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main position, withdrew to Rossville and awaited attack in a strong position on Missionary ridge.
Great quantities of arms and ammunition were abandoned on the field.
Monday morning was devoted by the Confederate army to burying its dead, caring for its wounded, and gathering up the spoils of victory.
General Bragg has been criticised for not following up his victory instantly and fighting his men on the 21st.
Bragg's defenders say that it should be considered whether that were within the limits of human endurance.
Part of his soldiers had just been brought from Virginia; the others were wearied by maneuvers in the mountains.
They had fought a great battle and had driven back the enemy only by the most desperate exertions and with heavy losses.
On the other hand, leading officers of the army of Tennessee urged that nothing was needed but to advance on the 21st and reap the full fruits of victory.
General Forrest, who was early in the saddle, reported the rout complete—disorganized masses of men hurrying to the rear, batteries inextricably mixed with trains of wagons, disorder and confusion everywhere.
Observing this condition of the army of Rosecrans, this readyfight-ing cavalry general sent word to Bragg that ‘every hour is worth a thousand men.’
Yet Bragg did not think it proper to pursue.
Rosecrans spent the day and night of the 21st in hurrying his trains out of Chattanooga.
Then, finding that he was not pressed, he remained in and near the city with his army.
Chickamauga was more a Confederate victory than Gettysburg was a Federal victory, and the weight of proof bears out the view that the full fruits could have been reaped by immediate pursuit on the 21st.
Both armies had suffered terribly.
The Federal report of losses was 1,644 killed, 9,262 wounded, 4,945 missing, which with a cavalry loss of 500 made a grand total of 16,351.
The Federal ordnance officer, Capt. Horace Porter, reported a loss of 36 pieces of artillery, 8,000
Atlanta, Ga. 1899.
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