155 years ago today: Ulysses S. Grant secured Chattanooga

And completely routed the Confederate Army of Tennessee from the field. On this date in history, Grant ordered a general assault along his entire line. Confederates under Braxton Bragg were entrenched along a strong defensive position called Missionary Ridge. The main attack was to be made by Sherman to the north while George Thomas's forces in the center were to take the entrenchments below Missionary Ridge and hold the Confederates' attention there while Sherman outflanked them.

Sherman got bogged down, however, and when Thomas's troops took the entrenchments at the base of Missionary Ridge, they defied orders and continued advancing up the ridge. Grant, observing from afar, immediately turned on Thomas and demanded to know who gave the order to Thomas's men to continue advancing. "Not I, General," was Thomas's curt reply.

Meanwhile, Thomas's men were pursuing the retreating rebels so closely, that their friends atop Missionary Ridge could not safely open fire on the Union host without hitting their own men. The result was an absolute disaster for the Confederates. Union soldiers and Confederates clashed briefly atop Missionary Ridge before the Confederate line gave up and the entire position collapsed. Tens of thousands of Confederate soldiers streamed for the rear into Georgia.

Confederate victory, which had seemed so certain just two months before, had turned into one of the biggest Union strategic triumphs of the war so far. They had successfully captured a vital railroad junction, cutting the Deep South off from Richmond and opening Atlanta up for capture. The victory was icing on the cake for Lincoln who now realized Grant was the man he needed commanding all of his forces in the field.

The Battle of Chattanooga comes to an end....155 years ago today.