Forts in Knoxville Part One

South of the River

Soon after the raising of the siege at Knoxville, General Burnside issued an order which was read to each regiment of his army and of which the following is an extract the balance of the order including names of some officers of other States.

Fort Dickerson

(1863-1865) - A Union Civil War Fort established in 1863 in Knoxville, Knox County, Tennessee. Named Fort Dickerson in G.O. 37 (Army of the Ohio), 11 Dec 1863 after Captain Jonathan Calvin Dickerson, 112th Illinois Volunteer Mounted Infantry, who was killed 18 Sep 1863 near Cleveland, Tennessee. Burial: Link Fort abandoned in 1865 at the end of the war.

• 15-16 Nov 1863 - Repulsed assaults by 5,000 Confederate Cavalry.

• Nov-Dec 1863 - Withstood the Siege of Knoxville.

• Nov 1863 - Provided artillery support for the Battles of Armstrong’s Hill
  

Jonathan Calvin Dickerson was born on 8 May 1832 to Benjamin Dickerson and Elizabeth Shafer in Ulster County, New York. He married Ceonelia Deyo on 28 May 1863. They had one son, who was not born until after Captain Dickerson died.

Capt Dickerson was the first officer of the 112th Illinois Volunteer Mounted Infantry who was killed.

He was a brave, daring leader, an honorable and conscientious officer, and a generous, noble hearted man. In a conversation with the author upon the chances of war, but a short time before his death, he declared he would never surrender to a rebel; that he would fight to the death rather than be captured; and in this, as in all things else, he kept his word. By order of Gen Burnside a fort in Knoxville was named Fort Dickerson, in honor of his brave death. He was buried in the cemetery at Cleveland and after the war, a fitting monument was erected to his memory by his widow. 

Battery Fearns
 
On the East side of Flint Hill. The breast height is entirely revetted eighteen embrasures finished and fourteen partly revetted About one quarter of the parapet should be raised two feet. The gateway is unfinished platforms for twenty-nine guns are required. This fort had a large well ventilated magazine.

Named Battery Fearns in G.O. 37, 11 Dec 1863 (Army of the Ohio), after Lieutenant Charles W. Fearns, Adjutant 45th Ohio Mounted Infantry, who was killed in action at Fort Sanders on 18 Nov 1963. He was married to Sarah J Tremble

General Orders Headquarters Army of the Ohio

No 37 Knoxville Tenn Dec 21 1863

In order to designate more clearly the positions occupied by our troops during the recent siege and in token of respect to the gallant officers who fell in the defense of Knoxville the several forts and batteries are named as follows:
 

Battery Noble At Loop holed house (35.9547, -83.9311), now Melrose Place, south of Kingston road in memory of Adjutant William Noble 2d Michigan Volunteers who fell in the charge upon the enemy's rifle pits in front of Fort Sanders on the morning of November 24th. 

Fort Byington At College Hill (now the University of Tennessee) after Major Cornelius Byington 2d Michigan Volunteers who fell mortally wounded while leading the assault upon the enemy's rifle pits in front of Fort Sanders on the morning of November 24th 

 

Battery Galpin East of Second creek (35.9658, -83.9244) in memory of Lieutenant Galpin 2d Michigan Volunteers who fell in the assault upon the enemy's rifle pits in front of Fort Sanderson the morning of November 24th

Fort Comstock Battery Gapin and Battery Wiltsie

 

Fort Comstock On Summit Hill near the railroad depot in memory of Lieutenant Colonel Comstock 17th Michigan Volunteers who fell in our lines during the siege 
 

Battery Wiltsie West of Gay street in memory of Captain Wiltsie 20th Michigan Volunteers who was mortally wounded in our lines during the siege 

 

Fort Huntington Smith On Temperance Hill in memory of Lieutenant Colonel Huntington Smith 20th Michigan Volunteers who fell at the battle of Campbell's Station 

Fort Huntington Smith, Battery CLifton Lee and Battery Stearman

 

Battery Zoellner Between Fort Sanders and Second creek in memory of Lieutenant Frank Zoellner 2d Michigan Volunteers who fell mortally wounded in the assault upon the enemy's rifle pits in front of Fort Sanders on the morning of November 24th.

