150 years ago today, October 27, 1863 the Battle Of Browns Ferry took place near Chattanooga TN. After the defeat at Chickamauga in September, the Army Of The Cumberland was bottled up at Chattanooga. Their situation was sometimes referred to as a siege but it was not much of one in that the Confederates did not have the strength to capture the place and Rosecrans did have a supply route to the north. However the road was through hilly terrain and the passage was difficult due to rain and mud and Rebel cavalry raids. Some food and supplies got through but fodder was scarce and hundreds of horses starved. In mid October, General US Grant was given command of the region and the first thing he did was fire Rosecrans and replace him with Gen Thomas. ( Although both were good generals, Grant hated Rosecrans and Old Rosey did not like Grant. ) Late in September, General Hooker was sent west from Virginia with XI and XII corps to relieve Chattanooga. Hookers men were approaching from the west but the supply line was blocked by a brigade of Alabama Infantry at Browns Ferry. In Chattanooga, the 1st Michigan Engineers and Mechanics had opened a saw mill and built 50 pontoons and a couple of flatboats. Before dawn on October 27th portions of two brigades ( Hazens and Turchins) along with men from the 1st Michigan Engineers led by Capt Perrin Fox, floated the boats downstream to Browns Ferry. The force was undetected despite the bright moonlight. The men landed on the Confederate side of Browns Ferry, drove off Confederate pickets, beat back a counterattack by the 15th Alabama and wounded their colonel ( Wm Oates of Little Round Top fame). The 1st Michigan Engineers , aided by a 100 man detachment from the 21st Michigan Infantry, built an 870 foot pontoon bridge across the Tennessee River in less than 8 hours. Contact with Hookers men was soon established and by October 30th, supplies began to flow from the depot at Bridgeport Alabama. The images show Hazens men floating down the river and men of the 1st Michigan Engineers and Mechanics. The photo was taken on Lookout Mountain in 1864. Browns Ferry is easily visible from that spot.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Oct 2013 05:10:33 +0000