Union General George Thomas had what men he could gather of his XIV Corps, Brannan's and Baird's divisions, but they were only half of Pap Thomas' command. This was not a set-piece battle. This was a desperate battle in the thick Georgia underbrush that broke regiments into companies and companies into scattered bands using whatever cover they could. When men charged they only managed to stagger forward, blindly making their way through the thickets until blundering into the enemy line.

An army was in danger of being destroyed here, between the lazy Chickamauga Creek and Missionary Ridge. It was Major General William S. Rosecrans Union Army of the Cumberland, and it stood to be defeated by the unlikeliest of generals, Braxton Bragg. Rosecrans had chased Bragg and his Confederate Army of Tennessee from its namesake state into Georgia, where a series of events placed the Union army in jeopardy, not the least of which was the western terrain. There just weren't enough decent roads on which to move an army so Rosecrans had been forced to divide his army. Now the Yankees, spread out over a 40 mile-front with no chance of quickly coming together to defend themselves, had chased the Rebels onto bad ground.

When the Confederates attacked on September 18, 1863, they swung blindly at the Rosecrans army, finding nothing to strike at but a few pickets. The Federals, responding (and planning an attack of their own), drew first blood. The next day was different. Thomas Brannan moved his Union division against the Confederates (Bragg had managed to get about three-quarters of his army across Chickamauga Creek and into some semblance of a line), and quickly realized he was in over his head. There were a lot more Confederates here than he expected, he sent to Thomas, and he could use some help. Thomas sent in Baird and requested reinforcements from Rosecrans.

If Bragg was no sort of general, he had a respectable galaxy of stars at his disposal. Pat Cleburne, James Longstreet (who came up later), and John Bell Hood, with Nathan Bedford Forrest guarding the right flank, were as competent a lot of soldiers as anyone could find. But Bragg's star was never fully developed and at Chickamauga, Confederate General D.H. Hill commented, Bragg's performance was comparable to "the sparing of the amateur boxer," rather than what was needed: "the crushing blows of the trained pugilist."

As desperate and uncoordinated as the fighting was on the 19th, and as lackluster as Bragg's performance proved, the opportunity for victory gleamed brightly for the commander of the Army of Tennessee on the 20th of September. It had nothing to do with skill, determination, or bravery (although such things should never be discounted), but presented itself on a silver platter to the remarkably inept Confederate general because of a Federal miscommunication. Such does Mars tamper with warrior's destinies.

Still, battles, even defeats, require heroes. Enter Pap Thomas, stage left.

George Henry Thomas was born in Southampton County, Virginia on July 31, 1816. His family, slave owning, was relatively well to do until the death of Thomas' father when the boy was just twelve. A few years later Southampton County was the scene of Nat Turner's rebellion, which undoubtedly had some influence on Thomas's family but how it impacted the future general is not known. Thomas was reluctant to reveal his feelings and later, when pressed to write his memoirs he countered, "All that I did for my government are matters of history, but my private life is my own and I will not have it hawked about in print for the amusement of the curious." By "my government," of course, Thomas meant the United States. When he chose not to align himself with Virginia at the outbreak of war, his sister Judith wrote, "General Thomas had many friends, a comfortable home and a native state, until he deserted him."

In 1836 Congressman John Y. Mason recommended George Thomas for an appointment to West Point. The army, to many young Southern gentlemen, presented an opportunity for genteel service, honor, and glory. The subject of pay was best left unmentioned.

Thomas's tenure at the Military Academy was uneventful for the quiet young man. He received his usual share of demerits, although most of those could be for what was considered social activities. Apparently he enjoyed visiting and being visited, and was even placed under arrest for gambling. He may have, during his years at West Point, developed or refined his philosophy of battle; he who keeps his head, keeps the victory. Upon graduation Thomas was ordered to report to Company H of the Third Regiment of Artillery.

Young Thomas saw service against the Seminole Indians (mostly garrison duty), and during the Mexican War. In was in the latter that Thomas displayed his calm under fire. At the Battle of Buena Vista, Thomas's two-gun battery (fighting side-by-side Captain J. P. J. O'Brien's two cannons), managed to hold off Mexican forces until American re-enforcements could be sent up. O'Brien and Thomas fell back with the recoil of their guns, grudgingly giving up ground and time. George Thomas had proved himself. Nearly a decade later, Thomas was promoted major and ordered to report to the Second United States Cavalry. The Second muster roll was a who's-who of future Confederates. Commanded by Albert Sidney Johnston, its officers included Robert E. Lee, Earl Van Dorn, E. Kirby Smith, John Bell Hood, Kenner Garnett, Fitzhugh Lee, and Richard W. Johnson. While with the Second Thomas was wounded by a Comanche arrow during a skirmish. It pierced his cheek and lodged in his chest. He removed the arrow himself before seeking medical attention. Thomas carried the scar with him to Georgia, and the desperate battle just west of Chickamauga Creek.

