What was the most significant event on September 19 during the U.S. Civil War?

Fording operations of major rivers are risky without bullets firing. In 1862 the Army of Northern Virginia was retreating from Antietam across the Potomac River. The rear guard was attacked while the bulk of the Army crossed safely. There were skirmishes at Shepherdstown, Ashby's Gap, Williamsport, and Hagerstown, as Confederates under A. P. Hill covered the retreat of the Army of Northern Virginia from Antietam.
In 1862, Battle of Boteler’s Ford, Maryland. At the Potomac River crossing of Boteler’s Ford where CSA Gen Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia crossed from Maryland back into Virginia, Lee left a large brigade of artillery (45 cannon) under Brig. Gen. William Pendleton, in addition to two infantry brigades to guard the ford. Federal troops attacked the Rebel rear guard on the Maryland side and captured 4 cannon.
In 1864 at Cabin Creek, Oklahoma the biggest Confederate victory in the Indian Territory. CSA Brig. Gen. Stand Watie led his 800-man Confederate force of Cherokees, creeks, and Seminole Indians in a coup. The area was just north of Fort Gibson at Cabin Creek. The Union forces. Assisting Watie was Col. Richard M. Gano's brigade of 1,200 Texans. Together, they captured a Northern train of 300 government and sutler wagons from Fort Scott. They were loaded with $1,500,000 worth of food, clothing, boots, shoes, medicine, guns, ammunition, and other supplies for the soldiers and Indian refugees at Fort Gibson.
At 3:00 A.M., the Confederates attacked the Union soldiers guarding the train. The fight scattered the Federals and the Confederates seized the wagons and 740 mules. After this, they took the newly acquired loot back to their camps.
In 1863 at the first day of the Battle of Chickamauga. A multitude of missed. Despite slowness and mistakes, the previous day had not ended in disaster from Maj Gen William Rosecrans’ Federal Army of the Cumberland. CSA Lt Gen Braxton Bragg’s attempt to get around the Union left with three columns from his Army of Tennessee was stymied by two small Yankee brigades. They held for much longer than expected, but still Rosecrans did little to help.
By the end of the day, Rosecrans’ “main line remained untouched. However, he had ignored the threat on his left for too long, focusing instead upon his center where Confederates under Leonidas Polk had been demonstrating. Through the night, he haphazardly rushed units from George Thomas’ XIV Corps to his left. Additionally, two brigades from the Reserve Corps had arrived late the previous night.
For Braxton Bragg, the victory was partial. Being so, he only wished to continue the plan left unfinished from the day before. As the sun rose above the frosted valley, Bragg called for a strike up Chickamauga Creek to crash into the Federal left at Lee & Gordon’s Mill. It called for several simultaneous crossings and called for John Bell Hood’s makeshift corps, which had already crossed, to press ever onward. As his other plans, this was a sound one. But he issued no direct orders to make it happen.
To pull this off, the Rebels had to act in concert. But no officer received instructions on when his neighboring divisions were about to move. Hood received no orders at all. Falling in behind him, W.H.T. Walker’s Reserve Corps were also left to languish. Bragg himself was with Simon Buckner’s Corps and Benjamin Cheatham’s Division (from Polk’s Corps), watching the troops cross the Chickamauga. He suspected that they were slipping in behind the Federal left. He was wrong.
Bragg had been warned all through the night that Rosecrans was sending reinforcements down the Chickamauga to strengthen his left. It was a fine guess that Bragg was no longer able to slide Buckner and Cheatham behind the enemy lines. But by late morning, Bragg would suss this out for himself.
Rosecrans did some shuffling, sending much of Thomas’ Corps to bolster his own left. With both sides tossing thousands of troops here and there, sparks were bound to fly. As Thomas was about to commit one of his brigades to attacking what he believed was an isolated Rebel brigade, they ran into Nathan Bedford Forrest’s skirmishers, accidentally uncovering the Rebel flank. Soon, Thomas advanced a second brigade, which uncovered Forrest’s entire line and the rear of W.H.T. Walker’s. Together, they pushed the Southerners back to the creek, but were themselves driven back by the arrival of Cheatham’s Confederate Division upon their own flank.
This seemed to calm things down a bit, giving Bragg time to rethink his plan. He could either continue his attack, which now appeared to be on the Union center, or he could shift troops farther to his right and seek the new Union flank. But instead, Bragg would attempt both while simultaneously doing neither.
As for Rosecrans, he was busy not sending reinforcements to General Thomas, who was desperately calling for them. The closest troops were those under Thomas Crittenden’s XXI Corps, but for a long time Rosecrans denied even that. As the mid-morning melted away, Rosecrans finally understood that the main Rebel attack was falling upon General Thomas on his left, and he finally sent Crittenden’s men to assist. He also sent two divisions from Alexander McCooks’s XX Corps, leaving only two divisions to hold his right flank.
In the early afternoon, after each side was afforded time to straighten their lines and stiffen their collars, the fighting resumed. Thomas, who now commanded a diverse collection of men from all four of Roscrans’ corps, advanced upon Cheatham’s Rebels, who had crossed the Chickamauga and were advancing themselves. It was sheer numbers that beat them back. Over 10,000 Federals collided with 6,000 Rebels from Tennessee. At first, it was a stalemate, with only marginal Union success on Thomas’ left. Through exhaustion and forty minutes of brutality, a lone Union brigade charged and began to drive them back for near a mile.
With clear successes on the Union left, Rosecrans decided to turn his attention to the right. For this, he sent Jefferson C. Davis’ Division forward, hoping it would run into Hood’s left, which Rosecrans apparently thought to be the Confederate army’s left. In this he was mistaken. Davis advanced, but without clear instructions, he inadvertently opened a huge gap in the Federal line and found few Rebels.
Through the afternoon, Bragg ordered one small attack after the other to peck away at the Federal center and left. Little but blood could be wrung from this, as the Federals counterattacked to regain the ground. He never ordered a large scale attack to hit the Federal reinforcements marching up the road. Had he done so, he might have turned the new Union right.
Late in the day, around 3pm, came a smashing Confederate success. Several brigades from Buckner’s Corps attacked and stove in the Union center. If supported, the end of the battle might have been near. But soon, the Federals regrouped and, through reinforcements, decimated Buckner’s flank, throwing the Rebels back to their own line. At 4pm, after Buckner was in a retreat, Hood’s divisions, without orders to do so, advanced.
Just as Hood did not aid Buckner, Buckner did not aid Hood. Had they advanced together, the story might have been different. But since “piecemeal” was the watchword, Hood attack, but after a vicious counter upon his left (where Buckner could have been), it was beaten back.
Bragg still had one small and pointless attack left in him. He had ordered Patrick Clebourne’s Division from D.H. Hill’s Corps to speed to the right and continue the attack that W.H.T. Walker’s men had started earlier in the day. The light was fading, and by the time they arrived, it was nearly dark. Clebourne’s attack drove in the Federal left about a mile, but whatever they attained was muffled in the cold nightfall.
The day of brutal fighting had left both armies in sad shape, but both expected victory to come. Rosecrans called a council of war, gathering together the commanders whose men had died in the woods and thickets that day. Very little came from the meeting, apart from General Thomas’ notion that the left had to be reinforced. Rosecrans followed the advice. He placed six divisions on the left, with two on the right and two in reserve. Though seemingly sound, the Federals would soon discover that they had not enough troops to cover the ground.
Braxton Bragg did not call a formal council of war, but instead completely reorganized his entire army. James Longstreet was soon to arrive and because of this, Bragg wanted to give the veteran corps commander the whole left wing. Longstreet’s wing would consist of his own corps, as well as Buckner’s, and would be augmented by Thomas Hindman’s Division, previously of Polk’s Corps. The right wing would be under Polk, who retained Cheatham’s Division from his own corps, as well as D.H. Hill’s and Walker’s Corps.
