William Boynton, Sherman's Historical Raid

The other course open to Rosecrans was the one lie adopted, namely, to cross the Tennessee far below the city, and the three intervening mountain ranges, come down in the rear of Chattanooga, and force Bragg to evacuate it.

Long before the single line of railroad could bring him the needed supplies for such a campaign, Halleck, who knew nothing of the ground and its great difficulties, was telegraphing from Washington peremptory orders to move. But, waiting till he had twenty-five days scant supplies, Rosecrans cut loose from his base and crossed the Tennessee under great disadvantages, one of his largest divisions actually crossing in canoes and upon rafts constructed by the men, many of the soldiers piling their clothes, guns, and cartridge-boxes on two or three rails, and pushing the whole over before them as they swam the half mile of deep water. The three ranges were all difficult in the extreme; but finally the main part of the army came down from Lookout Mountain into McLemore's Cove, in rear of Chattanooga, and Bragg, giving up the city without a blow, being unable to hold it and at the same time confront Rosecrans with any portion of his force, evacuated it and retreated to Lafayette, behind Pigeon Mountains. Here, he was virtually reenforced by Longstreet from Virginia, although the forces of the latter were still only within supporting distance, and not, as General Sherman writes, before he evacuated Chattanooga. And because he was thus reenforced he set out to re-occupy the city he had abandoned, and which he knew to be Rosecrans' objective point. Then occurred the widely misunderstood and misrepresented battle of Chickamauga.

Bragg, strengthened by Longstreet, started to interpose between Rosecrans and the stronghold he had lately evacuated. Rosecrans was also marching to occupy it as the objective point of his campaign. Thus marching, the heads of the two armies met where their respective roads to Chattanooga intersected, about six miles from the city, and facing toward each other and closing together like the blades of a