The New York Herald, November 24, 1863
Historical research is much like a jigsaw puzzle with many of the pieces missing. The historian must recreate an image of the past with the pieces of the puzzle that are available and extrapolate from those pieces to fill in the gaps. Libraries and historical agencies supply the historian with the pieces of the puzzle.
Here is a brief account of the Civil War in Knoxville, with illustrations highlighting sources for research, located in the UTK Libraries' Special Collections.
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Knoxville, a small city of about 3,700 people according to the 1860 census, was strategically very important to the Confederates during the Civil War. The shortest rail route from Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, to Chattanooga and hence the rest of the South was through Knoxville. Without Knoxville in Confederate control, supplies, soldiers and information had to travel longer routes on either side of East Tennessee.
The New York Herald, November 24, 1863
Equally important to the Confederates were the food stuffs and natural resources, such as saltpeter and copper, that could be supplied by East Tennesseans. And, of course, if Knoxville was important to the Confederates, it would be important to the Federal forces for the same reasons.
Knoxville and East Tennessee held a unique position in the Confederacy. Although Tennessee voted to join the Confederacy, East Tennessee remained throughout the war staunchly Unionist. To complicate matters, Knoxville was a blend of Union and Confederate supporters. This combination would ensure that Knoxville and East Tennessee saw their share of political and military fighting during the Civil War.
Knoxville was the home of one of the most intense Union supporters, William Brownlow, editor of the Knoxville Whig newspaper. Even after Tennessee voted to join the Confederacy, Brownlow kept up his attack on the Confederacy and its leaders. Finally the Confederates imprisoned Brownlow, later forcing him into exile outside of Tennessee where he lectured and wrote to further the cause of the Union. After the war he was elected governor of Tennessee.
William G. Brownlow. Parson Brownlow's Farewell Address in View of his Imprisonment by the Rebels. Thomas W. Hartley, Philadelphia, 1861.
Knoxville remained in Confederate control until the fall of 1863. The first years of the war in East Tennessee were marked by small raids and internal fighting. One of the most notable events was the burning of several bridges around Knoxville by Union supporters in November of 1861, sparking fears that there would be a general uprising of Unionists in East Tennessee.
In September of 1863, Union forces marched into Knoxville as part of a plan to secure East Tennessee and drive the Confederates out of Tennessee completely. Soon after, Confederate President Jefferson Davis suggested to General Bragg that he send General Longstreet from the Chattanooga area to Knoxville to expel the Federal forces under General Burnside.
Moving artillery through the mountains. Engraving from Harper's Weekly, 21 November 1863.
After some skirmishes west of Knoxville (near Campbell's Station), the Federal troops entrenched themselves on the edge of Knoxville with trenches that ran from Melrose Hall (behind Hodges Library) to the present junction of Laurel and 17th Street. The northwest bastion became known as Fort Sanders, after General Sanders who was killed in a skirmish.
There were other fortifications also. Fort Dickerson in South Knoxville was a major Union defense point. There were Confederate batteries on Cherokee bluff on the south side of the river. Longstreet's main forces were stationed near the present site of Knoxville College with headquarters at the Armstrong House on Kingston Pike.
Longstreet decided to force the Union soldiers out of Knoxville by storming Fort Sanders on November 29. Fort Sanders was surrounded by a ditch 12' wide and 6'11" deep. Behind the ditch rose a steep, muddy embankment which ascended to a parapet about 20' above. But Longstreet made a fatal error in judging the width and depth of the ditch.
__________________________________________Lieutenant General J. Longstreet to General M. Jenkins, 28 November 1863.
__________________________________________ HEADQUARTERS, November 28, 1863 General M. JENKINS, Commanding Division: GENERAL: Your letter is received. The work of the enemy is not inclosed. The ditch is probably at some points not more than 3 feet deep and 5 or 6 feet wide; at least, we so judged it yesterday in looking at a man walk down the parapet and over the ditch. I thought that you saw the man, as you had been with us. I have no apprehension of the result of the attack if we go at it. We should avail ourselves of everything, however, that may aid or relieve us. After your first brigade has gained the enemy's lines, I desire that it should wheel to the left and pursue the attack to the left along the enemy's rear and on his right, and your other brigade should conform to this movement. Johnson's division will be ordered to follow it. Keep your men well at their work, and do not listen to the idea of failing and we shall not fail. If we go in with the idea that we shall fail, we will be sure to do so. But no men who are determined to succeed can fail. Let me urge you not to entertain such feelings for a moment. Do not let any one fail, or any thing. I remain, general, most respectfully, your obedient servant, J. LONGSTREET, Lieutenant-General. __________________________________________
The morning of the 29th, the attack began with fire from the batteries on Cherokee bluff, at the Armstrong House and from the Knoxville College area. Then the infantry charged the fort with disastrous results. Many soldiers were lost in the ditch and those that did make their way to the wall either could not get up the muddy, steep slope or were killed as they reached the parapets.
Assault on Fort Sanders, Kurz & Allison, Chicago, 1891.
Longstreet called off the attack after about twenty minutes. Burnside gave him half an hour to pick up the dead and wounded. In total, Confederate losses were reported at 813, including dead, wounded and missing. Federal losses were small. Later citizens of Knoxville reburied the dead in the Confederate Cemetery in present day East Knoxville. Longstreet stayed around Knoxville keeping Burnside engaged until he knew that General Sherman would be arriving soon with reinforcements. On December 4, Longstreet retreated, leaving Knoxville in Union hands where it would remain until the end of the war.
Graves of the Highlanders, Charles Hart, New York, 1864.
