{"id":"01KG8AJJ0DKHT9SG9X0RB5CAQX","cid":"bafkreifenb5xits3iei245isnjgnctste2z5vaw4hgm2nbdhctujzpbrta","type":"chapter","properties":{"description":"# CHATTANOOGA\n## Overview\n\"CHATTANOOGA\" is a poem by Herman Melville, appearing as a chapter within the poetry collection [John Marr and Other Poems](arke:01KG8AJ5CWVMSM9AY2938E996H). The poem was extracted from the file [john_marr_and_other_poems.txt](arke:01KG89J19Y3FNVN5KWASY78BP4). It is located between the poems [THE HOUSE-TOP](arke:01KG8AJJ08EXJEEBMRPJDF29K1) and [ON THE PHOTOGRAPH OF A CORPS COMMANDER](arke:01KG8AJJ0JQS66V67NT5ZKRS5V) within the collection.\n\n## Context\n[John Marr and Other Poems](arke:01KG8AJ5CWVMSM9AY2938E996H) is part of the larger [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW) collection. The text file [john_marr_and_other_poems.txt](arke:01KG89J19Y3FNVN5KWASY78BP4) was processed using structure extraction methods to identify individual poems and other structural divisions within the work.\n\n## Contents\nThe poem \"CHATTANOOGA\" describes the Battle of Chattanooga, fought in November 1863 during the American Civil War. The poem depicts the Union army's assault on Confederate positions, focusing on the bravery and sacrifice of the soldiers. It references General Grant and vividly portrays the scene of soldiers scaling the mountain slopes under fire, culminating in the capture of the crest and the retreat of the Confederate forces. The poem also reflects on the cost of victory, acknowledging the soldiers who died in the assault.\n","description_generated_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:13.682Z","description_model":"gemini-2.5-flash-lite","description_title":"CHATTANOOGA","end_line":2826,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:47:32.310Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"CHATTANOOGA","source_file":"01KG89J19Y3FNVN5KWASY78BP4","start_line":2748,"text":"CHATTANOOGA\r\n\r\n\r\nNovember, 1863\r\n\r\n\r\nA kindling impulse seized the host\r\n    Inspired by heaven’s elastic air;\r\nTheir hearts outran their General’s plan,\r\n    Though Grant commanded there—\r\n    Grant, who without reserve can dare;\r\nAnd, “Well, go on and do your will,”\r\n    He said, and measured the mountain then:\r\nSo master-riders fling the rein—\r\n    But you must know your men.\r\n\r\nOn yester-morn in grayish mist,\r\n    Armies like ghosts on hills had fought,\r\nAnd rolled from the cloud their thunders loud\r\n    The Cumberlands far had caught:\r\n    To-day the sunlit steeps are sought.\r\nGrant stood on cliffs whence all was plain,\r\n    And smoked as one who feels no cares;\r\nBut mastered nervousness intense\r\nAlone such calmness wears.\r\n\r\nThe summit-cannon plunge their flame\r\n    Sheer down the primal wall,\r\nBut up and up each linking troop\r\n    In stretching festoons crawl—\r\n    Nor fire a shot. Such men appall\r\nThe foe, though brave. He, from the brink,\r\n    Looks far along the breadth of slope,\r\nAnd sees two miles of dark dots creep,\r\n    And knows they mean the cope.\r\n\r\nHe sees them creep. Yet here and there\r\n    Half hid ’mid leafless groves they go;\r\nAs men who ply through traceries high\r\n    Of turreted marbles show—\r\n    So dwindle these to eyes below.\r\nBut fronting shot and flanking shell\r\n    Sliver and rive the inwoven ways;\r\nHigh tops of oaks and high hearts fall,\r\n    But never the climbing stays.\r\n\r\nFrom right to left, from left to right\r\n    They roll the rallying cheer—\r\nVie with each other, brother with brother,\r\n    Who shall the first appear—\r\n    What color-bearer with colors clear\r\nIn sharp relief, like sky-drawn Grant,\r\n    Whose cigar must now be near the stump—\r\nWhile in solicitude his back\r\n    Heaps slowly to a hump.\r\n\r\nNear and more near; till now the flags\r\n    Run like a catching flame;\r\nAnd one flares highest, to peril nighest—\r\n    _He_ means to make a name:\r\n    Salvos! they give him his fame.\r\nThe staff is caught, and next the rush,\r\n    And then the leap where death has led;\r\nFlag answered flag along the crest,\r\n    And swarms of rebels fled.\r\n\r\nBut some who gained the envied Alp,\r\n    And—eager, ardent, earnest there—\r\nDropped into Death’s wide-open arms,\r\n    Quelled on the wing like eagles struck in air—\r\n    Forever they slumber young and fair,\r\nThe smile upon them as they died;\r\n    Their end attained, that end a height:\r\nLife was to these a dream fulfilled,\r\n    And death a starry night.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r","title":"CHATTANOOGA"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJ5CWVMSM9AY2938E996H","peer_type":"poetry_collection","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19Y3FNVN5KWASY78BP4","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AJJ08EXJEEBMRPJDF29K1","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AJJ0JQS66V67NT5ZKRS5V","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"next"}],"ver":3,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:47:35.437Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:13.878Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF5C36SQEVDHC9CBNZZJH9K"}}