The Bragg Reservation on Missionary Ridge in the Chattanooga Unit of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park marks the site of General Bragg’s headquarters. It is at this central section of the Confederate line atop the ridge that Union Major General George Thomas stormed on November 25th, routing the Rebels and sending them retreating down the backside of Missionary Ridge. You will find artillery, tablets, and a magnificent Illinois Monument, as well as minor monuments to Ohio and Missouri troops.
On Monday afternoon, November 23, 1863, Union troops under the command of General George H. Thomas formed battle lines in an open valley between the city of Chattanooga and a rocky mound, known as Orchard Knob, to the east. Confederate soldiers positioned on the knob had previously constructed rifle pits along the crest and around the base in order to assist them in besieging the city. Confederate sentries atop Orchard Knob anxiously watched as the Union lines moved into a parade-like formation in front of their positions. Around 1:30 P.M. Union buglers sounded the command "Forward," and approximately 14,000 troops began marching toward the Confederate positions. Only 634 Confederates held the line around Orchard Knob. The Union soldiers closed in on the knob, exchanging fire with the Confederates and pushing them back to the base of Missionary Ridge. A few minutes before 3:00 P.M., General Thomas J. Wood galloped to the summit and signaled to General Thomas: "I have taken the first line of the enemy's entrenchments." Thomas responded, "Hold on; don't come back; you have got too much; entrench [sic] your position." Although Orchard Knob was a minor engagement, it showed Grant that Bragg's army was still a capable fighting force and aided Bragg in realizing he should be concerned about the possibility of a Union attack upon his lines. On November 25 Orchard Knob became General Grant's forward observation post as he watched the Union assault upon Missionary Ridge.
On November 25, 1863, more than 50,000 Union soldiers stormed the Confederate defenses along Missionary Ridge east of Chattanooga. The attack stretched from the Rossville Gap at the Georgia border all the way up to Tunnel Hill at the northern end of Missionary Ridge. By the end of the day the Confederate Army of Tennessee was retreating towards Dalton, Georgia and Chattanooga were firmly in Union hands. It was, as one Confederate officer later described it, "The death knell of the Confederacy." Along the crest of Missionary Ridge are a series of eight reservations and monuments that preserve and tell the story of key areas of the Battle of Missionary Ridge. Most of these reservations and monuments are located in residential neighborhoods along a narrow road at the crest of the ridge. Several tablets and cannons are located on private property in residents' yards. Please be respectful of these residents, and do not block or park in private driveways, or enter private property without the owner's consent.