 

Battery Billingsley Between Gay street and First creek in memory of Lieutenant J Billingsley 17th Michigan Infantry who fell in the action in front of Fort Sanders November 20th 

 

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By command of

Lewis Richmond AAG (p478)                      MAJOR GENERAL BURNSIDE 

Battery Noble: Lieutenant William Noble,
2nd Mich. Inf. Civil War
Buried Elmwood Cemetery, Wayne County, Michigan Link

Fort Byington: Major Cornelius Byington

2nd Mich. Inf. Civil War   

Cornelius Byington was born in March 1829 to Delia Storrs and Joel Byington. 

Buried Oak Hill Cemetery, Battle Creek,Calhoun County,Michigan

Battery Galpin: Lieutenant Charles R Galpin 

2nd Michigan Volunteers

Charles R Galpin was born in New York to William and Louisa Hakes Galpin. They moved to Michigan when Charles was a young boy. 
 Buried Knoxville National Cemetery 

Fort Comstock: Lieutenant Colonel Lorin L Comstock  

17th Michigan Volunteers

Born on 2 July 1824 in Farmington, Ontario, New York. He Married Lucinda Minnis on 28 September 1856 in Washtenaw, Michigan. Burial: Link


 

 

 

No Solace in the Church

Photo credit: Flickr Member Smilla2 Some rights reserved

 

A look at Methodist Church Records in East Tennessee in the Civil War Era

In October 1862 the Holston Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South convened in Athens, Tennessee. Bishop Early presided, whose zeal for the cause of the South may be inferred from these words, which he is reported to have said when about to ordain a class of ministers. Lifting his hands toward heaven he exclaimed, "God forbid that these hands should be laid upon the head of any man disloyal to the Southern Confederacy!"

Rev Jonathan L Mann, then a young member of the Conference, was present and gives the following description:
In order to appreciate the doings of this Conference, we must first remember that the Confederacy was then at the highest climax of its glory, and that all rebeldom was sanguine of certain success. These things inspired (Bishop) Early and his rebel conclave to daring deeds of religious and ecclesiastical chivalry. They were surrounded by rebel soldiers, and cheered on by the presence and curses of the Provost Marshal, at Athens, who might have been frequently seen in the gallery of the Conference room during the sittings of the Conference, swearing what he would do with all the "Tory" or Lincolnite preachers of the Conference. The rebel members now had every thing their own way, without even the show of opposition. No Union member dared to enter his protest against even the most extreme measures that might be offered. Rebel bayonets and rebel prisons awed all of us into silence. Every Union minister of the Conference seemed to say. "If prudence will save my life I will at least be cautious."

Under these circumstances one of the first measures of the Conference was to appoint a committee of investigation, whose business it was to examine the political status of every suspected character of the Conference. The following were that committee: John M M'Teer, James S Kenedy, WH Bates, AG Worley, Carroll Long. Before this inquisitorial committee were arraigned the following brethren WH Rogers, WHH Duggan, Wm C Daily, JA Hyden, PH Reed, John Spears, James Cumming, Thomas H Russell and Thomas P Rutherford- nine in all every one of whom was charged with disloyalty to the Confederacy. (Source: Methodist Review (Google ebook, Volume 53,1871 p. 624)

