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Dated:  November 27, 2013


BATTLE OF LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN
ORGANIZATIONAL TABLE
NOVEMBER 24TH, 1863

CONFEDERATE FORCES

Maj.-Gen. Carter L. Stevenson

    General Stevenson took over command from Lt-Gen Hardee at night on November 23rd.  When he arrived, General Stevenson was in command of approximately 9,000 men in two divisions:  Stevenson's Division and Cheatham's Division, temporartily commanded by Gen. John K. Jackson.  Walker's Division had just moved over to Missionary Ridge and Cheatham's Division replaced it.  Soon, General Bragg began taking away more units and Stevenson was left with one division of approximately 3,000 men to defend a 3-mile long front of rugged terrain.

  [A]  Brig.-Gen. John K. Jackson's Division - remained on top of Lookout Mtn

   (1)  Brig.-Gen. Edward C. Walthall's Brigade - 1500 strong.
                                        24th Mississippi - Col. Wm F. Dowd #
                                        27th Mississippi - Lt.-Col. A. J. Jones
                                        29th Mississippi -  Col. William F. Brantly
                                        30th Mississippi - Major James M. Johnson
                                        34th Mississippi - Col. Samuel Benton
        One third were skirmishers along Lookout Creek north of railroad bridge. Main body's right next
        to Craven's House and extended 1/4 around West slope of Mtn.

      (2)  Brig.-Gen. John C. Moore's Brigade - 1200 strong.
                                        37th Alabama - Col. J. F. Dowdell
                                        40th Alabama - Col. John H. Higley
                                        42nd Alabama - Lt-Col. Th. C. Lanier
         Skirmishers along Tennessee River from Lookout Creek to Chatanooga Creek. Main body
           on Northern slope below Craven's House.
 
      (3) Brig.-Gen. Edmund W. Pettus' Brigade- Top of Lookout Mtn.
                                        20th Alabama - Capt. John W. Davis
                                        23rd Alabama - Lt-Col. J. B. Bibb
                                        30th Alabama - Col. Charles M. Shelley
                                        31st Alabama - Col. D. R. Hundley
                                        46th Alabama - Capt. Geo. E. Brewer
                 Two regiments were on top of the mountain and two

      (4) Brig.-Gen. John C. Brown's Brigade- Top of Lookout Mtn.
                                        3rd Tennessee - Col. Calvin H. Walker
                                        18th and 26th Tennessee - Lt-Col. William R. Butler
                                        32nd Tennessee - Capt. Thomas D. Deavenport
                                        45th Tennessee & 23rd Tennessee Battalion - Col. A. Searcy

       (5) Brig.-Gen. Alfred Cumming's Brigade

       (6) Brig.-Gen. Jackson's Brigade

      Artillery
        Howell's Georgia Battery, 1 Section - 2nd Lt. R. T. Gibson  -
               At the front steps of the Cravens House  - 2 X 6-Lb
         Cherokee Artillery - Capt. Max Van Den Corput   4 X
                Fired down from top of mountain.
         Garrity's Alabama Battery  -  Capt. James Garrity
                 Located on top of mountain for a month but was removed on Midnight of November 23rd.
                
        Reinforcements -  arrived late
         Clayton's Brigade - from Breckingridge's corps,  commanded by Col. J. T. Holtzclaw
                        Relieved Walthall's brigade at 8pm.
                                         18th AlabamaTennessee -  Maj. Shep Ruffin
                                        32nd AlabamaTennessee -  Capt. John W. Bell
                                        36th AlabamaTennessee - Col. Lewis T. Woodruff
                                        38th AlabamaTennessee - Col. Charles T. Ketchum
                                        58th AlabamaTennessee -  Lt-Col. John W. Inzer

UNION  FORCES        

 Maj-Gen. Joseph H. Hooker  - Army of Potomac
     Due to movement of the troops under the eyes of the Confederates on Lookout Mountain, the Union troops that in position south of the Tennessee River consisted on one division from each of the three armies under General Grant.  Grant decided to halt the transfer of trops due to the rising river and leave the units there with General Hooker.  He ordered Hooker to make a reconnaissance probe to Lookout Mountain and allowed him to use his discretion about advancing or attacking it.  The Union Division out-numbered the Confederates by 6:1, with a large portion of the Confederate troops not engaged in the battle.
    General John Geary's division lead the attack. He ordered his division across Lookout creek about 3 miles South of the Tennessee River.  They formed a column that stretched from the cliff face below the top of Lookout Mountain and stretched down to Lookout Valley.  Whitaker's Brigade of Cruft's Division fell in behind Geary's line.  The other Union divisions threatened to cross Lookout Creek further North near the Tennessee River.  Hidden by the fog, Geary's line of 2200 men advanced along the slope of the mountain towards Confederate forward defensive positions of the 29th and 30 Mississippi Regiments.

