September 9, 1863, the critical rail and river center of Chattanooga, Tennessee was entered by General Rosecrans’ Army of the Cumberland, having been abandoned by Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee. The Confederates withdrew into Georgia, not far away. Rosecrans’ forces were spread out over 40 miles.
“The enemy has decided not to fight at Chattanooga,” Rosecrans wrote to Halleck … adding in a subsequent communication, “Chattanooga is ours without a struggle, and East Tennessee is free … Our move on the enemy’s flank and rear progresses, while the tail of his retreating column will not escape unmolested.”
