1st time I went to Lookout Mountain I thought “What lunatic thought this would be a great idea?”
But, Sherman couldn’t get to Savanah without taking Chattanooga and going through Lookout Mountain was the only way.
RE: Lookout Mountain...
With many of the well fortified positions,
Sherman just cut around them whenever he could.
He was not there to take and hold territory,
his was a mission of slash and burn; shock and awe.