It had been a day of unyielding carnage. Confederate charges were repulsed, Union thrusts broken, and all of it in one vast entanglement that prevented either side from achieving a clear advantage.  The battle did not end when night came. The lines kept up a constant fire as General Rosecrans called a council of war in the Glenn house on the Dry Valley Road. Each general spoke in turn, but it was obvious to all that they were outnumbered by the Confederate forces and tomorrow could bring disaster. General Phil Sheridan summed it up when he said, "We are in a bad strait unquestionably." Pap Thomas, gray-bearded, seemingly imperturbable in battle, roused himself from a fitful slumber to announce, "I would strengthen the left."  Years before Thomas issued a report to the Adjunct General, in which he noted, "My experience teaches me that soldiers usually shape their conduct according to the characteristics of their officers…" True, and well-stated, but such words tend to melt away under the heat of battle with officers being only human and all. But not always.

The 20th of September was a day of destiny for Confederates and Federals, among them Union Brigadier General Thomas J. Wood. About mid-morning on the 20th, Wood, who commanded a division on the Union right, was ordered to move his men to address a supposed gap in the line. There was no gap, that is, there was no gap until Wood moved his division out of line. A few minutes before noon, just as the Federals were trying to sort things out; Pete Longstreet struck. It was a thunderbolt -- 23,000 Rebels, three divisions, hit the ruptured Federal line. It was a Union catastrophe and the gray wave swept over a collapsing Yankee line, slowing but never stopping.  The federals were running, seeking the safety of McFarland Gap, or Rossville, or Missionary Ridge. Officers tried to stop the route but as Union Lieutenant Colonel Gates Thurston remembered, "All became confusion." Rosecrans, trying to rescue what remained of his army, rushed to Chattanooga to prepare a defense.

The effort to save what was left of the Army of the Cumberland centered on Snodgrass Hill with Pap Thomas, and some very determined men. If Thomas could hold the hill, the survivors of the defeat could make their way to safety -- that, in fact, was his entire strategy. His men had thrown up hastily constructed barricades and poured a heavy fire into the attacking Rebels. Thomas, uncertain where the rest of the army was, called for reinforcements and ammunition. He rode back and forth along the line, a remarkable target, coolly encouraging his men. About mid-afternoon he was told that relief might be coming from the rear but these were Longstreet's men, launching another attack. They were repulsed, but other Rebels charged Snodgrass Hill, trying to overwhelm Thomas' force. The Yankees held because Pap Thomas asked them to but they were in danger of being surrounded and annihilated. Thomas needed a miracle on a day when God wore gray.

There was a dust cloud to the north, an officer reported to Thomas, and the general commanding, his nerves stretched almost to the breaking point, found himself shaking too much to properly focus his field glasses. He called for a younger officer to take the glasses and in a moment he had his answer; it was Major General Gordon Granger with Steedman's division. They fell in alongside Thomas' men, bringing ammunition, plugging the line, throwing back Confederate charge after charge. By all estimate the Rebels launched nearly unsuccessful 30 assaults against the Union line, but Thomas and his men managed to hold. Part of their defense was based on cold reality -- to attempt to withdrawal en mass would bring the Confederates down on them like a plague of old, and all would be lost. Thomas knew this, and he was certain that the Rebels realized it as well.  The only way to fallback was piecemeal; by division. It was Buena Vista again.

He got his men back, most of them, slipping through McFarland's Gap and rejoining the Army of the Cumberland. It was a defeat for the Yankees; it could have been a disaster. The Union army could have been destroyed, would have been destroyed if not for George Thomas.

Battles are complicated events and Chickamauga was no different. If someone other than Bragg had commanded the Rebels, the attacks might have been coordinated rather than casual. If Rosecrans had a bit more luck he would have found the Rebels after his command was assembled.

But those speculations can be laid aside and replaced with this certainty -- Pap Thomas gathered his men around him and denied the enemy Snodgrass Hill. He gave the Army of the Cumberland time and a pathway to salvation. Some generals remarked that Thomas was slow, and cautious. They were wrong. He was deliberate, and determined, and once he decided what had to be done, he did it. George Thomas became known as the Rock of Chickamauga. It was a convenient title, something that newspapers find dramatic in a cheap way. The men he saved or who served with him during the battle might agree with the description; at Chickamauga when wave after wave of Confederates crashed against the Union position, Thomas was unyielding.