KNOXVILLE CIVIL WAR ROUNDTABLE

KNOXVILLE IN THE CIVIL WAR

By J. C. Tumblin, O.D., Past President, Knoxville Civil War Roundtable

Copyright 1998 by J. C. Tumblin. Publication rights reserved.

Background and Introduction

Opposing Generals

Battle of Knoxville

Additional Readings

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION

President Abraham Lincoln stated, "If the Union armies could take East Tennessee, we will have the Rebellion by the throat and it must dwindle and die." Why? What was so important about Knoxville and East Tennessee in the early 1860s? Events occurring in and around Knoxville during the Civil War (1861-1865) would underscore the president's words and explain the historic markers so numerous in the area and the emotions that still prevail three and four generations since that terrible time.

During those four years, Tennessee experienced 454 battles and skirmishes, second only to the state of Virginia. East Tennessee knew its share of those events. Guerrilla warfare and civil unrest were also rampant and traumatic to the military and the civilian population alike.

In the early 1860s there were only three significant North-South rail lines in the southeastern United States -- one from Richmond, Virginia, through Wilmington, North Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina, to Savannah, Georgia, and thence to Atlanta; another from Richmond through Charlotte, North Carolina, and Augusta, Georgia, to Atlanta. The third was from Richmond through Roanoke and Bristol in Virginia, and Knoxville and Chattanooga in Tennessee, to Atlanta. The Southern historian Pollard observed, "The importance of this road (from Roanoke to Atlanta) to the supply of our armies was no less considerable than to the supply of our general population." The commissary general of the Confederacy reported that, in the first two years of the war, East Tennessee furnished 25,000,000 pounds of bacon along with large supplies of livestock and grain.

EAST TENNESSEE Seymour, pp. 106-7 (91K)

The 1860 census showed Knox County to have a population of 20,020 white citizens and 2,370 slaves, and Knoxville itself to number 3,704 persons. Knoxville was a major trading center and something of a railway hub. By comparison, only one southern city had over 100,000 -- New Orleans had 168,675. Charleston had a population of 40,578, Richmond 37,910, Montgomery 35,967, Memphis 22,623, and Savannah 22,292.

Lincoln and his military chiefs knew the importance of this "breadbasket" to the South, but they also knew how divided the region was. In February 1861 Tennessee decided against secession by a vote of 69,000 to 58,000; but after Lincoln's call for "volunteers to subdue the Rebellion" in April, the mood changed considerably. In June, the state voted to secede by a vote of 105,000 to 47,000, and East Tennesseans cast 33,000 of those 47,000 votes. Knoxville voted 777 to 377 for separation.

Early in 1861, even before the state seceded, both the North and South were actively recruiting in Knoxville. The definitive work on East Tennessee and the Civil War is Dr. Digby Seymour's Divided Loyalties. A drawing reproduced in the book (Seymour, p. 2) shows recruiting stations on Gay Street -- the North in front of the Lamar House (now the Bijou Theater) and the South two blocks away.

RECRUITING ON GAY STREET Seymour, Plate 2 (107K)

Again emphasizing the importance of rail transportation, Reverend William Carter, a Presbyterian minister of Elizabethton, took a suggestion made by William G. ("Parson") Brownlow of Knoxville to his brother, Colonel Samuel P. Carter, who was Commander of Camp Johnson in southern Kentucky where Union troops were being trained. Brownlow suggested the burning of railroad bridges from Stevenson, Alabama, to Bristol, Virginia -- some 250 miles. The nine wooden railroad bridges were guarded, but still vulnerable. The plan was taken to Washington, approved by General George McClellan and finally by President Lincoln, and $1,000 in funding was provided, expanded later to $20,000 by the efforts of Reverend Carter. On the night of November 8, 1861, the bridge burners struck and five of the nine bridges were destroyed. The bridge at Strawberry Plains was one of those saved, due to the vigilance and bravery of James Keelan, who fought off 12 men to save it.

