Hello everyone, my name is Wesley Levisa from the History of the Second World War podcast.

Join me on a journey to the most destructive conflict in human history,

a journey that will take us not just through the famous campaigns and cataclysmic battles,

but also to the lesser well-known corners of the war that touched millions all over the world,

as we try and answer not just the questions of what and where, but how and why.

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Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in to episode 432 of our Civil War podcast, I'm Rich.

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

As you guys will recall by the end of the last show, we'd set the stage

for another dramatic event in the battles for Chattanooga,

the storming of missionary rage by the Yankees on November 25, 1863.

The previous day, the 24th, Hooker's Federals had captured Lookout Mountain in a remarkable action

that came to be called the Battle of the Clouds.

The imposing mass of Lookout loomed over Chattanooga to the southwest of the town,

but while it's captured by Hooker was undeniably dramatic,

the key to the Confederate position was actually missionary rage,

which dominated Chattanooga to the east.

That's because behind missionary rage was the railhead at Chikamaga Station

on the Western and Atlantic Railroad, which was the Confederate's lifeline to Atlanta to the south.

The Western and Atlantic was Braxton Bragg's line of communication and supply,

and if it came to it, would be his line of retreat,

...