Battle of Hoover's Gap Facts

Date and Location

• June 24 – 26, 1863
• Bedford and Rutherford Counties, northwest of Tullahoma, Tennessee

Campaign

• Tullahoma Campaign

Principal Union Commanders

• Major General George H. Thomas
• Colonel John Wilder

Principal Confederate Commanders

• Colonel J. Russell Butler
• Brigadier General William B. Bate

Union Forces Engaged

• 14th Corps

Confederate Forces Engaged

• Bate’s Brigade
• Johnson’s Brigades
• Stewart’s Division
• Hardee’s Corps (Army of Tennessee)
• Butler’s 1st [3rd] Kentucky Cavalry Regiment

Number of Union Soldiers Engaged

• Undetermined

Number of Confederate Soldiers Engaged

• Undetermined

Estimated Union Casualties

• 583 (killed, wounded, captured/missing)

Estimated Confederate Casualties

• Undetermined

Result

• Union victory

Significance

• The Battle of Hoover’s Gap was the decisive engagement of Union General William Rosecrans’ brilliantly executed Tullahoma Campaign.
• A decisive factor in the Union victory at the Battle of Hoover’s Gap was the use of newly introduced Spencer Repeating Rifles by Colonel John Wilder’s brigade.
• After the Union victory at the Battle of Hoover’s Gap, Major General George H. Thomas christened Colonel John Wilder’s brigade as the “Lightning Brigade.”

Timeline of the Tullahoma Campaign

These are the main battles and events of the Tullahoma Campaign in order.

• June 24–26, 1863 — Battle of Hoover’s Gap
• June 24–26, 1863 — Battle of Liberty Gap