That night old Lookout was ablaze with the camp fires of the Union army. But while Hooker was warring amid the clouds, his fellow-generals were busy elsewhere. "Sherman," writes the correspondent, "has, on the end of Mission Ridge, got his forces in position. His line of battle is very extended. It is grand as well as formidable. Advancing a heavy line of skirmishers, he moves over the low ground to the base of the ridge, where the Rebels but a very short time before were massed in force. They withdrew, offering but comparatively slight resistance when Sherman commenced moving. Indeed the firing was mainly by the skirmishers. Rising the crest of the ridge, Sherman takes possession of the termini of the two railroads of so much importance to Bragg--that running to Knoxville (over which Longstreet departed to East Tennessee), and that running to Atlanta, over which Bragg receives his supplies. It being near dark, Sherman halts on the ground he has won.
"While these important operations are going on, General Wood's Division, Granger's Corps, advances on the centre of our left, to within 1,500 yards of the Rebel works, near the crest of Missionary Ridge, plants Bride's Battery on Orchard Knob, and opens an enfilading fire on the enemy, then annoying Howard's Corps."
During the night the Rebels massed themselves in great force against Sherman, but before daylight of the 25th that intrepid commander was in the saddle, marshalling his troops to the completion of the work so well begun. The day dawned clear and frosty, and the whole vast panorama of war, yesterday veiled in mist, lay open to the eye. The enemy fell back before Sherman, to the tunnel, but there made a desperate stand, looking and hoping in vain for Longstreet's return to their relief. Large portions of Bragg's army were there. He had been reinforced by Buckner. Sherman (with Bushbeck's Brigade from the Eleventh Corps added) made two attacks with only a portion of his army, and was both times repulsed. Still, he sent Grant word that he would do his work without assistance. Afternoon came, Grant watching Sherman with an anxious eye, waiting to give Thomas the command to scale the mountain side. "I saw him," said an eye witness, "frequently carry his eye along the ridge where the main Rebel line was drawn out, and survey the steep side up which the assault would be made. How many thousands of others of the army that rested and waited for the command, contemplated the ascent and estimated the chances! Taking it for granted that Bragg was prepared for the assault, the records of desperate undertakings do not afford many equalling this."