 [A] Brig.-Gen. John W. Geary's Division - Army of Potomac just from Gettysburg.
        Geary just lost his son, Lt Edward Geary, 111th Penn at Brown's Ferry on Oct 28.
       Geary's division lead the attack. The division crossed Lookout creek about 3 miles South of

      (1) Col Charles Candy's Brigade.
                           5th, 7th, 29th, 66th Ohio
                           28th, 147th Pennsylvania
      (2) Col George A. Cobham, Jr. Brigade.
                            29th, 109th, 111th Pennsylvania
      (3) Col David Ireland's Brigade.
                            60th, 78th, 102nd, 137th, 149th New York

 [B] Brig-Gen. Charles Cruft's Division - Army of the Cumberland

      (1) Brig-Gen. Walter C. Whitaker's Brigade.
                            96th IL, 35th Indiana
                            8th Kentucy%,
                            40th, 51st, 99th Ohio
      (2) Col Wm Grose's Brigade.
                            59th, 75th, 84th Illinois
                            9th, 36th Ind, 24th Ohio

 [C] Brig-Gen. Peter J. Osterhaus' Division - Army of the Tennessee

      (1) Brig-Gen. Charles R. Wood's Brigade.
                            13th Illinois
                             3rd, 12th, 17th, 27th, 29th, 32nd Missouri
                            76th Ohio
      (2) Col 's Brigade.
                            4th, 9th, 25th, 26th, 30th, 31st Iowa

        %  8th Kentucky volunteers planted Union flag on peak of Lookout Mtn which was visible to everyone in both armies at dusk on the morning of the 25th.
     
 
   Major Thomas Acton of the 40 Ohio was killed at the Cravens House.
   Col. Henry Barnum of the 149 New York was wounded in the arm on the Western slope.
  Major Gilbert Elliot of Ireland's brigade was first in the division to be wounded.


  Union Artillery
      1st Iowa Light Artillery
      4 Ohio Light Artillery  2 X 20-Lb Parrott
      Battery I, 1st New York Light Artillery
      Battery K, 1st Ohio Light Artillery
      Battery F, 2nd Missouri Light Artillery
      Battery K, 5 US Artillery

   From Army of Cumberland
     10 Indiana Artllery
     18 Ohio Artillery

    Eastern Slope of Mountain
    8 Wisconsin Light Artillery
     7th Indiana Light Artillery


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Western slope of Lookout Mountain

   The 29th and 30th  Mississippi regiments consisting of ~600 men occupied a line of defense behind a stone wall on the Western slope of Lookout Mountain.  They sent out skirmishers in the morning but they fell back to this postion.   US General Geary's division of 2200 men were advancing from the South (right) in a line that stretched from the valley to the cliff face at the top of the mountain.
  This stone wall began at the large boulder, seen in the background, and ran down the slope to the boulder on the right.  This is the point where the Rifle Pit Trail crosses their defensive line.  The stone wall continued on down the slope for another 100 yards or so.  To the North(left), the regiments had their camp of lean-to shelters.

