Chickamauga. Useless, Disastrous Battle

A Civil War veteran delivers a first-person account of the 1863 Chattanooga campaign, focusing on his regiment in Wilder's Brigade, rapid promotion from private to colonel, and the effectiveness of Spencer repeating rifles. He describes marches across the Cumberland Mountains into Lookout Valley, maneuvers intended to threaten Chattanooga, skirmishing at river crossings, and an artillery episode at Harrison's Landing illustrating precise rifled fire. The speaker emphasizes personal recollection over technical military analysis, explains an initial reluctance to study the war, and contends that the subsequent battle at Chickamauga was useless and disastrous.