“Look-Out Mountain” was probably suggested to Melville by his reading of the Cincinnati Gazette’s account of this battle (Volume VIII, Doc. 228-236). The heaviest part of this battle was fought at night, and the flashes of musket fire were clearly visible to spectators for some distance around. The total impression must have been one of awe, or as the Gazette reporter puts it, “Seen from Chattanooga, it was the realization of olden traditions; and supernatural armies contended in the air!” (Doc. 231). Finally all was calm that night, but to the anxious spectators who had watched the flashes and listened to the sounds of gunfire the hours till morning and news of the outcome were suspense-filled ones. During the early hours of the morning the mountain summit was shrouded in mist, but when this mist had cleared away the Union flag was revealed waving from the crest.
Melville’s first two stanzas describe the scene of the night fight in these words:

This description probably had a source in the two following excerpts from the Gazette’s account:

As I descended the hill, I could scarcely repress an emotion of terror as the sound of the battle toward the right became more and more awful and continuous, until it seemed as if some tremendous torrent had sapped the foundation of Lookout, and the mountain itself was crumbling into ruin. Our soldiers were storming Lookout (Doc. 230).

That night . . . I stood watching the combat going on, away up there on that mighty wall of limestone; and the long line of fires which marked the course of the intrenchments; the shouts of the combatants yelling defiance at each other; the fierce jets of flame from the muzzles of a thousand muskets; the spluttering sound of the discharges, muffled by distance; the great brow of the mountain looming dark and awful through the night . . . (Doc. 231).

This stanza probably originated in the following Gazette passage:

Wednesday morning came, and as soon as the sun’s rays were warm enough to disperse the mists from the mountains, all eyes were turned toward the summit of Lookout. A wild and deafening cheer ran along our lines. The banner of beauty and glory was floating from the very crest of the mountain—from that gigantic pile of rock whence rebel cannon had so long been hurtling missiles of death toward the city (Doc. 232).

The Gazette’s story does not mention that the armies prayed during the night, but since Melville does state that “the armies in the valley/Watch and pray for dawning light,” it may be that this line was prompted by “The Storming of Lookout Mountain,” a poem by Captain Thomas H. Elliott (Rebellion Record, VIII, P. 1). The second stanza of “The Storming” reads: