Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Granger, Grant, and Grandpa

The Battle of Chickamauga was a bloody disaster for both sides and a shaky victory for the South. By comparison, its aftermath, the Battle of Chattanooga, was one of the most picturesque battles of the Civil War and a glorious victory for the North. It was this third and decisive victory for the North (after Vicksburg and Gettysburg) that gave the Union the upper-hand and turned the tide of the War. Henry Annis fought at both Chickamauga and Chattanooga, but years later, when reflecting on his wartime adventures, he chose to write the account of his experience at Lookout Mountain overlooking Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Using Henry's memoir and the official reports and correspondence documented in the volumes of Official Records and The Rebellion Record, I have attempted to retrace Henry's wartime experience and reconstruct it in the larger context of this regiment, and of the battles themselves. I have also tried to trace the personal and military history of the man who told it the way he fought it, learn about his superior officers who controlled not only the outcome of the battles, but Henry's fate as well, and clarify his experiences with both a micro and macro account of the battles and the interim siege, striving for an overall picture of this part of the Civil War and Henry Annis's part in it.