It is affirmed that Bishop Early, before reading out the appointments said. "Brethren when you go to your several fields of labor, purge the Church of its unworthy members," by which he was understood to mean, "Turn out all persons who are not loyal to the Southern Confederacy." The Conference had set them a worthy example in this kind of work. They were exhorted now to go to their charges and do likewise. Whether the ministers so understood the Bishop or not, or whether they needed any exhortation, when they went to their charges, we are told that they the disloyal portion of the Conference eagerly commenced and zealously prosecuted the work of "purging the Church" of known Unionists, and thus hundreds, if not thousands, were cut off from membership. The preachers could not wait the slow process of a formal citation to appear and a trial by their peers. In many cases a summary process was adopted, and the names of the members deemed unworthy were by the minister stricken from the Church books, and those who were members a moment before were by a simple stroke of the pen dashed into excommunication. For nearly two years there followed a persecution which cannot be appreciated by those who did not feel it, the facts of which when stated would seem almost incredible. (Source: Methodist Review (Google ebook, Volume 53,1871 p. 625)

None of these men were charged with having committed an overt act of treason against the rebel government or even of having committed any act whatever. They were arraigned because rebels believed that their hearts and sympathies were with the Government in its grand struggle to crush an unholy rebellion. Here we have presented to us the strange spectacle of a body of Christian ministers trying its members for their political opinions. Several of these men were among the ablest members of the Conference. Father Cummings was above seventy years of age, still he must be humiliated by a mock trial, and that in his absence by a committee of rebels; his own children in the ministry. Rev JA Hyden was also absent and very sick at the time and his recovery even thought doubtful yet rebel vindictiveness must follow its helpess victim even to the very verge of death (Source: An Appeal to the Records: A Vindication of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in Its Policy and Proceedings Toward the South (Google eBook), Erasmus Q. Fuller, Hitchcock and Walden, 1876, p. 358)

In October 1863 the Conference met at Wytheville Virginia They here expelled Jonathan L Mann, William H Rogers, William Milburn, and WHH Duggan. All of these were expelled for their loyalty to the General Government and no other charges were preferred against them so far as we have been able to ascertain. Hence loyalty to the United States was deemed by the Southern clerical knights a crime sufficient to exclude a Christian minister from the fellowship and holy communion of Christ's Church. Only think of a body of men claiming to be Christian ministers, meeting in Conference and expelling their absent brethren simply for their adherence to the great principles of the Gospel of human freedom and of eternal right.

They were now more hostile toward Unionism than ever before ,and some of them actually began the work of expulsion from the Church for the sin of being loyal to the United States. For the truth of this remark, we could furnish scores of witnesses and victims in different parts of East Tennessee. In the mean time, Union preachers were made to suffer more than ever from the cruel hate and persecution of rebels. Long before this, our present noble Governor WG Brownlow and old Father Cummings had been forced to secrete themselves in the fastnesses of the Smoky Mountains from the prowlings of rebel murderers. WHH Duggan, a true man and a patriot, and then past the meridian of life, had been arrested and driven on quick time for miles through the heat and dust, at the points of rebel bayonets until he fainted and fell to the ground, and has been ever since a perfect wreck mentally and physically. WH Rogers, a firm and faithful man of God was arrested and taken South where for months we believe he was the inmate of the most loathsome of rebel prisons. William Milburn, another zealous and true minister of Christ, who had seen above sixty years of life, was arrested and finally released on condition that he would not pass beyond the limits of his own farm, except to mill and for a physician. John Spears was expelled at the Athens Conference, in their own laconic language for joining the enemies of his country. This was the only charge and for this they expelled him. Others were arrested and forced to take the oath of allegiance to the Confederacy or otherwise go to prison or to death. Scores of our local brethren were compelled to flee from their homes and take refuge in the Union army, some of whom were afterward brutally murdered. Such was the case with Chaplains Patty and M Call. (Source: An Appeal to the Records: A Vindication of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in Its Policy and Proceedings Toward the South (Google eBook), Erasmus Q. Fuller, Hitchcock and Walden, 1876, p. 31)

James Cummings (1787-1869) Joined Methodist Espiscopal Conference in 1865. Buried in Shiloh, Sevier County. Link

Wm C Daily, (1818- 1897) Joined Methodist Espiscopal Conference in 1865. Buried Woodlawn Cemetery, Knoxville, Tennessee. Link

