Bad time to have Cabin Fever

                Brigadier General Archibald Gracie commanded a group of Confederate soldiers from April of 1862 until Gracie’s death in the Petersburg trenches in 1864. That group of soldiers was comprised of changing regiments during the ebb and flow of Confederate fortunes in ’62 and ’63, but when Gracie led his brigade toward the sound of gunfire during the Battle of Chickamauga on September 20, 1863, his command included Hilliard’s Legion of Alabama Volunteers, the 43^rd Alabama Infantry Regiment and the 63^rd Tennessee Infantry Regiment.

The upper reaches of Hill 1 at Horseshoe Ridge with
the marker for Gracie's Brigade.

          Briefly, late in the afternoon of the second day of the engagement several regiments of the Union’s Army of the Cumberland were perched on the edge of Horseshoe Ridge and those Union fighters had gamely hung on and fended off a major Confederate effort to push the bluecoats off the Ridge.

          It was a bloody, awful fight for both sides. The Union commander, General William S. Rosecrans, had already fled the battlefield after a Confederate breakthrough. The Confederate commander, General Braxton Bragg, had retired to his headquarters believing the battle lost.

          Most of Gracie’s men were seeing combat for the first time, but they managed to overcome the tremendous Federal defense and doggedly pushed up the hillside. Gracie’s men forced the Federals to give up the informal breastworks they created the night before. The Union soldiers backed away to a wooded area behind them and continued their rifle fire at the Confederates.

          It was now about 5 p.m.

          The above is available in any source about Chickamauga. Far as it goes, the above is accurate.

The view come of Gracie's men might have had, looking from the crest of Hill 1 toward Hill 2. Above is an edited
version of what it MAY have looked like in September of 1863. Below is the modern view with the monuments and
parking lot.

          The problem is that the story is incomplete. There is more.

          We know now that a small number of Confederate soldiers did more than just reach the Federal breastworks. Some Confederates crossed through or over the works and gained access to the top of Hill 1 on Horseshoe Ridge.

          For those unfamiliar with the battle, Hill 1 was the right-most of the three hills on Horseshoe Ridge (as one looks uphill) and Gracie’s men made up the right-most attacking force at the time of their charge up the side of the Ridge. Other Confederate commands had tried and failed to reach the edge of the Ridge earlier in the day.

          The hillside was, as it is today, lined with trees. But unlike today, it was packed with the corpses of the Southerners who had failed to reach the top when Gracie’s men arrived. Small fires, sparked by small arms fire, flickered and the smoke from the fires added to the atmosphere.



The cabin marking the approximate location of the Snodgrass home is
just visible to the left of center. The view is from the top of Hill 1.

          Atop the Ridge and to the right of the right-most Gracie man was the home of the Snodgrass family. Its approximate location is marked today by a small cabin. The Snodgrass home was used as a hospital for wounded Union men during the battle.

The Tennessee regiment was Gracie’s right-most unit and the 63rd immediately fouled up by marching directly into the cannon fire of a Union artillery unit in a cornfield adjacent to and at almost a 90-degree angle to the Ridge. Pinned down, the 63^rd was not part of the charge up the hillside.

          But the Legion and the 43^rd eventually pushed the Union men away from the berm of the hill.

          At that time, shortly after arriving at the front end of the breastworks, a smattering of men from the Legion’s First Battalion went over the works and scampered about atop the Ridge. The unabated gunfire from both sides made the exposed top of the Ridge a terribly dangerous place to be and we know that at least one of the Confeds who risked the Ridge was wounded.

The Snodgrass cabin may have been the goal of the Confederate men who climbed over the works. Evidence collected by this researcher indicates that at least one of Gracie’s men made it as far as the Snodgrass home. If the cabin was the goal, it was a bad time to come down with Cabin Fever.

We believe the men that risked their lives to rush about in the area of the Snodgrass home were in search of food. Confederate soldiers did not eat well or often. It stands to reason that the Snodgrass home had a vegetable garden and that garden may have been another temptation for the hungry men of Bragg’s Army of Tennessee.

          One of the Confederate Ridge runners was wounded shortly after stopping to snag a pumpkin. Later that night, after his wound was dressed, he ate the gourd and was known afterwards as ‘Pumpkin’ by his mates.

          The men of the Legion have never gotten the credit they deserve. If I ever get my book published, maybe I can fix that.

 

          In the meantime, thanks for reading.