While this was a fairly bad idea in itself, Bragg made it worse by not telling everyone involved. D.H. Hill wouldn’t hear about it until the next morning. More unforgivable, Bragg ignored all the evidence that Rosecrans had shifted his position, and was convinced that come dawn, he could turn the Federal left (which was now actually the Federal center).
Polk, whose wing was to start off the rolling attack with his own right flank, was given no written orders. He left Bragg’s headquarters with verbal instructions to step off at dawn. By 10pm, Bragg was asleep in his bed.
An hour later, James Longstreet arrived and was in a very foul mood. He had been met at the depot by nobody and had to wander through the darkness to find Bragg’s headquarters, narrowly escaping capture by roving Federal cavalry. Roused from his slumber, Bragg explained to Longstreet that he was now in command of half the army. He handed him a map and explained that the attack would start on the right. Longstreet left, groping through the night to find his new headquarters. And through at night, the new Confederate command structure would devolve into absolute chaos.”
http://civilwardailygazette.com/a-multitude-of-missed-opportunities-the-battle-of-chickamauga-day-one/

Below are several journal entries from 1862 and xx which shed light on what life was like for soldiers and civilians – the good, the bad and the ugly.

Friday, September 19, 1862: Alexander G. Downing, a sergeant in the 11th Iowa Infantry, under Gen. Ord, relates the events of the day, and of his regiments only "action": “At noon the Eleventh Iowa was on a high piece of ground in open field awaiting orders. Some of the boys started fires to boil their coffee, and the rebels, seeing the smoke, opened with a few shots from a battery of four-pounders. Then our battery of heavy guns, lying in front of us, suddenly opened up on them and soon put them out of business. But the boys put out their campfires in short order. When the rebels first opened fire upon us, I was lying on the ground resting my head upon my knapsack and a ball passed just over me, striking the ground at my left. That was a closer call than I cared to have and I did not think of taking a nap again.”
Friday, September 19, 1862: Sharpsburg, Maryland: Lt. Josiah Marshall Favill, of the 57th New York Infantry, writes in his journal of the day after Lee’s army has vanished over the Potomac, giving perhaps one of the most vivid descriptions of a battlefield after a battle: “At eight o’clock the next morning, the 19th, the men on the skirmish line, suspecting by the stillness in front that something was up, advanced and found the enemy gone. Immediately the men stood up and all was excitement. . . . Advancing over the hill we found it covered with dead, mostly our men, but just below in the sunken road over which we originally charged, the rebel dead lay in regular ranks, so close together that it was hard to believe they were not living men in line of battle. Most of them had turned black with the two days’ exposure and it required more than a glance to convince ourselves they were not negro troops. A lot of the gallant Fifty-seventh fellows lay scattered about the hill, the ditch, and cornfield. Amongst them, conspicuous for his neatness and soldierly appearance, was Sergeant Risley, of Co. E, firmly grasping his musket, his features almost as natural as in life, and his appointments perfect in all respects. He was a fine fellow, much above the average in intelligence, and a splendid soldier, and like a soldier died, his face towards the foe. Several men were shot while climbing a rail fence near by, and some of them stuck fast, looking in one or two cases, from a distance, exactly like live men. There were men in every state of mutilation, sans arms, sans legs, heads, and intestines, and in greater number than on any field we have seen before. About noon Colonel Brooke directed me to bury the dead in front of our brigade, and with a strong fatigue party I immediately went to work. In one long grave we buried fifty-three U. S. soldiers gathered on this side of the sunken road, and in two others respectively, one hundred and seventy-three, and eighty-five rebel soldiers; we dug the ditches wide enough to hold two bodies, feet together, heads out, and long enough to hold all those the men had collected. When they were all carefully laid away, we threw over them some army blankets gathered on the field, and then replaced the earth. How many shattered hopes we buried there none of us may ever guess. War is certainly a dreadful thing, and a battlefield an ugly blot on civilization.
The country people flocked to the battlefield like vultures, their curiosity and inquisitiveness most astonishing; while my men were all at work many of them stood around, dazed and awe-stricken by the terrible evidence of the great fight; hundreds were scatered over the field, eagerly searching for souvenirs in the shape of cannon balls, guns, bayonets, swords, canteens, etc. They were all jubilant over the rebel defeat, of course, and claimed for us a mighty victory. I was much amused at the way they stared at me. Had I been the veritable Hector of Troy, I could have scarcely excited more curiosity than while in command of this burial party.
Our brigade moved down to the foot of the hill, immediately after it was known the enemy had decamped, and prepared hot coffee for the first time in three days. . . . While our losses are heavy, they are said to be a mere bagatelle to those of the right wing. Twenty thousand men, it is claimed, were killed and wounded during the battle, which seems too enormous to be true. . . . The whole loss of the regiment is something over a hundred, which is wonderful, considering the fire they were exposed to.”
Friday, September 19, 1862: Jonathan Lewis Whitaker, a Union army surgeon at a hospital in southern Pennsylvania, writes home to his wife Julia: “Matters are progressing very nicely at this place, we are living very easy, patients are getting well very fast. . . . We are expecting a new lot now very soon. O what terrible fighting they are having down in Maryland for the last 5 days and it still goes on killing off human beings by thousands every day and bringing grief & desolation to so many families, to as many fathers & mothers, so many young wives, and fatherless children, God in mercy grant that as this is being the hardest and bloodiest field, that it may also be the last, that our affairs may be so ordered in the wisdom of providence that wars and bloodshed may come to an end. But as His ways are unsearchable and His wisdom past finding out so that we cannot understand why he is so afflicting us as a nation, yet we do believe (as we must if we trust in Him), that he has some wise end in view. . . . Whatever it may be, may it be the prayer of all good men that it may be speedily accomplished, that we may once more become a united people whose God is the Lord, and blessed with peace and prosperity.”
Friday, September 19, 1862: “In the morning, Sterling Price received a dispatch from Union General Edward Ord, commanding a division under Grant. It was about the battle of Antietam.
“Longstreet and his entire division prisoners,” read the report. “General Hill killed. Entire rebel army of Virginia destroyed, Burnside having reoccupied Harper’s Ferry and cut off retreat.”
When Grant received the news from Washington, he reasoned that if it were true, then the war was all but over. He forwarded the message to Price, demanding that his army be surrendered.
Price had no way of verifying the news. But even if Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia had been crushed, the war was not yet over. However, as he soon informed General Ord, even “if the facts were as stated in those dispatches they would only move him and his soldiers to greater exertions in behalf of their country, and that neither he nor they will ever lay down their arms — as humanely suggested by General Ord — until the independence of the Confederate States shall have been acknowledged by the United States.”
As the morning slid to afternoon, Price and his men were nearly ready to leave. The enemy, under General Ord, was expected to come from the northwest. They had not yet arrived when Price’s pickets to the southwest were driven in.
Doing the pushing was the second prong of Grant’s attack. The first, under Ord, was to hit the Rebels from the north, while General William Rosecrans came up from the south. Rosecrans had been delayed and the attack was late, but his arrival played upon Price’s worst fears.
Price immediately ordered General Lewis Little with two brigades to blunt the Federal attack, about a mile south of town. Price and Little both went with the two brigades, but facing them was 8,000 Union soldiers. Seeing that he would need an entire division to get out of this one, Price turned to tell Little to bring up the rest of his men.
At that moment, Price witnessed a bullet smash into Lewis Little’s skull, striking him just above the left eye. Little’s arms shot up in the air as he dropped the reins and slumped upon his horse. He was dead before his body was helped to the ground.
Price was visibly shaken. Little was a friend, and for him, he “wept over him as if a son.” But the battle still raged. Wiping away tears, Price took personal command of the field, and counterattacked Rosecrans.
