November 25, 1863
Confederate artillery is placed on the military crest rather than the actual crest of Missionary Ridge during the Third Battle of Chattanooga. This gives them a better field of fire, and allows them to work much more effectively than in OTL. Thus, as the Union tries to advance upwards to capture the remaining rifle lines, they are beat back, and suffer heavy casualties.
November 26-27, 1863
Further Union flanking attempts are thwarted and thrown back. By now, Ulysses S. Grant is furious with General Thomas, and has him temporarily relieved of command.
Bragg orders a major counterattack against the Union lines. During the Second Battle of Wauhatchie, the Confederates break through the Cracker Line, cutting off the only major Union supply route. To the north, Confederate troops under Major General Cleburne manage to break through Union lines commanded by Sherman. Throughout the night, Sherman’s flank begins to collapse, and fear runs high. As morning dawns, with the Confederates shelling Union positions, and a total break down of his lines imminent, Grant orders the entire army to retreat to avoid destruction.
The Confederacy has won the battle. Casualties are 4,700 for the CS (700 killed, 3,350 wounded, and 380 missing) and 10,705 for the Union (1,135 killed, 5,470 wounded, and 4,100 missing/captured).
The Union is forced to retreat to Signal Mountain. Grant considers splitting his forces, sending one unit to Red Bank in the hopes of being able to lure the Confederates in between the two mountain passes (the two towns are only three miles apart) and pinning them down through artillery fire and a counter strike.
November 28, 1863
Through the night of the 27th-28th, the Union had been hastily erecting defensive barricades throughout their respective positions. As they had worked, the Confederates had not been far off. In the morning, Grant’s troops were tired from the consecutive days of little sleep and last night’s rushed construction, while Bragg’s on the other hand, had gotten some sleep after their victory, and were rested enough, and on high morals.
Bragg’s attack begins at about 9:00 in the morning. He brings two divisions to attack each town-he knows the Union isn’t too well entrenched, but also knows that they still have numbers on their side. Yet he pins his hopes on wearing the Union down-and giving them the impression that his army is actually larger than it really is. As Confederate forces move up the hills, they come under heavy small-arms fire, and smaller amounts of Union artillery fire; the Union had lost much equipment during the Battle of Chattanooga, and what pieces they managed to take with them have been positioned along the other ends of the hills and have been zeroed in on the spot where the Confederates are to be lured in and hopefully trapped.
By 12:00, the initial Confederate attacks have failed, and they regroup at the base of the hills. During this time, the Union sends a large force through to the center of Confederate lines. This is to be the lure. As the Yankees retreat, and the Southrons advance after them, the Confederates are drawn in between the mountains. As Union artillery fire opens up, the Confederates take heavy losses, and quickly retreat, faster than expected. The Union force that was supposed to cut off their rear is not in position yet, and they are overrun.
What was supposed to be a decisive victory is not quite that. At around 1:00, the Confederate sides resume their attacks on the two mountains. This time, they break through. Union front lines are thrown into panic, and even as Sherman and Grant order the lines to hold, they systematically fall apart.
Once again, the Union has been defeated. They are forced on a long retreat all the way back to Murfreesboro. The Battle of the Two Mountains, as it is known in the South (the Battle of Hamilton Pass in the north), will leave the Western/Tennessee front secure until spring.
Confederate casualties: 1,654 killed, 8,108 wounded, 285 missing
Union casualties: 1,638 killed, 8,015 wounded, 1,330 missing/captured