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The battle for Chattanooga was the turning point in the Civil War because it opened the doorway to the Union forces for invasion into the deep South at the last moment for making possible the capture of Atlanta in time to influence the 1864 congressional and presidential elections.
After the defeat of the Union army at Chickamauga, which was saved from being a complete rout only by the memorable stand of Thomas against Bragg's entire army (25,000 against 60,000), Rosecrans fortified Chattanooga, abandoning the heights of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge to Bragg. Rosecrans was thus safe for the moment, but his supply situation was critical and got worse.
For various reasons (chaos also in the Confederate supply situation, horrendous losses at Chickamauga, strong fortifications around Chattanooga) Bragg decided to starve Rosecrans out rather than attack, whereby it wasn't exactly clear who was besieging whom. Bragg was also busy trying to clean out all of the insubordinate elements in his army who had contributed greatly to limit his options before this battle, indeed since his first foray into Kentucky. At this moment, one of the most insubordinate elements was Longstreet, the savior from the East. He had arrived the night before the 2nd day of the battle of Chickamauga, expecting Davis to sooner or later name him Bragg's replacement, and after the battle he jumped feet first into the rebellion among Bragg's officers, aligning himself against Bragg, of course. But then Davis came to Chickamauga, listened, saw, and stuck with Bragg.
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