American Civil WarStuff Happened · War
Battle · Western Theatre
Battle of Lookout Mountain
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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.
2The 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.
3The 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.”
4The 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.