There should be no question that the commander who was the most influential at this battle was George Thomas. If you have to ask why, you don’t know what happened that day.
Going with the obvious here, The Rock! Not Dwayne Johnson but George Thomas, The Rock of Chickamauga. His “steadfast resistance” @ Horseshoe Ridge bought the Federals time until dusk to withdraw safely to Chattanooga.
For his excellence in command of his brigade – Col. John T. Wilder rises to the top. His leadership was notable during each of the three days he was engaged on September 18 at Alexander’s Bridge, September 19 in the Viniard Field along the Lafayette Road, and on September 20 he maintained his position until ordered to withdraw.
Thomas is the easy answer, but to me not the correct one. Before his stalwart defense of the Union left, his constant demand for reinforcements led to severe unit and command confusion. When the fight essentially came to him, he effectively utilized his topographical advantage to repel most of the disjointed Confederate assaults.
However, it was General George Granger who truly saved the day, by marching his Reserve command “to the sound of the guns”. Without his brigades, it is more than certain that Thomas’s resistance would have collapsed before he could have organized a rather orderly retreat.
So my vote goes to another member of the “Ulysses Grant dislikes me” club, George Granger!
Lots of George Thomas answers here, not too surprising. I’ll chime in here with John Wilder and his “Lightning Brigade.” His actions on the 18th and 19th proved critical to the US effort. Who knows how things would have turned out had NOT Dana scarfed them up for an escort into Chattanooga. Could have struck a hard blow after the breakthrough.
There should be no question that the commander who was the most influential at this battle was George Thomas. If you have to ask why, you don’t know what happened that day.
Going with the obvious here, The Rock! Not Dwayne Johnson but George Thomas, The Rock of Chickamauga. His “steadfast resistance” @ Horseshoe Ridge bought the Federals time until dusk to withdraw safely to Chattanooga.
George Thomas is the obvious choice, but Longstreet did pretty well, too.
For his excellence in command of his brigade – Col. John T. Wilder rises to the top. His leadership was notable during each of the three days he was engaged on September 18 at Alexander’s Bridge, September 19 in the Viniard Field along the Lafayette Road, and on September 20 he maintained his position until ordered to withdraw.
Thomas is the easy answer, but to me not the correct one. Before his stalwart defense of the Union left, his constant demand for reinforcements led to severe unit and command confusion. When the fight essentially came to him, he effectively utilized his topographical advantage to repel most of the disjointed Confederate assaults.
However, it was General George Granger who truly saved the day, by marching his Reserve command “to the sound of the guns”. Without his brigades, it is more than certain that Thomas’s resistance would have collapsed before he could have organized a rather orderly retreat.
So my vote goes to another member of the “Ulysses Grant dislikes me” club, George Granger!
Lots of George Thomas answers here, not too surprising. I’ll chime in here with John Wilder and his “Lightning Brigade.” His actions on the 18th and 19th proved critical to the US effort. Who knows how things would have turned out had NOT Dana scarfed them up for an escort into Chattanooga. Could have struck a hard blow after the breakthrough.