WHH Duggan (1814- 1867) Joined Methodist Espiscopal Conference in 1865. Buried in Hickory Grove, Mount Vernon, Tennessee. Link

William C Graves Joined Methodist Espiscopal Conference in 1865

J A Hyden, (1828 (now) Loudon County, Tennessee - 1909) Joined Methodist Espiscopal Conference in 1865. Buried Highland Cemetery, Ottawa, Franklin County, Kansas. Link

Jonathan L Mann Chaplain in the 9th Regt Tennessee Cavalry, Joined Methodist Espiscopal Conference in 1865 (February 2, 1839- April 4, 1893) Modesto Citizens Cemetery, Modesto, California Link Military Records; Link His brother, John Wesley Mann (August 9, 1835- May 29, 1897), was also a Methodist minister. He is buried in Old Gray Cemetery, Knoxville, Tennessee

Joseph Milburn Joined Methodist Espiscopal Conference in 1865 Greene County. Buried in Milburnton Church Cemetery in Greene County, Tennessee. Link

William Milburn (1897-1877) Chaplain 8th Tennessee Cavalry, Joined Methodist Espiscopal Conference in 1865. Buried in Milburnton CHurch Cemetery in Greene County, Tennessee. Link

William Hurd Rogers, (22 Mar 1813 - 17 - Mar 1891) Living in Blount County in 1863, buried in Fort Hill Cemetery, Cleveland, Tennessee) Link Article about the Rogers family: Link

Thomas P Rutherford (1835- 1922) Buried Thorn Grove, Knox County,Tennessee. Link

Patrick Henry Reed, (1830- 1904) Oak Grove Cemetery, Greeneville, Tennessee Link

John Spears, (-1906) In 1866 Brother Spears made application for admission in the Indiana Conference, Riverside Cemetery at Spencer, Indiana

Brother Spears who died in 1873 the following extract is taken: After speaking of Brother Spears work in the Holston Conference, he (John J Hight) says, "By the autumn of 186, the storm of Civil War was desolating all the regions of Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee, but he in company, with such men as Parson Brownlow and others, was true to his country. At the Conference in the same year, he was granted a superannuated relation, and returned with his wife through the mountains to her father's home in the Sequatchie Valley. At the next session of the Conference there was, accorded him, the distinguished honor of an expulsion from the Methodist Episcopal Church South, for his devotion to his country, but before this happened, he had crossed the mountains into Kentucky, and without safety beyond the Ohio River, he enlisted in the Union Army, and was commissioned chaplain in the Sixth Tennessee Regiment. Link His command stationed at Cumberland Gap. Toward the autumn of the same year when the clouds of Civil War began to grow more gloomy than ever, he determined to attempt the rescue of his family. After a perilous journey, found his wife and children at her father's house. The most of her relation chose the Southern side of the contest, but she determined to share the fate of her husband and country. One horse was their only hope transportation. For more than two hundred miles through the mountains, beset with innumerable dangers, he with his wife and two children. journeyed. They reached the Union camp at Cumberland Gap just in time join in the celebrated retreat of General Morgan's forces at that place. He secured a buggy and preceded the army. At Mt Sterling, Ky, they were captured and detained. Here every inducement, including large offers of money, was presented to him to abandon the seemingly sinking fortunes the Union and to return to Tennessee. But husband and wife were not to moved from their purpose ,and after being robbed of horse and buggy other things, were set down in the street at Sharpville, Ky, penniless. From this place they made their way, as best they could, to Indiana where he left his family and returned to the army. It may truly be said of him that he "wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth;" that he had "trials of cruel mockings, yea moreover of bonds and imprisonments."

