Brotherton Field is a nice open field but is like nearly every other field at Chickamauga in that it does not really have views of the attacks. In this case most of the attacks come out of the woods directly across the LaFayette Road. This first picture looks south along the LaFayette Road. You can see the woods on the left side and the field behind a brand new fence (this picture was taken in April 2006).
Looking north along that fence towards the Brotherton cabin. You can see my dad's head poking out of the fence near the cabin.
Looking north along that fence towards the Brotherton cabin. You can see my dad's head poking out of the fence near the cabin.
And turned around looking south along that fence. The nice gradual slope of the ridge line in the field can be seen. This probably would have been good ground to defend if the opportunity had existed. This is the area that Longstreet's column pierced the Union line at on September 20th, whether or not you believe in the whole Wood created a gap story.
These final two pictures form a panorama (right to left) of the Union line from the reverse side of the slope. This reverse side would have provided a sheltered area for Union troops to rest before rushing to the crest to join the battle line. You can see that there was a fair amount of artillery along the crest too.
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The Brotherton Field was the worst ground to defend on the field. If the defenders were posted on the high ground in the middle of the field the would stand out against the horizon while the attackers would have cover in the form of woods. This is what happend on Sept. 19th. On the 20th Wood was posted in the woods to the west of the field, and the attackers would be protected untill they reached the middle of field, and then it would only be a 50-75 yard sprint to meet the defenders.
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