On November 27, 1863, Maj. Gen. Patrick R. Cleburne's defense of Ringgold Gap, Georgia, had been a complete success. His division, tasked with holding the gap at all costs while Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee retreated beyond to Dalton, defeated Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's army of superior strength and numbers.
On today's date in 1863, Hooker withdrew the last of his occupation force from the town of Ringgold, but not before destroying it. On the previous day, its citizens had been herded outside of town and informed that their village would be destroyed as a military necessity. Overnight, Federal soldiers systematically set fire to the buildings and homes, an terrorist tactic that the Union army will use to maximum effect in the months ahead. The entire town—home to more than 2,000 people—was completely and needlessly reduced to ashes.
Source: Mountains Touched With Fire, Wiley Sword
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