In a sense it had. Following the surrender of Vicksburg, there was no chance that the Confederacy could win the war in the West, but it could use battles and skirmishes there to delay its eventual defeat. In one way, things were a bit easier for the Confederates. No longer having Vicksburg to defend, they could concentrate their forces in Tennessee to await an expected hammer blow from the Army of the Cumberland, led by General William Rosecrans.

The Confederates now had a shorter line to defend, and they also were not divided between two generals, as had been the case in the Vicksburg debacle. General Braxton Bragg, one of Jefferson Davis’ favorite generals, led the Army of Tennessee, which steadily received reinforcements during the late summer. Even so, Bragg retreated, losing the all-important railroad town of Chattanooga in early September.