunity, Bragg, on the evening of the 9th, ordered Hill and Hindman to move against Negley, he himself moved to Pigeon Mountain to await the development of the attack. Bragg was let down by his subordinates, both seemed to wait on the other, neither making any decisive move. The 10th September was a wasted opportunity for the Confederate forces, and Bragg re-ordered the attack to begin on the 11th, by now Baird had moved up to support Negley. Again poor leadership and indecision handed the day to the federals, the attack did not happen. Realizing the situation he was in, i.e. the intelligence he had been given was wrong, there was in fact a large Confederate force around Lafayette, he started back through Stevens Gap at around 8 a.m. on the 11th. Cleburne’s men tried to cut them off, but to no avail, allowing Negley to make a successful and skillful withdrawal that took him most of the day.
Site Photos - (click on photos to view)
This is historical marker is all that
marks the site as being  historical 		This road will lad reenactors and
visitors to Union camp site.		 An old farm house could serve as headquarters for the Union Army
Thick woods allow Union soldiers to
camp in peace, away from the eyes
of the Confederates
 Confederates will have to cross Chickamauga Creek to reach their camp site This historical marker of the site shows the movements of the two armies in and around the area of Davis Crossroads
Confederates will be able to stretch out in this large field Thick woods around the Confederate Camp site, allow reenactors to enjoy peace and quite A large open field will allow hundreds of Union soldiers to set up camp for the Battle of Chickamauga