The Federals could not fully deploy because of the ground over which they were attacking. When Price hit them, they were caught with one boot off. But the Union troops held together – Price could not route them. Driving them back, his Rebels managed to capture nine pieces of artillery.
Darkness drew an end to the conflict, but Price was determined to continue it the next day.”

Pictures: 1864-09-19 Battle of Opequon 1; 1862-09-18 Battle of Iuka, MS; 1862-09-19 Battle of Iuka Map; 1862-09-19 Chickamauga battle Union line


A. Thursday, September 19, 1861: Confederates secure southern Kentucky at the Cumberland Gap.
The Cumberland Gap became the principal passage between the eastern and western theaters of operation in the Upper South during the war. Whichever side held the high ground here held the Gap. Today the Confederates make a strong defense around Cumberland Gap, Bowling Green, and Columbus. CSA Brig Gen Felix Zollicoffer (a Tennessee newspaperman with no military training) led 5400 Confederate troops to drive pro-Union Kentucky troops out of the vicinity of Barboursville, Kentucky.
Details: The siege wears on. Confederates secure southern Kentucky, militarily defending its neutrality. The Confederate push into Kentucky was nearly complete. Under the overall command by General Albert Sidney Johnston, the Rebels occupied Columbus, to the west, Bowling Green in the center and Cumberland Ford (near Barbourville) to the east.
While Columbus had been invested by General Leonidas Polk for some time, General Simon Bolivar Buckner’s 5,000 Confederates arrived in Bowling Green on the 18th. As soon as he arrived, Buckner ordered that the Green River and the railroad across it be secured and fortified. Also, he issued a proclamation “To the People of Kentucky.”
It was a call to overthrow the state government, who “have been faithless to the will of the people.” Under the “guise of neutrality,” the legislature had allowed “the armed forces of the United States” to “prepare to subjugate alike the people of Kentucky and the Southern States.”
General Buckner, a native of Kentucky and former head of the state militia, was well-known to the people of the state. He assured the citizens that the Confederate troops under his command, “made up entirely of Kentuckians,” had occupied Bowling Green “as a defensive position.” His troops, and those of the other Confederate commanders in the state, “will be used to aid the government of Kentucky in carrying out the strict neutrality desired by its people whenever they undertake to enforce it against the two belligerents alike.”
Meanwhile, General Felix Zollicoffer, Confederate commander at Cumberland Ford in the eastern part of the state, secured Cumberland Gap with his force of 7,000 (though not all of it was yet with him). A Union force at Camp Dick Robinson was rumored to number anywhere from 15,000 to 20,000. Like the rest of the Confederate commanders in Kentucky, he was outnumbered.
Zollicoffer sent an advance force of 800, led by Col. Joel Battle, to Barbourville, eighteen miles from his camp, the previous evening. Kentucky Unionists had established Camp Andrew Johnson to raise troops for their cause. When Battle’s force advanced upon the camp through the morning fog, they found most of the recruits gone, sent to Camp Dick Robinson. What remained were 300 Home Guards, desperate to save their town.
When the Confederates were spotted, they pulled up the planks on the bridge leading into Barbourville, hoping that would be enough to stop Battle’s men. It was not. A sharp and deadly skirmish ensued. Confederate numbers soon won out, sending the Home Guards retreating through town.
The camp, with its provisions and arms, was captured. The buildings were burned and Camp Andrew Jackson was no more.
B. Friday, September 19, 1862: Battle of Iuka, Mississippi. Maj. Gen. E.O.C. Ord sent Price a message demanding that he surrenders his forces; but, CSA Maj Gen Sterling Price refused. At the same time, Price received dispatches from CSA Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn suggesting that their two armies rendezvous, as soon as possible, at Rienzi for attacks on the Federal forces in the area. Price informed Van Dorn that the military situation had changed so he could not evacuate Iuka immediately. He did, however, issue orders for his men to prepare for a march the next day, to rendezvous with Van Dorn. Major General William S. Rosecrans’s army marched early on the 19th, but, instead of using two roads as directed, it followed the Jacinto (Bay Springs) Road. After considering the amount of time that Rosecrans required to reach Iuka, Grant determined that he probably would not arrive on the 19th, so he ordered Ord to await the sound of fighting between Rosecrans and Price before engaging the Confederates. As Rosecrans advanced, his men fought actions with Confederate troops at points along the way. About 4:00 pm, just after ascending a hill, the Union column halted because the Confederates were well-placed below in a ravine, filled with timber and underbrush. The Confederates launched attacks up the hill, capturing a six-gun Ohio battery, while the Federals counterattacked from the ridge. Fighting, which Price later stated he had “never seen surpassed,” continued until after dark; the Union troops camped for the night behind the ridge. Price had redeployed troops from Ord’s front to fight against Rosecrans’s people. Ord did nothing, later proclaiming that he never heard any fighting and, therefore, never engaged the enemy; Grant also remarked that he had heard no sounds of battle.
In Iuka, Mississippi, Major General William S. Rosecrans (US) were fighting it out with Major General Sterling Price (CSA). Despite the intense fighting, Rosecrans was able to hold Price's force at bay. Repeated Confederate attacks resulted in heavy losses for the Rebels: 1,500 of 14,000 troops engaged. Yankee losses amounted to 790 out of 17,000 present. With Union General Ord's force nearby, Price realized he was in danger of being trapped, and so he abandoned Iuka that evening.
Background: Maj. Gen. Sterling Price’s Army of the West main column marched into Iuka, Mississippi, on September 14. Price’s superior, Gen. Braxton Bragg, the commander of the Confederate Army of the Mississippi, who was leading an offensive deep into Kentucky, ordered him to prevent Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans’s Army of the Mississippi troops from moving into Middle Tennessee and reinforcing Brig. Gen. James Negley’s division of Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell’s Army of the Ohio, which was garrisoning Nashville. Price had about 14,000 men, and he was informed that, if necessary, he could request assistance from Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn, commanding the District of the Mississippi, headquartered at Holly Springs. Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, commanding the Army of the Tennessee, feared that Price intended to go north to join Bragg against Buell. Grant devised a plan for his left wing commander, Maj. Gen. E.O.C. Ord, and his men to advance on Iuka from the west; Rosecrans’s forces were to march from the southwest, arrive at Iuka on the 18th, and make a coordinated attack the next day. Ord arrived on time and skirmishing ensued between his reconnaissance patrol and Confederate pickets, about six miles from Iuka, before nightfall. Rosecrans informed Grant that he would not arrive at Iuka on the 18th but would begin his march at 4:30 am, the next morning.
Aftermath: Following the fighting on the 19th, Price determined to reengage the enemy the next day, but his subordinates convinced him, instead, to march to join Van Dorn, as earlier planned. At the same time, Rosecrans redeployed his men for fighting the next day. Price’s army evacuated via the uncovered Fulton Road, protected its rear with a heavy rearguard and hooked up with Van Dorn five days later at Ripley. Although Rosecrans was supposed to traverse Fulton Road and cover it, he stated that he had not guarded the road because he feared dividing his force; Grant later approved this decision. Rosecrans’s army occupied Iuka and then mounted a pursuit; the Confederate rearguard and overgrown terrain prevented the Union pursuit from accomplishing much. The Federals should have destroyed or captured Price’s army, but instead the Rebels joined Van Dorn and assaulted Corinth in October.
B+ Friday, September 19, 1862: Battle of Iuka, Mississippi, Western Theater. Gen. Sterling Price had set out from Tupelo, Mississippi with his Army of the West on Sept. 11, and on Sept. 14 he captured the town and the vast Federal supply depot there. He is also in a position to block the railroad east---or to dash northward to join Bragg in Kentucky. However, Price plans to coordinate a junction with Gen. Earl Van Dorn’s 7,000-strong Army of West Tennessee in order to attack the Federals at Corinth. But Grant decides to not wait to be attacked, and moves first.
