Snodgrass Hill, 1:00-7:00 p.m.

The Rock of Chickamauga, Snodgrass Hill, 1:00-7:00pm

Afternoon September 20, 1863

The Defense of Snodgrass Hill
From White, Bushwhacking on a Grand Scale, 120

After Longstreet’s breakthrough in the Union center, Rosecrans and much of the Union army retreated towards Chattanooga in disarray. Remnants of Union regiments, brigades, and divisions rallied around an elevated hill, part of a farm belonging to a man named Snodgrass. The extended ridge attached to Snodgrass Hill was known as Horseshoe Ridge. These were the hills where Major General George Thomas made a last stand, buying time for the Union retreat, and earning his nickname, The Rock of Chickamauga. 

Colonel Charles Harker’s brigade from Brigadier General Thomas Wood’s division and Brigadier General John Brannan’s division were the first to arrive on the ridge and began to form a defense. As more and more Union units arrived on the scene, Brannan placed them in line. Confederate General Joseph Kershaw’s division had followed Harker’s men and pushed them back onto Snodgrass Hill. Brannan’s men were able to repulse Kershaw. 

From his position on Kelly Field about a half-mile to the East, Thomas heard firing behind him. He knew that firing behind him meant that there had been a break somewhere in the Union line. Thomas decided to go see for himself. When he came upon the hills, he took charge of the Union troops there and prepared to defend his position. 

Soon, the same Confederate corps who had smashed through the gap in the Union center began to assault this ridge. But Longstreet’s assaults were uncoordinated. Wave after wave of attacks were repulsed by Thomas’s men. The bloodshed was horrific. Men died in droves on the steep slopes. Hand to hand combat broke out all along the line. Union artillery aimed down at the onrushing Confederates discharged double canister, creating wide gaps in the Confederates battle lines. 

Thomas soon learned that his men were quickly running out of ammunition. When the men asked him if there was more, he told them to use their bayonets. Worse, the Confederates began attempts to outflank Thomas around the Union right, anchored on the edge of Horseshoe Ridge. The Ohioans in that section had been able to hold off the past few attempts with their Colt Revolving Rifles. They too were running out of ammunition. The Confederates’ numerical superiority began to push the Federals back as they tried to roll up the Union right. Luckily, a few regiments were able to make right angles and counter the Confederate effort. 

One soldier remembered that when Thomas saw the Confederates reach the crest of the ridge he “drew his sword, rose in his stirrups and rode among his men, shouting to them: ‘Go back! Go back! This hill must be held at all hazards!’ Riding up to the top with his sword flashing in the light, his face expressive of determination, his words acted like magic.” Thomas’s presence and encouragement inspired his troops. 

At one point during the battle, Confederate sharpshooters began to fire at him. He paid no attention to it until a member of his staff asked him to move somewhere else. But Thomas went around his battle lines asking if there were any skilled squirrel hunters among them. He gathered a group of his own sharpshooters and soon the enemy marksmen were no more. 

Then from his position on the hill, Thomas could see clouds of smoke rising in the distance. It was a large body of troops moving towards him. If they were Confederates, Thomas would be forced to retreat, but he desperately hoped they were Union reinforcements. He sent a staff officer to find out who they were. It was Major General Gordon Granger’s Reserve Corps. The news greatly relieved Thomas and he went to meet Granger. He placed Granger’s men where the Ohioans had made their desperate struggle and used them to lengthen the Union right. They were put in place just in time as Confederate Brigadier General Bushrod Johnson’s Tennesseans charged up towards them. Even exhausted from their six-mile journey to reach Horseshoe Ridge, they were able to repel their attack. If Granger had not arrived when he did, the line would have broken. Granger had also brought 95,000 rounds of ammunition which was distributed to all the soldiers on Horseshoe Ridge. 

The Confederates continued to charge up the steep slopes over and over again. Sometimes they almost broke through, but somehow, Thomas’s men were able to throw them back down the hill. One more wave of reinforcements, Colonel Ferdinand Van Derveer’s brigade, arrived to help Thomas. But soon enough, the men began to run out of ammunition once more. They tried to find rounds among the dead and wounded in between Confederate assaults. 

Orders to retreat soon arrived from General Rosecrans in Rossville. Thomas decided to hold on until sunset, which he did, and then reluctantly retreated in order towards Chattanooga.  

Thomas’s stand on Snodgrass Hill and Horseshoe Ridge allowed the bulk of the Union army to retreat without being pursued by Bragg’s Confederates. His effort did not go unnoticed, as Lincoln wrote, “Nothing could be more ungracious than to indulge any suspicion towards Gen. Thomas. It is doubtful whether his heroism and skill exhibited last Sunday afternoon, has ever been surpassed in this world.”  

The Rock of Chickamauga saved the Army of the Cumberland from complete disaster. 

Author: Shannon Rowe, March 3, 2015

Further Reading:
Woodworth, Steven E.  Six Armies in Tennessee: The Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaigns. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998. Pages 120-128.

White, William L. Bushwhacking on a Grand Scale: The Battle of Chickamauga, September 18-20, 1863. El Dorado Hills, CA: Savas Beatie LLC, 2013. Pages 119-131. 

Einolf, Christopher. George Thomas: Virginian for the Union. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2007. Pages 172-188.