Existing comment:
The cost of Chickamauga
More than 4000 soldiers lost their lives at Chickamauga
The short path ahead leads to the grave of a loan Confederate. Pvt. John Andrew Ingraham was a local man, one of many who join the Confederate Army. He was killed at midday on September 19 in heavy fighting that claimed the lives of more than 2600 other Confederates. After the battle, friends searched for him, found his body, and buried it here.
Chickamauga was by far the bloodiest battle west of the Appalachian Mountains. Of the 124,000 men engaged, 30% were listed as casualties,. The number killed, wounded, or reported missing in actions exceeded 37,000. The scope of the tragedy is difficult to comprehend.
Confederate dead were buried in mass graves on the battlefield, but were later moved. Many of the Union dead lay on the ground for three months until Union troops recaptured the area and remove the bodies to what would later become a National Cemetery in Chattanooga.
Casualties at Chickamauga --
Union of 58,000 engaged --
Killed -- 1,656
Wounded -- 9,749
Missing -- 4,774
TOTAL -- 16,179
Confederate of 66,000 engaged --
Killed -- 2,673
Wounded -- 16,274
Missing -- 2,003
TOTAL -- 20,950
Pvt. John Ingraham, a local Confederate volunteer, was killed near here on the first day of the battle. Unlike many who died far from home, Ingraham died in his own community and war buried by friends. |