Price is not very surprised when Grant, now in Corinth, sends two forces after him: Gen. Edward O.C. Ord, with three small divisions of the Army of the Tennessee, and Gen. William Rosecrans, with the Army of the Mississippi (2 divisions). Rosecrans takes the road that approaches Iuka from the southwest and Ord from the northwest. However, Rosecrans has the longer route, and over poorer roads. Rosecrans informs Grant (who is riding with Ord’s troops) on the night of the 18ththat he is still 20 miles out of Iuka. Grant orders Ord to close within a few miles of Iuka and to wait: when Rosecrans arrives in the afternoon, and opens his attack, then Ord will move in when he hears the sounds of battle, hopefully being able to strike at the Confederate rear. Price, in the meantime, has received a message from Van Dorn that they should march south to rendezvous and combine forces.
Late on the afternoon of this day, Price is preparing his army to set out when Rosecrans approaches. Price sends out his best division, under Gen. Little, who deploys Gen. Hebert’s brigade (followed by Martin’s) and these troops run into Sanborn’s Union brigade. Early in the fighting, Gen. Little is killed by one bullet. Price takes personal command and brings up the rest of Little's division. Sanborn places the 11th Ohio Battery as the linchpin of his line, and Hebert’s troops—mostly Louisianans, Arkansans, and Texans—hit the Union line. After three attempts, the charging Rebels capture the Ohio battery. Of the 54 men and 4 officers of the 11th Ohio, 46 men and 3 officers are dead, as are most of the horses. But the six guns are in Southern hands. But soon both Yankee divisions are on the field. The rest of Little’s line comes in also, and Green’s and Martin’s Mississippi brigades charge, but are stopped by a remarkable stand by the 5th Iowa and 11th Missouri. Grant and Ord, only about 4 or 5 miles away, are deceived by an acoustic shadow: neither of them hears any sound of battle, and give up on Rosecrans attacking today—so Ord never moves in to support Rosecrans. It is a small battle, and a Union victory by default, but Grant is unable to trap and destroy the Rebel army, as he had hoped.
This is a remarkably bloody battle: both armies lose nearly a third of the forces engaged in the short space of two hours.
Maj. Gen. William Starke Rosecrans, USA
This evening, Price simply leaves his position and marches his army out on the road south, left unwatched by Rosecrans. On the morning of Sept. 21, Grant’s troops find themselves facing empty trenches. Rosecrans mounts a pursuit, but soon finds that pursuit is futile. Union Victory (marginal)
Losses: Killed Wounded Captured or Missing Total
North 144 598 40 790
South 263 692 561 1,516
C. Saturday, September 19, 1863: Battle of Chickamauga begins. Both CSA Gen Braxton Bragg and Maj Gen William Rosecrans knew that they were going to have a major battle today; they just didn’t know exactly when. because neither knew exactly where the other one was. The matter was settled when Maj Gen George Thomas on the Union left (northern) flank, had the misfortune to be clambering through thick brush when they came upon the men of CSA Maj Gen Nathan Bedford Forrest and the bullets began to fly. Forrest’s men, although called ‘cavalry,’ actually functioned as mounted infantry, who traveled on horses but fought on foot. In a day of bloody fighting they were unable to break the Union lines, but they inflicted heavy casualties among the northern regiments.
September 20. CSA Lt Gen James Longstreet's troops arrived by rail near the field of battle that night, and were in position to attack by the next morning acrsoss from Rosecrans' right flank. Due to a mix up of orders and confusing commands, a large gap in the Union line near Rosecrans' center opened at precisely the time of Longstreet's powerful attack at 1100 (led by Maj. Gen. John B. Hood), and created a panic among much of the Federal forces on the southern part of their position. Many of the Federal troops ran for the rear, and Rosecrans fled the field.
But the day was not completely lost for the Union that day, as Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas gathered the remaining bluecoats into a strong defensive position on Horseshoe Ridge and Snodgrass Hill on the battlefield's northern section. Here he and his men fought off powerful rebel attacks by Longstreet's advancing troops and Confederates led by Lt. Gen. William Polk who commanded the rebel right wing. Thomas became known as “The Rock of Chickamauga” for his stout defense and rearguard action, which allowed the Yankee troops to withdraw northwestward to join Rosecrans and the routed troops in Chattanooga later that day.
Chickamauga was an undisputed Confederate victory, but at a frightful cost. Adding up the over 16,000 Union and 18,000 Confederate casualties, the battle resulted in the highest casualties of any battle in the Western theater.
Saturday, September 19, 1863: Battle of Chickamauga begins. [ends September 20, 1863]. General Braxton Bragg [CS] tries to split General William Rosecrans [US] forces as they try to return to the safety of Chattanooga. A second day breakthrough at the Brotherton Cabin forces the federals into a retreat, halted only by the Rock of Chickamauga, General George Thomas on Snodgrass Hill
The bloodiest two days in American history cost the Federals 1,657 dead, 9,756 wounded, and 4,757 missing for a total of 16,170 casualties out of 58,000 troops. The Confederate losses were 2,312 dead, 14,674 wounded and 1,468 for a total of 18,545 out of 66,000 troops.
D. Monday, September 19, 1864: 3rd battle of Winchester (Opequon Creek). Maj Gen Phil Sheridan with a force of 40,000 men, attacked CSA Lt Gen Jubal Early's 14,000-man Confederate army north of Winchester. Sheridan simply overpowered the Confederates. General Robert E. Rodes was mortally wounded in the conflict.While the casualties are about the same for both sides, Early is shaken by his loss of 3,921 men out of 12,000, while Union losses numbered 4,018 men out of 40,000 men. While General Sheridan, commander of the Union force that attacked Early could afford such losses, Early could not. Only a very skilled withdrawal by Early avoided a far greater number of losses.


1. Thursday, September 19, 1861: Union reinforcements thwarted. The Lexington, Missouri morning quickly grew hot as the sun shown over the Union fortifications, completely surrounded by Rebels, north of town. Though each side was already exchanging shots with the other, Northern troops had run out of water, making the day seem even hotter than it was. As they bit into their cartridges, the saltpeter in the black powder burned their cracked lips and swollen tongues. It was quickly growing clearer to Union commander, Col. Mulligan, that if reinforcements did not soon arrive, the besieged Lexington would have to be surrendered.
Relief was, at once, closer and farther away than Mulligan suspected. He figured that General Fremont in St. Louis, commander of the Western Department, knew of his plight and would be sending reinforcements. Whether or not they could get to Lexington on time, was anyone’s guess.
Across the Missouri River, barely five miles from town, Union General Sturgis and 1,000 infantrymen had reached the banks and could hear the cannonading. It was all for naught. The Rebels, expecting Fremont to send reinforcements, had captured the ferry boats that Sturgis was to use to reinforce Mulligan. On the opposite bank, they established a skirmish line and took pot shots at Sturgis’ men from across the river. The Union troops fell back and eventually wheeled west to Kansas City.
Other reinforcements were closing in, but it was too little, too late. From Jefferson City, upriver from Lexington, a steamer with a batallion of infantry dropped anchor too far away for the troops to arrive in Lexington on time. Dispatches from Fremont, ordering Union troops in Kansas (under General Lane) to Lexington, apparently never got through. The order from General Pope ordering his two regiments to Lexington was also never delivered.
