CHATTANOOGA,
September 23, 1863 — 11.30 a.m.
The net result of the campaign thus far is that we hold
Chattanooga and the line of Tennessee River. It is true this result has been
attended by a great battle with heavy losses, but it is certain that the enemy
has suffered quite as severely as we have.
The first great object of the campaign, the possession of
Chattanooga and the Tennessee line, still remains in our hands, and can be held
by this army for from fifteen to twenty days against all efforts of the enemy,
unless he should receive re-enforcements of overwhelming strength. But to
render our hold here perfectly safe no time should be lost in pushing 20,000 to
25,000 efficient troops to Bridgeport. If such re-enforcements can be got there
in season, everything is safe, and this place — indispensable alike to the
defense of Tennessee and as the base of future operations in Georgia — will
remain ours.
[C. A. DANA.]
[Hon. E. M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.]
SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of
the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume
30, Part 1 (Serial No. 50), p. 197-8
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