Chattanooga Campaign - Aftermath

Aftermath

Casualties for the Union Army amounted to 5,824 (753 killed, 4,722 wounded, and 349 missing) of about 56,000 engaged; Bragg reported Confederate casualties of 6,667 (361 killed, 2,160 wounded, and 4,146 missing, mostly prisoners) of about 44,000. Southern losses may have been higher; Grant claimed 6,142 prisoners. When a chaplain asked General Thomas whether the dead should be sorted and buried by state, Thomas replied "Mix 'em up. I'm tired of States' rights."

One of the Confederacy's two major armies was routed. Bragg relieved Breckinridge from command, accusing him of drunkenness during the period November 23–27. Bragg chose to blame Breckinridge and the cowardice of his army for the defeat. He resigned from command of the Army of Tennessee on December 1 and was replaced temporarily by Hardee. (Gen. Joseph E. Johnston assumed command of the army on December 27.)

In East Tennessee, Longstreet's offensive against Burnside (the Knoxville Campaign) fell apart at the Battle of Fort Sanders on November 29. Although he was ordered to rejoin Bragg, Longstreet considered the order impracticable and informed Bragg that he would return with his command to Virginia but would maintain the siege on Knoxville as long as possible in the hopes that Burnside and Grant could be prevented from joining forces and annihilating the Army of Tennessee. This plan turned out to be effective because Grant sent Sherman with 25,000 men to relieve the siege at Knoxville. Longstreet abandoned his siege on December 4, went into winter quarters, and returned to Virginia in the spring of 1864.

The Confederate enthusiasm that had risen so high after Chickamauga had been dashed at Chattanooga. The Union now held undisputed control of the state of Tennessee, including Chattanooga, the "Gateway to the Lower South." The city became the supply and logistics base for Sherman's 1864 Atlanta Campaign, as well as for the Army of the Cumberland, and Grant had won his final battle in the West prior to receiving command of all Union armies in March 1864.

Portions of the Chattanooga battlefields, including 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) at Lookout Mountain, are preserved by the National Park Service as part of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.