And so Mulligan and his 3,500 men were, in all respects, as good as abandoned. Though the fighting was insensate and persisted throughout the day, his men, somehow, still clung to their trenches, to their arms, and held out a fading, forlorn hope.
http://civilwardailygazette.com/union-reinforcements-thwarted-the-siege-wears-on
2. Thursday, September 19, 1861: From Meadow Bluff to Big Sewell. The situation was normal in Western Virginia. Confederate General Floyd had retreated to Meadow Bluff, near Lewisburg and expected, but did not directly order, General Wise, still at Sewell Mountain, to do the same. The day before, Floyd had inquired why Wise did not obey the order to fall back to Meadow Bluff. Wise asserted that Floyd never ordered him to fall back, that the order stated he (Wise) was to “hold his command in readiness to bring up the rear.” This, said Wise, was exactly what he was doing.
On this date, they renewed their fight. Wise explained that he could hold off a force of 4,000 if allowed to stay within his entrenchments on Sewell Mountain. Floyd made no reply.
As the day wore on, Wise sent scouts westward to discern the enemy position. Soon enough, they found Union troops marching towards their camp. Wise wrote to Floyd, asking him to send wagons forward, but assuring him that the position at Sewell Mountain was secure.
Floyd replied that he had “been aware for several days of the advance of the enemy,” figuring that they would converge upon Meadow Bluff, which is why he (Floyd) took up that position. “I regret exceedingly that you did not think proper to bring up my rear,” reprimanded Floyd, as directed in his order of the 16th, “but on the contrary chose to advance in the direction from which I had come.”
He warned of the “disastrous consequences” that would come from a divided force. Again, he ordered Wise, if he still had time, “to join my force and make a stand against the enemy at this point.”
Floyd must have regained his composure after losing it following the Battle of Carnifex Ferry. Perhaps the few days of time had healed him, or maybe he knew that General Robert E. Lee was on his way from Valley Mountain to Meadow Bluff, hoping to settle the Wise vs. Floyd debacle for good.
http://civilwardailygazette.com/union-reinforcements-thwarted-the-siege-wears-on
3. Friday, September 19, 1862: Battle of Iuka, Mississippi. William Rosecrans [US] beat Sterling Price [CS] who withdrew when scouts report a column under the command of Edward O. C. Ord was advancing from the Mississippi.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186209
4. Friday, September 19, 1862: Battle of Boteler’s Ford: Maryland - On the Potomac River, Boteler’s Ford is where Lee’s army crossed from Maryland back into Virginia. Lee leaves a large brigade of artillery (45 cannon) under Brig. Gen. William Pendleton, in addition to two infantry brigades to guard the ford. Federal troops attack the Rebels, and capture 4 guns.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+19%2C+1862
5. Friday, September 19, 1862: Gen. Robert E. Lee, finally convinced that George McClellan was not going to attack after all, began to withdraw his army back across the Potomac River to the relative safety of his home ground. General McClellan (US) gives extensive interviews to the newspapers about his great “victory” in driving the invader off of Union soil, while actually; he could have finished the war, but failed to attack once again. Meanwhile, war does not stand still and wait.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-b/part-seventy-five
6. Friday, September 19, 1862: Skirmishes at Shepherdstown, Ashby's Gap, Williamsport, and Hagerstown, as Confederates under A. P. Hill covered the retreat of the Army of Northern Virginia from Sharpsburg. Lee would keep a heavy cavalry presence in the area until October.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186209
7. Friday, September 19, 1862: Helena, Arkansas - On September 19, a small skirmish ensued between some Union pickets and a detachment from the Texas Rangers. The outcome was inconclusive.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1862s.html
8. Friday, September 19, 1862: Alexander G. Downing, a sergeant in the 11th Iowa Infantry, under Gen. Ord, relates the events of the day, and of his regiments only "action": “At noon the Eleventh Iowa was on a high piece of ground in open field awaiting orders. Some of the boys started fires to boil their coffee, and the rebels, seeing the smoke, opened with a few shots from a battery of four-pounders. Then our battery of heavy guns, lying in front of us, suddenly opened up on them and soon put them out of business. But the boys put out their campfires in short order. When the rebels first opened fire upon us, I was lying on the ground resting my head upon my knapsack and a ball passed just over me, striking the ground at my left. That was a closer call than I cared to have and I did not think of taking a nap again.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+19%2C+1862
9. Friday, September 19, 1862: Sharpsburg, Maryland: Lt. Josiah Marshall Favill, of the 57th New York Infantry, writes in his journal of the day after Lee’s army has vanished over the Potomac, giving perhaps one of the most vivid descriptions of a battlefield after a battle: “At eight o’clock the next morning, the 19th, the men on the skirmish line, suspecting by the stillness in front that something was up, advanced and found the enemy gone. Immediately the men stood up and all was excitement. . . . Advancing over the hill we found it covered with dead, mostly our men, but just below in the sunken road over which we originally charged, the rebel dead lay in regular ranks, so close together that it was hard to believe they were not living men in line of battle. Most of them had turned black with the two days’ exposure and it required more than a glance to convince ourselves they were not negro troops. A lot of the gallant Fifty-seventh fellows lay scattered about the hill, the ditch, and cornfield. Amongst them, conspicuous for his neatness and soldierly appearance, was Sergeant Risley, of Co. E, firmly grasping his musket, his features almost as natural as in life, and his appointments perfect in all respects. He was a fine fellow, much above the average in intelligence, and a splendid soldier, and like a soldier died, his face towards the foe. Several men were shot while climbing a rail fence near by, and some of them stuck fast, looking in one or two cases, from a distance, exactly like live men. There were men in every state of mutilation, sans arms, sans legs, heads, and intestines, and in greater number than on any field we have seen before. About noon Colonel Brooke directed me to bury the dead in front of our brigade, and with a strong fatigue party I immediately went to work. In one long grave we buried fifty-three U. S. soldiers gathered on this side of the sunken road, and in two others respectively, one hundred and seventy-three, and eighty-five rebel soldiers; we dug the ditches wide enough to hold two bodies, feet together, heads out, and long enough to hold all those the men had collected. When they were all carefully laid away, we threw over them some army blankets gathered on the field, and then replaced the earth. How many shattered hopes we buried there none of us may ever guess. War is certainly a dreadful thing, and a battlefield an ugly blot on civilization.
The country people flocked to the battlefield like vultures, their curiosity and inquisitiveness most astonishing; while my men were all at work many of them stood around, dazed and awe-stricken by the terrible evidence of the great fight; hundreds were scatered over the field, eagerly searching for souvenirs in the shape of cannon balls, guns, bayonets, swords, canteens, etc. They were all jubilant over the rebel defeat, of course, and claimed for us a mighty victory. I was much amused at the way they stared at me. Had I been the veritable Hector of Troy, I could have scarcely excited more curiosity than while in command of this burial party.
