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Lookout Mountain
Battle · Western Theatre
Battle of Lookout Mountain
November 24, 1863 · Chattanooga, Tennessee
Narrative
Commanders
At a glance
Outcome
1
The trap and the plan
The Army Under the Mountain
Grant plans a three-day breakout; Hooker (North) is ordered only to feint at a mountain held by far too few of Bragg’s (South) men.
2
The climb
Across the Creek and Into the Cloud
Geary (North) crosses Lookout Creek and sweeps the north face from the flank; Walthall’s (South) thin line breaks at the Cravens House in the fog.
3
The legend and the deflation
The Battle Above the Clouds
An army watches a fight it cannot see. Meigs (North) names the legend on the spot, and Grant later calls the whole thing “all poetry.”
4
The empty summit and the hand-off
The Flag at Dawn
Bragg (South) abandons the summit overnight under a lunar eclipse; the 8th Kentucky (North) raises the flag on a height nobody fought for, opening the road to Atlanta.
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