Confederate Breakthrough
A sledgehammer like Confederate attack smashed the Union line
The decisive event of the Battle of Chickamauga occurred here on September 20, the second day of the battle. At 11:10 AM just after the last of General Wood´s Union division had pulled out of line behind you -- and before other Federal units moved north to fill the gap -- the Confederate army struck.
Eight brigades about (11,000 men) of Longstreet Confederate left wing swept across the La Fayette Road in front of you and charged a thin line of Federal skirmishers just behind you the edge of the woods. The attack surprise the Federal divisions of Wood, Davis, and Sheridan who were in motion and unprepared to fight.
So overwhelming was the assault that nearly one-third of the Union army was driven from the field, including its commander General Rosecrans. Remnants of shattered Federal units tried to check the Confederate advance, but without success. The Confederates now had an opportunity to surround and destroy the Union Army.
Plaque courtesy Lat34North.com.
Original page, with additional info, here.
Photo credit: Byron Hooks of Lat34North.com.