Our brigade moved down to the foot of the hill, immediately after it was known the enemy had decamped, and prepared hot coffee for the first time in three days. . . . While our losses are heavy, they are said to be a mere bagatelle to those of the right wing. Twenty thousand men, it is claimed, were killed and wounded during the battle, which seems too enormous to be true. . . . The whole loss of the regiment is something over a hundred, which is wonderful, considering the fire they were exposed to.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+19%2C+1862
10. Friday, September 19, 1862: Jonathan Lewis Whitaker, a Union army surgeon at a hospital in southern Pennsylvania, writes home to his wife Julia: “Matters are progressing very nicely at this place, we are living very easy, patients are getting well very fast. . . . We are expecting a new lot now very soon. O what terrible fighting they are having down in Maryland for the last 5 days and it still goes on killing off human beings by thousands every day and bringing grief & desolation to so many families, to as many fathers & mothers, so many young wives, and fatherless children, God in mercy grant that as this is being the hardest and bloodiest field, that it may also be the last, that our affairs may be so ordered in the wisdom of providence that wars and bloodshed may come to an end. But as His ways are unsearchable and His wisdom past finding out so that we cannot understand why he is so afflicting us as a nation, yet we do believe (as we must if we trust in Him), that he has some wise end in view. . . . Whatever it may be, may it be the prayer of all good men that it may be speedily accomplished, that we may once more become a united people whose God is the Lord, and blessed with peace and prosperity.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+19%2C+1862
11. Monday, September 19, 1864: Major General Sterling Price’s (CSA) Confederate Cavalry column of 12,000 enters Missouri from Arkansas. General Forrest is also on the move, crossing Bear Creek at Cherokee Station, in northwestern Alabama, camping for the night on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad and near the Tennessee River.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/1864/week-179
12. Monday, September 19, 1864: Brig. General Stand Watie (pictured) leds his 800-man Confederate force of Cherokees, Creeks, and Seminole Indians in a coup. The area was just north of Fort Gibson at Cabin Creek, Oklahoma (Indian Territory). Assisting Watie is Col. Richard M. Gano’s brigade of 1,200 Texans. Together, they captured a Northern train of 300 government and sutler wagons from Fort Scott. They were loaded with $1,500,000 worth of food, clothing, boots, shoes, medicine, guns, ammunition, and other supplies for the soldiers and Indian refugees at Fort Gibson. At 3:00 A.M., the Confederates attacked the Union soldiers guarding the train. The fight scattered the Federals and the Confederates seize the wagons and 740 mules. After this, they take the newly acquired loot back to their camps. The Battle of Cabin Creek was the biggest Confederate victory in the Indian Territory.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/1864/week-179
13. Monday, September 19, 1864: Cabin Creek, Oklahoma - On September 19, Brig. Gen. Stand Watie led his 800-man Confederate force of Cherokees, creeks, and Seminole Indians in a coup. The area was just north of Fort Gibson at Cabin Creek. The Union forces. Assisting Watie was Col. Richard M. Gano's brigade of 1,200 Texans. Together, they captured a Northern train of 300 government and sutler wagons from Fort Scott. They were loaded with $1,500,000 worth of food, clothing, boots, shoes, medicine, guns, ammunition, and other supplies for the soldiers and Indian refugees at Fort Gibson.
At 3:00 A.M., the Confederates attacked the Union soldiers guarding the train. The fight scattered the Federals and the Confederates seized the wagons and 740 mules. After this, they took the newly acquired loot back to their camps.
The Battle of Cabin Creek was the biggest Confederate victory in the Indian Territory.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1864s.html


A Thursday, September, 19, 1861: The Cumberland Gap became the principal passage between the eastern and western theaters of operation in the Upper South during the war. Whichever side held the high ground here held the Gap. Today the Confederates make a strong defense around Cumberland Gap, Bowling Green, and Columbus. General Felix Zollicoffer (a Tennessee newspaperman with no military training) led 5400 Confederate troops to drive pro-Union Kentucky troops out of the vicinity of Barboursville, Kentucky.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-a/part-23
A+ Thursday, September 19, 1861: Crossing into Kentucky through the Cumberland Pass, Brigadier General Felix Zollicoffer disperses a small federal garrison at Barboursville.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186109
A++ Thursday, September 19, 1861: The Siege Wears On. Confederates Secure Southern Kentucky, Militarily Defending its Neutrality. The Confederate push into Kentucky was nearly complete. Under the overall command by General Albert Sidney Johnston, the Rebels occupied Columbus, to the west, Bowling Green in the center and Cumberland Ford (near Barbourville) to the east.
While Columbus had been invested by General Leonidas Polk for some time, General Simon Bolivar Buckner’s 5,000 Confederates arrived in Bowling Green on the 18th. As soon as he arrived, Buckner ordered that the Green River and the railroad across it be secured and fortified. Also, he issued a proclamation “To the People of Kentucky.”
It was a call to overthrow the state government, who “have been faithless to the will of the people.” Under the “guise of neutrality,” the legislature had allowed “the armed forces of the United States” to “prepare to subjugate alike the people of Kentucky and the Southern States.”
General Buckner, a native of Kentucky and former head of the state militia, was well-known to the people of the state. He assured the citizens that the Confederate troops under his command, “made up entirely of Kentuckians,” had occupied Bowling Green “as a defensive position.” His troops, and those of the other Confederate commanders in the state, “will be used to aid the government of Kentucky in carrying out the strict neutrality desired by its people whenever they undertake to enforce it against the two belligerents alike.”
Meanwhile, General Felix Zollicoffer, Confederate commander at Cumberland Ford in the eastern part of the state, secured Cumberland Gap with his force of 7,000 (though not all of it was yet with him). A Union force at Camp Dick Robinson was rumored to number anywhere from 15,000 to 20,000. Like the rest of the Confederate commanders in Kentucky, he was outnumbered.
Zollicoffer sent an advance force of 800, led by Col. Joel Battle, to Barbourville, eighteen miles from his camp, the previous evening. Kentucky Unionists had established Camp Andrew Johnson to raise troops for their cause. When Battle’s force advanced upon the camp through the morning fog, they found most of the recruits gone, sent to Camp Dick Robinson. What remained were 300 Home Guards, desperate to save their town.
When the Confederates were spotted, they pulled up the planks on the bridge leading into Barbourville, hoping that would be enough to stop Battle’s men. It was not. A sharp and deadly skirmish ensued. Confederate numbers soon won out, sending the Home Guards retreating through town.
The camp, with its provisions and arms, was captured. The buildings were burned and Camp Andrew Jackson was no more.
http://civilwardailygazette.com/union-reinforcements-thwarted-the-siege-wears-on
B+ Friday, September 19, 1862: In Iuka, Mississippi, Major General William S. Rosecrans (US) were fighting it out with Major General Sterling Price (CSA). Despite the intense fighting, Rosecrans was able to hold Price's force at bay. Repeated Confederate attacks resulted in heavy losses for the Rebels: 1,500 of 14,000 troops engaged. Yankee losses amounted to 790 out of 17,000 present. With Union General Ord's force nearby, Price realized he was in danger of being trapped, and so he abandoned Iuka that evening.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-b/part-seventy-five
B+ Friday, September 19, 1862: The Battle of Iuka, Mississippi. Maj. Gen. Sterling Price’s Army of the West main column marched into Iuka, Mississippi, on September 14. Price’s superior, Gen. Braxton Bragg, the commander of the Confederate Army of the Mississippi, who was leading an offensive deep into Kentucky, ordered him to prevent Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans’s Army of the Mississippi troops from moving into Middle Tennessee and reinforcing Brig. Gen. James Negley’s division of Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell’s Army of the Ohio, which was garrisoning Nashville. Price had about 14,000 men, and he was informed that, if necessary, he could request assistance from Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn, commanding the District of the Mississippi, headquartered at Holly Springs. Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, commanding the Army of the Tennessee, feared that Price intended to go north to join Bragg against Buell. Grant devised a plan for his left wing commander, Maj. Gen. E.O.C. Ord, and his men to advance on Iuka from the west; Rosecrans’s forces were to march from the southwest, arrive at Iuka on the 18th, and make a coordinated attack the next day. Ord arrived on time and skirmishing ensued between his reconnaissance patrol and Confederate pickets, about six miles from Iuka, before nightfall. Rosecrans informed Grant that he would not arrive at Iuka on the 18th but would begin his march at 4:30 am, the next morning. On the 19th, Ord sent Price a message demanding that he surrender, but Price refused. At the same time, Price received dispatches from Van Dorn suggesting that their two armies rendezvous, as soon as possible, at Rienzi for attacks on the Federal forces in the area. Price informed Van Dorn that the military situation had changed so he could not evacuate Iuka immediately. He did, however, issue orders for his men to prepare for a march the next day, to rendezvous with Van Dorn. Rosecrans’s army marched early on the 19th, but, instead of using two roads as directed, it followed the Jacinto (Bay Springs) Road. After considering the amount of time that Rosecrans required to reach Iuka, Grant determined that he probably would not arrive on the 19th, so he ordered Ord to await the sound of fighting between Rosecrans and Price before engaging the Confederates. As Rosecrans advanced, his men fought actions with Confederate troops at points along the way. About 4:00 pm, just after ascending a hill, the Union column halted because the Confederates were well-placed below in a ravine, filled with timber and underbrush. The Confederates launched attacks up the hill, capturing a six-gun Ohio battery, while the Federals counterattacked from the ridge. Fighting, which Price later stated he had “never seen surpassed,” continued until after dark; the Union troops camped for the night behind the ridge. Price had redeployed troops from Ord’s front to fight against Rosecrans’s people. Ord did nothing, later proclaiming that he never heard any fighting and, therefore, never engaged the enemy; Grant also remarked that he had heard no sounds of battle. Following the fighting on the 19th, Price determined to reengage the enemy the next day, but his subordinates convinced him, instead, to march to join Van Dorn, as earlier planned. At the same time, Rosecrans redeployed his men for fighting the next day. Price’s army evacuated via the uncovered Fulton Road, protected its rear with a heavy rearguard and hooked up with Van Dorn five days later at Ripley. Although Rosecrans was supposed to traverse Fulton Road and cover it, he stated that he had not guarded the road because he feared dividing his force; Grant later approved this decision. Rosecrans’s army occupied Iuka and then mounted a pursuit; the Confederate rearguard and overgrown terrain prevented the Union pursuit from accomplishing much. The Federals should have destroyed or captured Price’s army, but instead the Rebels joined Van Dorn and assaulted Corinth in October.
