under his command to help Thomas. Asked by Thomas if he could counterattack a Confederate force on the Union flank, Granger replied, "My men are fresh and they are just the fellows for that work. They are raw troops and don't know any better than to charge up there." This action staved off the Confederate attackers until dark, permitting the Federal forces to retreat in good order and thus helping Thomas to earn the sobriquet "Rock of Chickamauga". After the battle, Granger wrote in his report, "being well convinced, judging from the sound of battle, that the enemy were pushing him [Thomas], and fearing that would not be able to resist their combined attack, I determined to go to his assistance at once." Granger's effective leadership at Chickamauga earned him command of the newly formed IV Corps in the Army of the Cumberland commanded by General Thomas, and he was promoted brevet lieutenant colonel of the U.S. Army. Under his command, the IV Corps force distinguished itself at the third Battle of Chattanooga. Two of the IV Corps' divisions, those commanded by Thomas J. Wood and Philip Sheridan, were in the middle of the four divisions that assaulted the heavily-manned center of the Confederate lines on Missionary Ridge. Although they had no further orders after taking the rifle-pits at the base, Granger's men kept going up the steep ridge, with the two other divisions just slightly behind, and routed the Confederates on the crest. This breakthrough, in conjunction with Hooker's successful assault further to the right, forced the Confederates, under General Braxton Bragg, to retreat in disorder. After Chattanooga, Granger took part in lifting the siege at Knoxville, Tennessee. Despite these successes, General Ulysses S. Grant disliked Granger and prevented him from gaining more prominent commands in the West or in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. He was later sent to the Department of the Gulf under General E. R. S. Canby, and commanded a division that provided land support to the naval operations conducted by Admiral David Farragut in the Gulf of Mexico. Granger led the land forces that captured Forts Gaines and Morgan in conjunction with the Union naval operations during the Battle of Mobile Bay. Granger commanded the XIII Corps during the Battle of Fort Blakeley, which led to the fall of the city of Mobile, Alabama. Postbellum Time in Texas and Juneteenth When