The bridge burnings were instrumental in severing railroad connections, but the more startling effect was the psychological effect. The Confederate government assumed the deeds were a signal to ignite the flames of revolt all over East Tennessee and a signal that an invasion by Union troops from Kentucky was imminent. Trials, convictions, and incriminations lasted for years. Confederate authorities at Knoxville established martial law, suspended the writ of habeas corpus, sent five men to the gallows by summary justice, and 1,500 to 2,000 suspected of involvement were sent to Tuscaloosa, Mobile, and Macon for long prison terms. Much enmity between sympathizers for North and South was engendered. Under General William B. Wood and General Edmund Kirby Smith, the Confederates held Knoxville and tried with mixed success to quiet the civilian population during a very volatile time.

THE OPPOSING GENERALS

  General Ambrose E. Burnside (USA)

In the contest for Knoxville and East Tennessee, the Federal forces were commanded by General Ambrose E. Burnside, an able subordinate who doubted his own ability as a commander -- and with some justification. At the Battle of Antietam (September 17, 1862), for example, when speed was critical to victory, Burnside's delay in crossing a stone bridge over Antietam Creek -- eventually known as "Burnside's Bridge" -- cost him the opportunity to overrun the enemy. And then, at Fredericksburg, Virginia, three months later (December 13, 1862), Burnside's orders resulted in eleven suicidal frontal attacks on Longstreet's corps on Marye's Heights, after which the Federals were beaten back, having sustained severely heavy casualties (12,653 killed, wounded, and missing).

On [ * date * ] President Lincoln instructed Burnside to enter East Tennessee and to secure it for the Union as soon as possible.

To pave the way for the invasion, Burnside sent Colonel William P. Sanders with about 1,200 men to raid Knoxville. Sanders reached Knoxville on June 19, 1863 and dismounted his troops behind the Confederate Armory that was near the present intersection of Fifth Avenue where it crosses Gay and Henley. The next day his artillery briefly skirmished with a small contingent of Confederates. His mission was to reconnoiter and destroy communication lines, as his 1,200 men could not have held Knoxville. He returned to Kentucky, having lost only two killed, four wounded, and 13 missing.

In early May 1863, after perhaps the South's greatest victory of the War at Chancellorsville, Lee decided to invade the North for the second time and was repulsed after a bloody encounter at Gettysburg ending July 3, 1863. Lee retreated southward to Virginia. On the following day, July 4, 1863, Pemberton surrendered at Vicksburg, opening the Mississippi River for transportation to and from New Orleans. Grant returned the Ninth Corps to Kentucky. Then, and only then, Burnside decided he was strong enough to enter East Tennessee after much prodding by Lincoln and the command in Washington. On August 16, 1863, he left Nicholasville, Kentucky, with 15,000 men, to travel 220 miles across the Kentucky mountains into East Tennessee.

On September 3, 1863 Burnside reached Knoxville without opposition. Senator Harris of New York received this message from his son:

'Glory be to God, the Yankees have come! The flag's come back to Tennessee!' Such were the welcomes all along the road, as we entered Knoxville, it was past all description. The people seemed frantic with joy. I never knew what the Love of Liberty was before. The old flag has been hidden in mattresses and under carpets. It now floats to the breeze at every staff in East Tennessee. Ladies wear it -- carry it -- wave it! Little children clap their hands and kiss it.

  General James Longstreet (CSA)

Burnside's Confederate counterpart in the impending battle for Knoxville was General James Longstreet.

For Longstreet, 1862 had been devastating in both his personal and his military life. Between January 25th and February 1st of that year, he lost three of his four remaining children to a scarlet fever epidemic which ravaged Richmond. Then a misunderstanding of orders resulted in lateness to the field and a failure at Seven Pines (May 31, 1862). Moreover, the physical and mental stress of six major battles had tested even Longstreet's stamina that year. And 1863 was just as rigorous militarily.

