* At the outset of the American Civil War in 1861, the conflict was divided into two main theatres of war: one in the East, focused in Virginia, and one in the West, primarily focused on the Mississippi River, but with control of Tennessee as a necessary secondary objective. In the summer of 1862, Confederate forces under General Braxton Bragg advanced through eastern Tennessee into Kentucky, clashing with Union forces under Major General Don Carlos Buell, with the Confederates forced to withdraw in the end.
Buell was seen a unenergetic, so he was relieved of command, being replaced by Major General William Rosecrans. At the end of 1862, Rosecrans fought Bragg at Murfreesboro, in southern Tennessee, the battle also being inconclusive, though very bloody. However, the struggle between the two armies had not been resolved, and would lead to an even more violent confrontation at Chickamauga Creek, in northern Georgia, in September 1863. This document tells the story of the Battle of Chickamauga. Image credits are provided at the end of this document.