Confederate defense line

 
Walthall's Defense of Lookout Mountain
and the
30th Mississippi Regiment

   General Walthall's brigade was assigned to the defense of the western side of  Lookout Mountain.  The area was bounded by the Cravens House located just below the peak on the Northern slope and extended west to Lookout Creek and included the south bank of the Tennessee River.  The day before the battle, he placed the 34th Missisippi along Lookout Creek and the Rail Road bed to act as skirmishers to guard against any attempts to cross.  The 29th and 30th Mississippi regiments were placed on the Western slope of Lookout Mountain about a 1/2 mile from the northern tip of the peak.  There they established or used an existing defense line built of stone that ran down the slope.  Their campsite was behind the defense line.  Each morning, they deployed as skirmishers down the slope to connect with the Lookout Creek.  The 24th and 27th Mississippi regiments were held in reserve a little further North and near the spine of the mountain.  Small groups of pickets were sent further South to guard other possible crossing sites.
  Union General Hooker placed his artillery and heavy infantry on the West side of Lookout Creek, next to where it entered the Tennessee River. Another group set-up near the turnpike road and railroad bridges about a mile from the Tennessee River. The bridge was damage and would be hard to cross under fire.  General Hooker selected General Geary's division to be the main attacking force. The plan was to have him cross Lookout Creek 3 miles South of the Confederate line and move up the slope.  The morning fog would conceal their movement from most of the enemy except for the Confederates on top of Lookout Mountain. 
  General Geary crossed the Creek and formed into a column that stretched from the cliff face at the top of the slope and extended down to Lookout Valley.  Whitaker's brigade formed behind his column that totalled 2200 men.  The only Confederates opposing him would be the 600 men of the 29th and 30th Mississippi regiment.  After calling back their skirmishers to the stone defensive line, the two regiments stopped Geary's advance for awhile.  The Union line extended beyond their line in both directions so they would expected to be out-flanked and surrounded.  General Walthall had sent one of his reserve regiments, the 24th Mississippi, down to support line along the rail road embankment.  He held the 27th Mississippi in place as his fall back line of defense.  It was suicidal for the men of the 29th and 30th regiments to retreat as they had to cover some rough terrain.  The lines were spread thin and many fought alone.  As a result, these regiments had many captured on the slope of the mountain.
   General Walthall recalled the 24th Mississippi and formed his second line of defense.  Again they were forced back and many of the 24th Mississippi were taken prisoner here.  The spine of the mountain was a natural defensive position due to the sharp change of terrain.  However this position could be easily viewed by the Union guns.  They continued to fall back to the Cravens House.  During this time, General Walthall did not receive any support.  Some of the infantry and artillery on top of Lookout Mountain tried to fire down on the Union.  This was effective in some locations but most could not see the enemy through all the fog and smoke.  Walthall did not recall his 34th Mississippi regiment that remained in Lookout Valley. 
   The Cravens House was a farm house that was surrounded by 100 acres of cleared land in the shape of an "L".  The open land was also under Union gun sights.  The fighting pushed Walthall back to a feeble defense wall just East of the Cravens House.  General Moore brigade was holding a position lower down on the slope and further East of the Cravens House.  After hisrequests to his commander, General John Jackson, went unansered, General Moore finally made the decision to extend his brigade up to the Cravens House to help Walthall establish a line.  This extra firepower and their sheer exhaustion did seem to stop the Union advance for a few hours. 
   Now the Union forces at the turnpike bridge were able to cross and began moving East towards the Cravens House.  This completely cut off from the excape route of the 34th Missisippi.  The entire regimetn surrenderd.   As more Union troops crossed the Lookout Creek, they rapidly advanced along the turnpike and engaged Moore's brigade on the lower slopes and captured 200 of his men. 
  

IN WORK
 


 
Notes on Casualties
 
Estimate of Casualties and Missing
Reported from different areas of the battle  
Listed in chronological order of events.
Source: Cozzens book.

    27 Mississippi -  165 captured as skirmishers along Lookout Creek
  
    24 Mississippi -  150 on slope of mountain  
  
    40 Alabama    -  200 captured as skirmishers when Moore's right flank was overrun
  
    34 Mississippi -  entire regiment captured at mouth of Lookout Creek; less then a dozen escaped 
  
    37 Alabama     -  17 of Company I fell dead or wounded in an attack near Cravens House  
  
   Mississippi

Official Losses of Walthall's Brigade
at Battle of Lookout Mountain    (excludes casualties of other battles)
Source:  National Archives Files  (Complete list of roster is on Fold3.com)

              WIA includes all categories: slightly, severly, mortally
   Est. Strength: 1500 KIA    WIA
 MIA
   24th Mississippi --
 20 155
  27th Mississippi 6
 34
 163
  29th Mississippi 2
 26
 155
  30th Mississippi --
 7
 142
  34th Mississippi 2 4 230
  
        
Walthall's Brigade - Total
 8
 91
 845
Moore's Brigade - Total -- 39 205
Pettus' Brigade - Total 9 39 9


  
  


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