The Army of the Cumberland [113]
making Sherman's part of the plan so much the lighter as the line on his battle front was weakened. To carry this out Hugh Ewing's division was sent to Trenton, but this accomplished nothing. Grant fearing that Bragg's right might be too strong for Sherman to give his lesson to the Army of the Cumberland properly, finding Osterhaus's division cut off from Sherman, ordered it to report to Hooker, who was directed to take it and Geary's division with Cruft's division of the Fourth Corps and make a demonstration on the rebel left at Lookout Mountain, to attract the attention of Bragg while Sherman was getting into position to take "the end of Missionary Ridge as far as the tunnel." Hooker, on the day previous, learning that Howard's corps was going into Chattanooga, and probably into the fight, asked to be allowed his right to be with his troops under fire. Under his original order he was simply to hold Lookout Valley, which he did not relish if part of his command should engage the enemy. When his orders came to "make a demonstration" he determined he would take Lookout Mountain and drive Bragg's left out of his works. With less than ten thousand troops, over two-thirds of whom were the Army of the Cumberland, Hooker fought his "Battle above the Clouds," that will last in history forever, and grow in fancy and song as the years roll on. Hooker took Lookout Mountain and drove the rebel left to Rossville, over five miles, before Sherman reached the tunnel. He made Sherman's task none the easier, however, because Bragg then threw the two divisions Hooker had whipped upon Sherman's front.
Then, when Sherman had been fighting for nearly two days, and had failed to make the headway Grant's plan contemplated, the plan underwent another modification. On the 25th, Grant ordered Thomas to move out his troops from the centre, to make another "demonstration" in Sherman's behalf, so he could take the tunnel in accordance with the original plan. Thomas was ordered to take the first line of rifle-pits and hold his command there, while Bragg was expected to draw off part of his troops from Sherman's front and strengthen his line in front of the "demonstration." Thomas's orders to his corps and division generals were given in accordance with Grant's instructions, and as the orders reached the brigade and regimental commanders, as far as the officers were concerned the movement was only to be a "demonstration." When the troops reached the rebel line, captured it, and then found themselves under the heavy fire from the enemy's lines on the heights above, without orders, and even against orders, the soldiers of the Army of the Cumberland, who were "so demoralized that they would not fight," pressed up the face of the ridge under the deadly musketry fire that greeted them, with cannon in front, to the right and the left, raking with converging fire, and won for General Grant the battle of Missionary Ridge, driving Bragg away from Sherman's front and thus enabling him to take the tunnel as ordered. Whenever the victory of Missionary Ridge shall be narrated on history's page, this gallant charge of the brave men of Wood's and Sheridan's divisions, with those of Baird and Johnson on their left and right, will always be the prominent feature of the engagement as told in the coming years, and will be the last to lose its glory and renown.
No wonder that General Grant failed to appreciate this movement at the time, not understanding the troops who had it in charge. When he found these commands ascending the ridge to capture it when he ordered a "demonstration" to be made to the foot of the hill and there to wait, he turned sharply to General Thomas and asked, "By whose orders are those troops going up the hill?" General Thomas, taking in the situation at once, suggested that it was probably their own. General Grant remarked that "it was all right if it turned out all right," and added, "if not, some one would suffer." But it turned out "all right," and Grant in his official report compliments the troops for "following closely the
Then, when Sherman had been fighting for nearly two days, and had failed to make the headway Grant's plan contemplated, the plan underwent another modification. On the 25th, Grant ordered Thomas to move out his troops from the centre, to make another "demonstration" in Sherman's behalf, so he could take the tunnel in accordance with the original plan. Thomas was ordered to take the first line of rifle-pits and hold his command there, while Bragg was expected to draw off part of his troops from Sherman's front and strengthen his line in front of the "demonstration." Thomas's orders to his corps and division generals were given in accordance with Grant's instructions, and as the orders reached the brigade and regimental commanders, as far as the officers were concerned the movement was only to be a "demonstration." When the troops reached the rebel line, captured it, and then found themselves under the heavy fire from the enemy's lines on the heights above, without orders, and even against orders, the soldiers of the Army of the Cumberland, who were "so demoralized that they would not fight," pressed up the face of the ridge under the deadly musketry fire that greeted them, with cannon in front, to the right and the left, raking with converging fire, and won for General Grant the battle of Missionary Ridge, driving Bragg away from Sherman's front and thus enabling him to take the tunnel as ordered. Whenever the victory of Missionary Ridge shall be narrated on history's page, this gallant charge of the brave men of Wood's and Sheridan's divisions, with those of Baird and Johnson on their left and right, will always be the prominent feature of the engagement as told in the coming years, and will be the last to lose its glory and renown.
No wonder that General Grant failed to appreciate this movement at the time, not understanding the troops who had it in charge. When he found these commands ascending the ridge to capture it when he ordered a "demonstration" to be made to the foot of the hill and there to wait, he turned sharply to General Thomas and asked, "By whose orders are those troops going up the hill?" General Thomas, taking in the situation at once, suggested that it was probably their own. General Grant remarked that "it was all right if it turned out all right," and added, "if not, some one would suffer." But it turned out "all right," and Grant in his official report compliments the troops for "following closely the