In 1866 Brother Spears made application for admission in the Indiana Conference. He had no certificate of transfer from the Holston Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, from which he had been expelled, and his only recommendation was his parchments and certificate of an honorable discharge as a chaplain in the Union Army. His was a peculiar case, but when it had been fully explained and the statement made by his Presiding Elder, that he had been expelled from the ministry and membership of the Methodist Episcopal Church South because he refused to pray for Jeff Davis and the Southern Confederacy, the Bishop remarked, "That is recommendation enough," and he was admitted. The Indiana Conference never had a more loyal kind and lovable member than John Spears.

Civil War Service Link

August 5, 1906, he entered into rest. His body lies in Riverside Cemetery at Spencer, Indiana Link

(Source: Minutes of the ... Session of the Indiana Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Volumes 71-77 (Google eBook), Methodist Episcopal Church. Indiana Conference, p. 306-308)

Soldiers Buried in Knoxville National Cemetery 1863-1864

1863-1864

Charles Abbott, James Abbot ,John Adaline, Benjamin Adams,H B Adams, James Adams, James H Adams, John Adams,Melanethon Grover Adams, MC Adams,WB Adams, Luke Adkins, John Akaline (also listed as Adaline), Volney M Aldridge, Alexander Aldridge, Robert Alexander, Robert Allen, Edwin W Allyn, Daniel H Anderson, Demmick Anderson , GH Anderson, George W Anderson,George W Anferson, Jr. Pleasant Anderson, William R Anderson, Londridge Anfield, William Anglestin, Elijah Annette, Jeremiah Antle,Wulf Van Appledoorn, Randolph Applegate, Jonas Arbaugh

Joseph Arbaugh, Darwin Archer, James Armstrong, Charles W. Arney, Samuel Arnok, Joseph Arnold, Samuel Arnold, Robert Artherly, A W Ashove, Thomas Askern, Theodore H Aspinwall, George Atchler, Robert Atherly, Milton Atkinson, Samuel Austerhaus, Miron Avery, J Babston,Bartin Bailey, Charles Bailey, Larey Bailey,Laughton Bailey,Richard Bailey, William Bailey, James Bailling, Daniel W Baker, Francis M Baker, Henry S Baker, Jno Baker, John Baker, Tinbrook Baker,George A Bales, Isaac Balesales, John Ballot, Jno Barber,William Barkley,James Barcum, Levi Barker, Bartis Barnes, Elijah Barnes, James Barnes, Joseph Barnes, Lewis Barnett, Elmore Barnhill, David Barnum, James Barcum,Wm H Barrett, James Basinger, Dana Bastwick, Lyman Bates, Stephen M Bates, William Battishill, TB Baxter, James Baysinger, Thomas Beare, George Beckwith. Richard Bedee, David E Beebee, HH Beers, Andrew Belcher, James W Bell, JA Bender, William Benjamin, Allen Bennett, George H Bennett, John M Benson , EA Berkshire, Andrew J Berry, Alvers Bershers, Alfred Beuche, Josiah Bigham, JA Binder, Thomas J Bingham, Tobias Binley, William Bird, Joseph Bishop, Francis Black, James P Black, Frank Blair, James Blancet, John H Blanchard, Isom Blankenship, John Blaugh, CB Bliss, GS Blodgett, Seneca Blood, Jacob Bobb, Solomon Boles, James Bolin, D Bolter, Ezekiel J Bondurant, Alfred Bonner, H Booth, John Bootman, Levi Botsford, Robert S Boston, D Botler, Levi Botsford, Andrew Bottoms, Jacob Boucher, John Bowmaster, Joseph Bouty, John H Bowers, William Bowles, S Bowman, DE Boyd, Henry Boyle,Thomas Bragg, JH Branchet, D Bryant, Fidello L Bray, Christopher Brechtal, Calvin Breedin, Ezra A Brewster, Peter Brickey, JJ Bridges, Emory Britt,John Brock, Starling Brock, Wm Bronswell, Alfred Brookhill, David Brooks, Greenberry Brooks, John Brooks, CW Brown, FM Brown, Marion Brown, Solomon Brown, TM Browm, VW Brown, CW Browne, James Bruner, Esquire Buckles, Alfred Bueche, John Burgess, John P Burket, Edwin Burrows, Marion Burton, James Bush, B Butt, MA Butterman, Fred Byron, Harrison Byron, James Byron, Joseph Cahill, John Cain, William Cain, William W Caines, Charles M Caldwell, Richard Caldwell, Hamilton Calhoun, William Callahan, John D Camel, Jacob Cammons, Lewis Campbell, Preston Campbell, William Cane, Augustine Canfield, Julius Cannon, William W Caines, Elbert Cannon, Julius Cannon, Richard Cantell, Oliver Capelman, Edward Carberry, Dugign Cardrick, Levi Carico, JB Carman, Nicholas Carney, Andrew T Carpenter, JC Carpenter, Levi Carico, W Carr, D Carrier, John N Carswell, George W Carter, John F Carthan, John Cartney, AP Case, JH Caty, Peter Cavatt, WU Cavens, Martin Cersey, Lorenzo S Chamberlain, Lemuel Cambers, Aaren Channell, David S Chapin, Thomas Chapman, Simeon Chapple, Solomon H Cherry, Joseph Childers, MJ Chitting, Robert Christie, Clarkston Clage, Carey Clark, Cornelius Clark, EJ Clark, G Clark, John Clark, Hiram Clawson, Thomas Clawson, GJ Cleaver, James Clingman, Josiah C Coates

