Chattanooga | Brown's Ferry | Oct 27, 1863

After nearly a month of siege, the Union Army of the Cumberland made a bold maneuver to reopen their supply lines.  Early on the morning of October 27, Federal troops under Brig. Gen. William B. Hazen floated down the Tennessee River on flat boats, passing beneath the Confederate guns on Lookout Mountain before landing on the opposite shore.  After driving in the Confederate pickets, the landing parties were set upon by Col. William C. Oates and his Alabamians.  Oates's men were too few, however to drive the Yankees back into the river and a Union bridgehead was established.  In the next few days reinforcements from the east under Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker arrived and supplies began flowing into the city.

To stop this, troops from Lt. Gen. James Longstreet’s corps attacked the Union rearguard at Wauhatchie on the night of October 28.  Though fighting continued into the next morning, Longstreet’s men failed to unhinge the Federals.  With the Union supply line well established, the Confederate siege of Chattanooga was all but over.