The Battle of Ringgold Gap was fought November 27, 1863, outside the town of Ringgold, Georgia, by the Confederate and Union armies during the American Civil War. Part of the Chattanooga Campaign, it followed a heavy Confederate loss at the Battle of Missionary Ridge from which General Braxton Bragg's artillery and wagon trains were forced to retreat south. The five hour Battle of Ringgold Gap resulted in the Confederate victory of Major General Patrick R. Cleburne and gave the Army of Tennessee safe passage to retreat through the Ringgold Gap mountain pass. Background The disastrous Confederate rout at Battle of Missionary Ridge on November 25 forced the Army of Tennessee to retreat into northwest Georgia. On November 26, the army made its way south towards Dalton. To allow time for his artillery and wagon trains to safely pass through the gap, Confederate General Braxton Bragg sent Patrick Cleburne's unit of 4,157 men to defend it from the Union army. While Cleburne expressed doubt he could defend the gap adequately with his single division, Bragg refused to send any further troops to assist Cleburne. Cleburne and his men proceeded south and reached Ringgold around 10:00p.m. After crossing through the East Chickamauga Creek, Cleburne's army made camp in the mountain pass known as the Ringgold Gap. All accounts the Union received about Bragg's army suggested a hasty and unorganized retreat following the Battle of Missionary Ridge. The Union commander at Chattanooga, Ulysses S. Grant, had ordered a pursuit of the retreating Confederate army on the morning of November 26, but confusion over the orders prevented the Union forces from getting an early start. General Joseph Hooker was given command of divisions from the IV Corps, XI Corps, XII Corps, and XV Corps and sent to cut off the Western and Atlantic railroad in pursuit of the Confederate rear guard. However, when the Union forces arrived, they found that the Confederates had burned the bridges over Chickamauga Creek. Having finally reached Ringgold Gap around 10:00p.m., Hooker halted two and a half miles from the Confederate army during the night of November 26–27. Plans and movement to battle Upon the Confederate army's arrival at Ringgold Gap, Cleburne deployed his men in three strategic locations — at Taylor's Ridge, White Oak Mountain, and within the gap itself. To the south, three Alabama regiments were stationed in the woods of Taylor's Ridge under the leadership of