Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in to episode 424 of our Civil War podcast, I'm Rich.

And I'm Tracy, hello y'all, welcome to the podcast.

As y'all will recall, the big developments with the last episode were that William Rose

Kranz was sacked and left Chattanooga.

George Thomas was placed in command of the Army of the Cumberland, and Ulysses S. Grant

rode into town to save the day.

Yep, that pretty much sums it up.

When we left off at the end of the last show, it was the evening of October 23rd, 1863,

and Ulysses S. Grant had just arrived at Chattanooga.

During his own arduous two-day journey from Stevenson, Alabama, Grant experienced first-hand

the difficult conditions along the Federals' sole remaining supply route into Chattanooga.

As y'all will recall, with the Confederates occupying Lookout Mountain and some of Lookout

Valley west of Chattanooga, they were able to interdict the railroad, river, and roads

that offered the best routes to get supplies into the town.

The only supply line left to the Federals was a route that bypassed Lookout Valley by

going many miles to the north and using a very steep winding road up and over Walden's

ridge.

That journey, which was challenging for wagons even in good weather, became nothing short

of a nightmare as the rains that October turned the route into a 60-mile long ribbon of

mud.

The flow of supplies into Chattanooga slowed to a trickle, and the result was a time of

near-starvation for the army of the Comberland.

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