"Miracle at Missionary Ridge"
The Battle of Missionary Ridge was won decisively by Union forces here on November 25, 1863. Shocking both their Union commanders and the Confederate soldiers looking down at them from the Ridge, intrepid Union regulars under Maj. Gens. Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, and George H. Thomas, without being ordered to advance, clambered up the steep slopes and routed the Rebels under General Braxton Bragg.
General Grant, not happy to see such an advance without his command, asked who had given the order. When General Thomas said it wasn't him, Grant warned darkly that someone would pay if the attack failed. Instead, various parties later contested for the credit.
Taking the seemingly impregnable position was called, "The Miracle of Missionary Ridge." Were the Union soldiers frustrated from the months of siege and short rations? Were they boiling with rage from the humiliation of Chickamauga? Did an 18-year-old color bearer with the redundant name of Arthur McArthur really instigate and inspire the charge while yelling, "On Wisconsin!" Or were the bluecoats just caught out in the open after taking the Confederate skirmish lines at the foot of the Ridge, and found ducking under the slopes and running upwards was better than taking fire while running backwards? The theories continue.
Bragg barely escaped in the ensuing havoc and never recovered the faith of his subordinates or his commanding status in The Great Rebellion. The victory opened the door for Sherman's "march to the sea" and tore away the railroad supply lines Confederate forces needed to continue in the area.
Outnumbered by more than two to one, Bragg weakened his situation by:
Sending General Longstreet and his several thousand regulars off on an ill-planned and strategically questionable harassment of Union General Burnside's forces.
Continuing to stretch his forces across Lookout Mountain and miles of connecting territory as if he still had Chattanooga under siege, when the Union had long since broken through at Brown's ferry.
Dividing his forces to defend both the bottom and the top of Missionary Ridge.
Not fortifying the Ridge or situating his cannon to be able to fire down upon forces climbing it.
-Doug Eckert