Chattanooga
In September, 1863 the 61st OVI left Virginia and the Army of the Potomac as the 11th and 12th Corps, back under the command of Major General Hooker, were transferred to the west. They travelled more than 1200 miles by train to Bridgeport, Alabama as reinforcements for the Army of the Cumberland, which was then besieged in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The 61st reached Bridgeport on October 1 and remained there until the end of the month. On October 27 the 61st and Hooker's force began marching towards Chattanooga. Early on the morning of October 29 the 61st and its brigade, under the command of Brigadier General Hector Tyndale, participated in the Battle of Wauhatchie. Brigadier General Micah Jenkins' Confederate division attacked Hooker's rear guard and Tyndale's brigade was sent back as reinforcements. While repulsing the Confederate attack the 61st lost three men, including Captain William McGroarty, the commander of Company G and the younger brother of Colonel McGroarty.
The 61st remained at Wauhatchie for the next three weeks and dug in. On November 22 the 61st and Hooker's force marched to Chattanooga and joined the main Union force there under the command of Major General Ulysses S. Grant. On November 23 and 24 the 61st skirmished with Confederates in front of Missionary Ridge and on November 25 they supported Major General William T. Sherman's attack on the ridge.
Missionary Ridge
Following the battle the 61st marched with General Sherman's force to Knoxville, Tennessee, where General Burnside was besieged. This 120 mile march was one of the most difficult marches of the war for the 61st. Not only did they have to contend with the cold temperatures but, because no wagons travelled with the force, the men had to live off the land. Then, when less than ten miles from Knoxville, Sherman learned that the Confederates had retreated and so the 61st returned to Bridgeport, Alabama, where it spent the winter.