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/iuka.html
B+ Friday, September 19, 1862: Battle of Iuka, Mississippi, Western Theater. Gen. Sterling Price had set out from Tupelo, Mississippi with his Army of the West on Sept. 11, and on Sept. 14 he captured the town and the vast Federal supply depot there. He is also in a position to block the railroad east---or to dash northward to join Bragg in Kentucky. However, Price plans to coordinate a junction with Gen. Earl Van Dorn’s 7,000-strong Army of West Tennessee in order to attack the Federals at Corinth. But Grant decides to not wait to be attacked, and moves first.
Price is not very surprised when Grant, now in Corinth, sends two forces after him: Gen. Edward O.C. Ord, with three small divisions of the Army of the Tennessee, and Gen. William Rosecrans, with the Army of the Mississippi (2 divisions). Rosecrans takes the road that approaches Iuka from the southwest and Ord from the northwest. However, Rosecrans has the longer route, and over poorer roads. Rosecrans informs Grant (who is riding with Ord’s troops) on the night of the 18ththat he is still 20 miles out of Iuka. Grant orders Ord to close within a few miles of Iuka and to wait: when Rosecrans arrives in the afternoon, and opens his attack, then Ord will move in when he hears the sounds of battle, hopefully being able to strike at the Confederate rear. Price, in the meantime, has received a message from Van Dorn that they should march south to rendezvous and combine forces.
Late on the afternoon of this day, Price is preparing his army to set out when Rosecrans approaches. Price sends out his best division, under Gen. Little, who deploys Gen. Hebert’s brigade (followed by Martin’s) and these troops run into Sanborn’s Union brigade. Early in the fighting, Gen. Little is killed by one bullet. Price takes personal command and brings up the rest of Little's division. Sanborn places the 11th Ohio Battery as the linchpin of his line, and Hebert’s troops—mostly Louisianans, Arkansans, and Texans—hit the Union line. After three attempts, the charging Rebels capture the Ohio battery. Of the 54 men and 4 officers of the 11th Ohio, 46 men and 3 officers are dead, as are most of the horses. But the six guns are in Southern hands. But soon both Yankee divisions are on the field. The rest of Little’s line comes in also, and Green’s and Martin’s Mississippi brigades charge, but are stopped by a remarkable stand by the 5th Iowa and 11th Missouri. Grant and Ord, only about 4 or 5 miles away, are deceived by an acoustic shadow: neither of them hears any sound of battle, and give up on Rosecrans attacking today—so Ord never moves in to support Rosecrans. It is a small battle, and a Union victory by default, but Grant is unable to trap and destroy the Rebel army, as he had hoped.
This is a remarkably bloody battle: both armies lose nearly a third of the forces engaged in the short space of two hours.
Maj. Gen. William Starke Rosecrans, USA
This evening, Price simply leaves his position and marches his army out on the road south, left unwatched by Rosecrans. On the morning of Sept. 21, Grant’s troops find themselves facing empty trenches. Rosecrans mounts a pursuit, but soon finds that pursuit is futile. Union Victory (marginal)
Losses: Killed Wounded Captured or Missing Total
North 144 598 40 790
South 263 692 561 1,516
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+19%2C+1862
C Saturday, September 19, 1863: Battle of Chickamauga begins. [ends September 20, 1863]. General Braxton Bragg [CS] tries to split General William Rosecrans [US] forces as they try to return to the safety of Chattanooga. A second day breakthrough at the Brotherton Cabin forces the federals into a retreat, halted only by the Rock of Chickamauga, General George Thomas on Snodgrass Hill
The bloodiest two days in American history cost the Federals 1,657 dead, 9,756 wounded, and 4,757 missing for a total of 16,170 casualties out of 58,000 troops. The Confederate losses were 2,312 dead, 14,674 wounded and 1,468 for a total of 18,545 out of 66,000 troops.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186309
C+ Saturday, September 19, 1863: Battle of Chickamauga begins. CSA Gen Braxton Bragg's troops began crossing the creek to attack the bluecoats on the morning of 19 September with concentrated assaults launched from the rebels' right (northern) flank. In a day of bloody fighting they were unable to break the Union lines, but they inflicted heavy casualties among the northern regiments. Longstreet's troops arrived by rail near the field of battle that night, and were in position to attack by the next morning acrsoss from Rosecrans' right flank. Due to a mix up of orders and confusing commands, a large gap in the Union line near Rosecrans' center opened at precisely the time of Longstreet's powerful attack at 1100 (led by Maj. Gen. John B. Hood), and created a panic among much of the Federal forces on the southern part of their position. Many of the Federal troops ran for the rear, and Rosecrans fled the field.
But the day was not completely lost for the Union that day, as Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas gathered the remaining bluecoats into a strong defensive position on Horseshoe Ridge and Snodgrass Hill on the battlefield's northern section. Here he and his men fought off powerful rebel attacks by Longstreet's advancing troops and Confederates led by Lt. Gen. William Polk who commanded the rebel right wing. Thomas became known as “The Rock of Chickamauga” for his stout defense and rearguard action, which allowed the Yankee troops to withdraw northwestward to join Rosecrans and the routed troops in Chattanooga later that day.
Chickamauga was an undisputed Confederate victory, but at a frightful cost. Adding up the over 16,000 Union and 18,000 Confederate casualties, the battle resulted in the highest casualties of any battle in the Western theater.
C+ Saturday, September 19, 1863: Both General Bragg, (CSA) and General Rosecrans, (US) knew that they were going to have a major battle today; they just didn’t know exactly when, because neither knew exactly where the other one was. The matter was settled when General George Thomas (US), now on the Union left (northern) flank, had the misfortune to be clambering through thick brush when they came upon the men of Nathan Bedford Forrest and the bullets began to fly. Forrest’s men, although called ‘cavalry’, actually functioned as mounted infantry, who traveled on horses but fought on foot. Fight they did today, and as units of both sides moved towards the sounds of battle, the general combat commenced.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-c/week-127
C++ Saturday, September 19, 1863: Battle of Chickamauga begins. Day 1: The battle opens when Gen. Thomas (U.S. XIV Corps), on information that the Rebels are beginning to cross west of the Chickamauga River in force, sends Gen. Brannan with two of his brigades driving east along the road to Reed's Bridge, and another brigade down the road to Alexander's Bridge, in order to pin down the few Confederate forces that had already crossed. Croxton's brigade, with Van Derveer's brigade in support, runs into Gen. Forrest's cavalry under Davidson, and drives it back. Forrest forms a line of dismounted troopers, and calls upon Col. Wilson's small infantry brigade of Georgians from Walker's Reserve Corps to cover his left flank. Forrest posts Dibrell's cavalry brigade out to cover his right.
