| Following the battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro), the Union and Confederate forces dug in and healed their wounds in central Tennessee. Union Major General Rosecrans and his Army of the Cumberland built up a large base in Murfreesboro (Fortress Rosecrans). Confederate General Bragg and his Army of Tennessee set up defensive positions to the south in the vicinity of Tullahoma to guard possible approaches that the Union army might take on its way to capture the key railroad junction of Chattanooga near the Tennessee-Georgia border. Both armies had been in place for a long time and both were under pressure to take action against the other. As activity on other fronts (notably Vicksburg) was strong, some of Bragg's troops were transferred elsewhere where they could be of more value. When Rosecrans first started moving in June 1863, the timing and aim of the movement took the Army of Tennessee by surprise. Mounted Infantry in Wilder's Brigade pushed forward and captured and then held Liberty Pass through the mountains. As Rosecrans moved his army up, Bragg tried and failed to concentrate his forces and was forced to pull back to the Tennessee River and Chattanooga (Link to map). The Army of the Cumberland then paused to build up needed supplies prior to crossing the southern end of the Cumberland Plateau (Walden's Ridge) while the Army of the Tennessee waited behind the Tennessee River. Rosecrans split his army and used diversions to mislead Bragg regarding the point on the Tennessee River where his army would cross. While demonstrating north of Chattanooga, the bulk of the Union army slipped across in the vicinity of Bridgeport, Alabama. When Bragg found his army outmaneuvered, he pulled out of Chattanooga and reformed in North Georgia (Link to map). The Tullahoma Campaign ended in the capture of Chattanooga and the remainder of middle Tennessee for much of the rest of the war at a cost of only 560 casualties. Rosecrans' over-confidence as a result of the ease of the capture of Chattanooga would lead him to separate his army and risk its destruction at the battle of Chickamauga. The Illinois regiments which took part in the Tullahoma Campaign are listed below. The links will take you to the regimental pages. | ||
| ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND | ||