General James Longstreet's Assault at Chickamauga

James Ogden examined General James Longstreet’s assault at Chickamauga and assesses the actions of the general during the battle. He argued that there was a difference between the formation Longstreet had planned for the assault and how Confederate troops lined up out of necessity during the heat of the action. The Battle of Chickamauga in September 1863 is widely considered to be the Union Army’s worst defeat in the Civil War’s western theater and ranks second only to Gettysburg in terms of total casualties. The battle turned on the assault by Confederate troops under General James Longstreet, which drove one-third of the Union Army from the field.

The talk was part of the Third Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge, with the theme of “Great Attacks of the Civil War.” close