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The Battle for
Brown's Ferry

Oct. 27 at 5:00 am

 

 

 


 

Troops

Casualties

Union

5000

21

Confederate

250

20

Evander Law

William Hazen

 

 
Starving in Chattanooga

he Yankees were starving in Chattanooga. The only supply line open went through a very rough mountain range. Another supply line had to be opened or the Confederate strategy of starving the Union forces into submission might succeed.

The only possible supply line would have to go through territory controlled by the Confederates in Lookout Valley. The key to establishing this supply line was Brown’s Ferry. The Union had control of the northern bank (on Moccasin Bend) at Brown’s Ferry but Confederates held the opposite bank.

A line of hills border the southern bank of the Tennessee River in this area. These hills rise steeply forming a bank that towers 75 feet above the river. Brown's Ferry was located at a gap in this line of hills.

About 3:00 am on the morning of Oct 27, 1500 men under General William Hazen got into 50 pontoon boats in Chattanooga and quietly floated down the river (the Confederates controlled the river past Chattanooga). Another 3500 men under General John Turchin crossed the river at Chattanooga and went across Moccasin Bend to the bank opposite Brown’s Ferry. About 5:00 am the Union forces landed at Brown’s Ferry. They confronted a small force of Confederates under the command of General Evander Law and Captain William Oates.

When Oates learned the Yankees had landed at Brown's Ferry, he immediately attacked with his entire force of six companies (about 250 men). In the early morning darkness, Oates thought he was facing about 100 Yankees but soon learned he was greatly outnumbered. He ordered a retreat but not before suffering a serious leg wound.

By that afternoon, Union forces had built a bridge across the river (using the pontoon boats) and opened a new supply line called "The Cracker Line". The Confederate blockade had been broken. The question now was whether the Yankees could hold Brown's Ferry. See Maps

 The Cracker Line, named after a hardtack cracker eaten by soldiers, ran from Bridgeport AL up the river to Kelly's Ferry (close to the entrance of TVA's Raccoon Mtn. Pump Storage Facility) through a gap in Raccoon Mountain (current Hwy 41) to Brown's Ferry. It then crossed the river to Moccasin Bend and on to Chattanooga (crossing the river once more).

 

 
Securing
The Cracker Line

After Brown's Ferry, the Union strategy was to secure Lookout Valley and protect the Cracker Line. To do this, days before Brown's Ferry, the Union's Army of the Potomac under General "Fighting Joe" Hooker was ordered to advance from Bridgeport Alabama (about 25 miles southwest of Chattanooga) into Lookout Valley.

 

Hooker and The Army of the Potomac

On October 28, the day after Brown's Ferry, Bragg and Longstreet (who was in command of the Confederate left wing on Lookout Mountain and Lookout Valley) were told that a large force was marching down Lookout Valley. Bragg didn't believe the report, so he and Longstreet went to Sunset Rock and there saw Hooker and 6500 soldiers from The Army of the Potomac marching toward Brown's Ferry. As they watched, 1500 soldiers stopped and made camp at Wauhatchie. The remaining soldiers advanced 2 miles further. Bragg then ordered Longstreet to attack.

Wauhatchie was a train depot located on the west side of Lookout Creek, just below Sunset Rock and 3 miles from Brown’s Ferry.

At Wauhatchie, the Yankees under General Geary made camp and placed their cannon battery on a small knoll. Geary's son was in command of the battery.

 

 

 

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