For example, Longstreet, too, was haunted by the carnage resulting from frontal attack. On the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, on July 3, 1863, Lee ordered 11 brigades of veteran troops, spearheaded by three brigades of Longstreet's Corps, one commanded by General George Pickett, to make the assault on Cemetery Ridge by marching a mile-long line of Confederates (approximately 13,000) into the bore of the 118 Union cannon across a mile of open terrain. It was against Longstreet's judgment -- he had tried to persuade Lee to use a flanking movement instead, but to no avail. Longstreet's brigades were decimated.

After the battle of Chickamauga (September 19-20, 1863), General Braxton Bragg, commanding the Confederate forces around Chattanooga, felt that chasing General Ambrose Burnside from Knoxville back to Kentucky would ease the pressure on him at Chattanooga. He sent an expeditionary force to Knoxville under Longstreet, with his 12,000 infantry, and General Joe Wheeler's 5,000 cavalry to oppose Burnside, who had about 23,000 troops in East Tennessee, of which 14,000 were stationed at Knoxville.

THE BATTLE OF KNOXVILLE

Two battle-scarred generals -- Burnside and Longstreet -- faced one another in the Knoxville Campaign. One can only imagine Longstreet's state of health, fatigue level, and state of mind at this point of the war. His decisions during the impending Battle of Knoxville would reflect them. No doubt Burnside was tired, too, but this time he had the advantage of a strong defensive position.

In an attempt to buy time for his engineers to put the final touches on fortifications in Knoxville, Burnside planned an orderly withdrawal of about 5,000 troops he had detached to Loudon, southwest of the city. They were to march to Lenoir Station (now Lenoir City), through a crucial road crossing at Campbell's Station, and into the protection of his positions in Knoxville. Longstreet with about 12,000 combined infantry and artillerymen advanced northward from Chattanooga on a parallel route. The race was on, made more difficult by the heavy rain that was falling and mud -- mud again. The Federal troops won the race to the crossing by some 15 minutes. The sharp contest that occurred there on November 16, 1863 resulted in the loss of 318 Federals and 174 Confederates killed and wounded. In a forced night march, the Federal troops retired to their defensive positions in Knoxville. For most of the men it was their third night without sleep, and they were in pitiable condition. Since the previous morning, they had marched 24 miles and fought a battle.

THE ASSAULT OF FORT SANDERS By Lloyd Branson (Seymour, p. 270) (116K)

After much delay in reconnaissance and the preparations for battle, and because of the terrible weather, Longstreet scheduled the assault on Fort Sanders, where he thought Burnside was most vulnerable. These are the salient facts:

• Fort Sanders was constructed on an eminence near downtown Knoxville, at present-day 17th Street and Laurel Avenue.

• The staging area for the Confederate attack was northwest of the fort, near present-day Forrest Avenue Market and the Norfolk and Southern Railroad tracks.

• Both sides lacked food, adequate clothing, and shoes. After 17 days of siege, Burnside's Army had been reduced to quarter rations.

• The fort was surrounded by a ditch 6-8 feet deep and appeared to be only 3-4 feet deep. Some planks had been placed across it and, from distant Confederate observation posts, troops were observed crossing easily -- but they were using the planks.

• The earthen walls were 13 feet high in most places, and had cotton bales piled on top to protect the riflemen and were wrapped in rawhide to prevent fire.

• Water had been poured down the side of the earthen fort. It froze overnight and created ice on its sides and in the ditch.

• Longstreet had been warned he would need scaling ladders, but he was deceived by the apparent shallow depth of the ditch and did not prepare them.

• For perhaps 30 to 80 yards in front of the northwest bastion that was selected for the assault, there were 18-inch tree stumps between which the engineers had stretched telegraph wire to trip and delay the attackers.

