First Battle of Chattanooga

9.9

A major 1863 battle where Union forces led by Ulysses S. Grant defeat Confederate troops near Chattanooga, Tennessee

proper noun

: Primera Batalla de Chattanooga

The First Battle of Chattanooga marked a turning point in the Union's campaign in the western theater.

Examples

Many historians study the strategies used in the First Battle of Chattanooga to understand Civil War tactics.
The First Battle of Chattanooga was a turning point in the Civil War.
A memorial commemorates those who fought in the First Battle of Chattanooga.
Did you know about the First Battle of Chattanooga?
A memorial commemorates those who fought in the First Battle of Chattanooga.
Many historians study the strategies used in the First Battle of Chattanooga to understand Civil War tactics.
The First Battle of Chattanooga marked a turning point in the Union's campaign in the western theater.

Synonyms

Battle of Chattanooga

vsFirst Battle of Chattanooga

7.8

A major 1863 American Civil War battle where Union forces defeat the Confederate army

is the same event but uses a numbered form of the name

Surface Forms

First Battle of Chattanooga main

Morphology

first + battle + of + Chattanooga

The phrase is fully compositional: 'first' modifies 'battle' and 'of Chattanooga' specifies the location, so a learner who knows the words will infer it refers to the initial/earliest battle that took place at Chattanooga. This adjectival+noun+of+place structure is cross-linguistically common, so the general meaning is transparent even though historical details (date, belligerents) would not be known without extra knowledge.

Etymology

First Battle of Chattanooga comes from the fact it was the first major fight near the city of Chattanooga during the American Civil War in 1863. People used First to 'tell it apart' from later battles at the same place, so the name now refers to that specific fight where the northern 'Union' army fought the southern 'Confederate' army.