The Battle of Chattanooga ended on this day 162 years ago...

November 25, 1863.

After having successfully broken the siege some days before, Ulysses S. Grant was now focused on driving the Confederate army under Braxton Bragg off the high ground to the west and south of town. The first blow was against Lookout Mountain on November 24, where forces under Major General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker drove the forces of Carter Stevenson off the prominent landmark.

With the Confederate left shattered, Grant now focused on the Confederate right atop Tunnel Hill, located on the northern edge of Missionary Ridge. To assail this point he turned to his old friend William T. Sherman to lead the way. The attack went forward against the forces of William J. Hardee but quickly became bogged down due to poor coordination and the formidable works the Confederates had prepared to meet the attack. Fearing that Bragg would move troops from his center to beef up his embattled right flank, Grant ordered the forces of George Thomas to assault the base of Missionary Ridge to hold the Confederates in place.

Thomas's men went forward, successfully captured the base of Missionary Ridge, then paused for a brief moment to catch their breath before advancing - without orders - up the slope of Missionary Ridge. Grant watched in horror as Thomas's men advanced into the teeth of the Confederate position around Chattanooga and angrily asked who ordered the attack. Grant need not have worried, as Bragg had foolishly placed the main part of his defense atop Missionary Ridge on the geographic crest instead of the "military" crest of the ridge. This made it impossible for his men to fire at the advancing Union soldiers out of the very real risk of hitting their own men who were falling back ahead of the Union advance. By the time they had a shot, it was too late. Thomas's men were amongst them and the Confederate position quickly unraveled.

The Confederate line collapsed and Bragg's army began streaming away from Chattanooga and back into nearby Georgia. The state of Tennessee was now firmly in Union control and one of the Confederacy's major rail centers permanently out of reach for the South. The Battle of Missionary Ridge had cost the Union 5,824 total casualties compared to the Confederacy's 6,667 casualties. The victory would catapult Grant to the head of all Union armies in March of the next year and set up a showdown between himself and Robert E. Lee in May 1864. Braxton Bragg would never again command a major army in the field as Davis, a personal friend of Bragg's, was finally forced to accept the fact that he was a terrible (and toxic) commander.