General Porter Alexander, Confederate artillery commander, had 34 guns in the Knoxville area. Burnside had 51, not all of them in the fort. Inside the fort, First Lieutenant Samuel Benjamin had 335 Union riflemen and 105 artillerymen manning 12 cannons. Longstreet had 4,000 Confederate veterans of Lee's campaigns in the East (almost a 10-to-1 ratio). His first assault troops crouched low and approached the fort at dawn on November 29, 1863. Seymour (p. 193) describes the scene:

With a rush and a yell the surging gray column advanced up the hill toward Ft. Sanders. As they neared the fort the leading lines crashed through brush barriers and bowled them aside like tenpins, but in the darkness the men tripped and stumbled over the telegraph wires stretched between the stumps. As the lead troops began tearing and kicking at the wires, they were knocked over by the sheer weight of numbers of the rest of the onrushing troops. At the moment of delay and confusion, one cannon...in the fort fired two quick rounds of canister into the storming party, but quickly closing their ranks the Confederates reached the ditch and chased away the gunners exposed on the platform.

The rapid advance in almost complete darkness over terrain filled with obstacles and converging furrows brought the attacking force in a packed mass whose officers could no longer distinguish their own men. Hesitating only momentarily, the men swarmed into the ditch which they had been told was no more than four feet deep. They expected to get a toe hold on the berme and scale the parapet with one leap. But as they surged into the ditch they discovered to their horror that in places it was more than eleven feet deep, the embankment was slippery and icy, the berme had been cut away, and the parapet had been built up very high with cotton bales. Many of the men, not knowing what else to do, fired into the embrasures at any of the Federals foolish enough to show their heads.

BATTLE OF FORT SANDERS Artist unknown (61K)

In 20 minutes the battle was finished. There was nothing for the men in the ditch to do but surrender. Longstreet had lost over 800 men, Burnside only 13. Longstreet took a few days to assemble his wounded men and retreated through Strawberry Plains and Mossy Creek (present-day Jefferson City) to Russellville. There he spent two miserable months with record cold weather and inadequate supplies before he proceeded back to the battlefields of Virginia.

The Union army controlled Knoxville for the remainder of the war. Both armies had stripped East Tennessee of its foodstuff and livestock. Guerrilla warfare, hunger, and deprivation marked the period.

By the spring of 1864, Union General William T. Sherman began his march from his base in Chattanooga through north Georgia, through Atlanta, and to the Sea with 100,000 men, compared to Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston's 60,000. By December 21, 1864, he had captured Savannah in what has been called Sherman's Christmas present to Lincoln. In Virginia, Grant used the tremendous manpower and supply advantage the Union had developed to squeeze Lee's armies into Petersburg and Richmond and then to their surrender at Appomattox on April 12, 1865. As Shelby Foote (Ward, p. 273) said during the PBS series on the Civil War:

And yet that's what made us a nation. Before the war, people had a theoretical notion of having a country, but when the war was over, on both sides they knew they had a country. They'd been there. They had walked its hills and tramped its roads. They saw the country and they knew they had a country. And they knew the effort that they had expended and their dead friends had expended to preserve it. It did that. The war made their country an actuality. Before the war, it was said, 'The United States are....' ...After the war, it was always, 'The United States is....'

ADDITIONAL READINGS

• Faust, Patricia L.: Historical Times Encyclopedia of the Civil War. New York: Harper and Row, 1986.
• Fink, Harold S.: The East Tennessee Campaign and the Battle of Knoxville in 1863. The East Tennessee Historical Society Publication No. 29, 1957.
• Hampton, Brian: The Longstreet Chronicles, at URL http://www.chickasaw.com/~rainbow/index.html.
• Humes, Thomas W.: The Loyal Mountaineers of East Tennessee. Knoxville: Ogden Brothers and Company, 1888.
• Seymour, Digby G.: Divided Loyalties: Fort Sanders and the Civil War in East Tennessee. Nashville: East Tennessee Historical Society, 1990.
• Sutherland, Daniel E., Editor: A Very Violent Rebel: The Civil War Diary of Ellen Renshaw House. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1996.
• Temple, Oliver P.: East Tennessee and the Civil War. Cincinnati: 1899.
• Ward, Geoffrey C., Editor (with Ric Burns and Ken Burns): The Civil War: An Illustrated History (the PBS Series). New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990.

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