Dibrell strikes Van Derveer's brigade of Federals, but is unable to drive them. Brannan has sent forward some artillery, and the Federals at first make a good stand. Forrest recruits some more infantry, Ector's brigade (made up actually mostly of Texas dismounted cavalry, and units from North Carolina and Mississippi), to advance and help Dibrell, but Van Derveer still holds. On Forrest's left, the Rebels drive Croxton back, capturing the battery with him. The fighting is confused and mostly on the brigade level, due to low visibility in the woods heavy with summer foliage. Black powder smoke soon obscures what little visibility there is, and the advancing Southern troops have only small trails in the forest for maneuvering.
By this time, Thomas realizes that the Rebels have more force in the heavy woods near the river than he had expected, and so sends Gen. Baird's division to shore up Brannan's right. Gen. King's brigade of U.S. Regulars, supported by Scribner's brigade (3 Ohio regiments, and one each from Indiana and Wisconsin), move forward and strike Wilson's graybacks, driving them back toward the river. By this time, Bragg is aware of events west of the River, and sends forward Brig. Gen. St. John Liddell's small division (about 2,000 troops present for duty that day) of two brigades under Govan and Walthall, whose troops arrive just in time to hit Baird's right flank, driving Scribner's and Starkweather's brigades into disorderly retreat. Soon, the whole Union line begins to unravel, as King falls back, followed by Croxton. Liddell's men capture two batteries of artillery and continue up the Alexander's Bridge road until they strike Van Derveer, who responds with well-placed volleys in their front, as Croxton's Yankees rally and move forward again, striking Liddell's left.
By this time, Rosecrans has hurried a division of troops under Johnson (from McCook's Corps) north and throws them into line in time to stop Liddell. Gen. Benjamin Cheatham, with the largest division in the Army of Tennessee---five brigades, totaling over 7,000 men---arrives just then and deploys his troops in two lines, three brigades in the front and two in support. Cheatham advances at about 11:00 AM, deploying on Liddell's left flank. As he advances, Croxton's Federals break and withdraw, but two fresh brigades (Willich and Baldwin) from Johnson's division take Croxton's place and shake out into line of battle. Jackson's and Maney's brigades of Confederates both are broken before the assault of Johnson's troops. By this time, Thomas has reformed his line, and brought Palmer's Division from Crittenden's Corps and Van Cleve's from his own to put into the line. As these troops advance, Cheatham's Rebels cannot hold their position and they begin to retreat.
After 2:00 PM, Another Confederate advance is underway, as Bragg begins to feed in more units. Alexander Stewart's Division advances against Van Cleve, in what appears to now be the Union center. Stewart smashes Palmer's right flank, and smashes into Van Cleve. Soon after, at 2:30 PM, Gen. John Bell Hood, of the Army of Northern Virginia, pushes forward six brigades---three from his own (Robertson, Law, and Benning), and the three brigades of Bushrod Johnson's division (McNair, Gregg, and Fulton). With four brigades in front, and two in support, Hood smashes into Van Cleve and various detached brigades from Reynolds and Baird's divisions, and drives them back. Hood and Stewart have captured a large amount of Union artillery, as well as prisoners, the La Fayette Road (the main Union escape route to Chattanooga), and are in possession of the Brock and Brotherton fields---which have become crucial points of control, being some of the few cleared lots that allow artillery to be deployed. But there is no follow-up, and soon, Rosecrans has brought up fresh troops. This is a turning point in the battle: had Bragg put more troops there, this advance could have exploited the gap now opened between Thomas and the rest of the Union army.The three Confederate divisions are soon facing six Federal divisions: in addition to Palmer and Van Cleve, Negley, Wood, Sheridan, and Jefferson C. Davis (no relation to the C.S. President) line up to close the gap.
As Davis advances from the Union right, Bushrod Johnson counterattacks with some success, pushing into the Viniard farm, with Hood in support. Col John Wilder's Federal troops (the famous Lightning Brigade) shred Gregg's brigade as it advances, and as Robertson's and Benning's Rebels pour into the Viniard pocket, they too are savaged by Wilder's fast-firing men with their Spencer repeater rifles. But Davis is soon supplemented by the timely arrival of Sheridan with two of his brigades. The Rebel attacks grind to a halt. Meanwhile, Bragg has marched Cleburne's crack division from the extreme Confederate left six miles to the Confederate right, and as darkness is falling, Cleburne strikes Johnson's division and part of Baird's, who return fire in a furious firefight that leaves one Union and two Confederate brigade commanders dead or severely wounded.
As Gen. D.H. Hill writes, the battle was disjointed and fragmented, mostly due to the heavily wooded terrain and lack of visibility. Nor did Gen. Bragg have a clear picture of what was ahead of him, and he fed in troops piecemeal and uncoordinated: "It was desultory fighting from right to left, without concert, and at inopportune times. It was the sparring of the amateur boxer, and not the crushing blows of the trained pugilist."
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+19%2C+1863
D Monday, September 19, 1864: 3rd battle of Winchester (Opequon Creek). Phil Sheridan [US], with a force of 40,000 men, strikes Jubal Early's [CS] 14,000-man Confederate army north of Winchester. Sheridan simply overpowered the Confederates. General Robert E. Rodes was mortally wounded in the conflict.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186409
D+ Monday, September 19, 1864: At Winchester, Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley, General Sheridan (US) much larger Union force of 40,000 men attack General Early’s (CSA) smaller force of 12,000 men. This will be known as the Third Battle of Winchester. While the casualties are about the same for both sides, Early is shaken by his lost of 3,921 men out of 12,000, while Union losses numbered 4,018 men out of 40,000 men. While General Sheridan, commander of the Union force that attacked Early could afford such losses, Early could not. Only a very skilled withdrawal by Early avoided a far greater number of losses.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/1864/week-179
FYI GySgt Jack Wallace CWO4 Terrence Clark SMSgt Lawrence McCarter LTC Trent Klug SFC Bernard WalkoSSG Franklin Briant SSG Byron Howard Sr CPL Ronald Keyes Jr SFC William Farrell CMDCM John F. "Doc" Bradshaw SPC Lyle MontgomeryPO2 Marco MonsalveSPC Woody Bullard SSG Michael Noll SSG Bill McCoy SFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTMSgt Christopher Collins SPC (Join to see) SPC Gary C. PO3 Lynn Spalding

LTC Stephen F. thanks for the read and share I am choosing: 1864: 3rd battle of Winchester (Opequon Creek). Maj Gen Phil Sheridan with a force of 40,000 men, attacked CSA Lt Gen Jubal Early's 14,000-man Confederate army north of Winchester. Sheridan simply overpowered the Confederates. General Robert E. Rodes was

Very huge battle and of significance.

I believe the 1861 skirmish to be the most strategic. The South tried to retain the advantage of interior lines but the federal forces generally cut the rebels to pieces. This 1861 was a rare Southern victory. The South lost control of the Mississippi River delta entirely by July 1863 cutting the food resources of Texas completely off from the rest of the country. The South attempted to fight on for several more years but the loss of that great river broke their logistical back along with hindered the free passage of men & material. The Southerners were composed of brave men but bravery alone does not overcome strategic deficiency.