Miles Coates, George Coats, Samuel Cobb, William Cody, DE Cole, George Cole, Martin Cole, Jeremiah Coleman, John Colson, David Coller, James E Collins,John Collins, Joshua Collins, Jeremiah Colman, Charles Colwell, Thomas Conaway, William Cone, David Conis, Thomas Conway, Adam Cook, George Cook, John Cooper, Leroy Cope, Silas Cope, Samuel Work Corbin, B Corkill, Patrick Corkron, Peter Cornell, Sr, Peter Corwell, HC Corwin, John Milton Corwin, Marion E Cotter, Cornelius Coulson, Warren W Coulter, BW Courson, Isaac Cowden, George Cox, Luman C Cox, William Crabtree, Gilbert B Craft, AF Craig, Lafayette Craig , Joshia Crandall, AW Craft, J Craw, DW Crawford, Duncan Crawford, WS Crawford, Hazel T Creators, Benjamin F Crecelins, John W Creek, Harrison Gregswell, HF Cretons, MS Crins, Ezra Crocker, Stephen Crofer, David Crofoot, James Cromley, James Cross, James Crosser, J Crow, William Crower, William Cruit, Andrew T Crumley, Francis Crumpton, Andrew J Culbertson, Jessie D Culbertson, David Culler, HC Cullums, Thomas Culwell, J Cummings, Perry C Cummings, RB Cunningham, Washington Cummingham, Edward Cutler, James Cutler, Edward Cutter, John Cutter, Eli Dacker, Harry Dailey, Henry Dailey, Alexander Davidson, HC Davidson, George M Davis, Isaac Davis, JB Davis, Jacob Davis, Lozenzo D Davis, Charles Decalier, Eli Decker, Jacob Decker, Jacob N Decker, James Dee, Jones Deford, Oscar Delong, Thomas C Denham, Josiah Dennis, Huston Denton, Francis Dergan, Thomas Deshler, George Devinney, Henry C Diebler, Thomas Dillman, Oliver Dilman, John Diveer, George Diving, Noah Dixon, Jamws W Dixon, William Dobbins, Oaris L Dobbs, Joseph Dobby, Joseph Doeffler, Edward Doll, David Dommey, William Donalson, Calvin Donnelly, Henry Dossett, William H Doughty, Alex B Dowell, David Downie, Jacob Drake, William B Drake, William L Dudley, Francis Dugan, George Morley Dugger, Joseph Duncan, William Landon Dunegan, John Dweer, Ephraim F Dyer, Jesse Eads, William Early, Oliver Earnest, Thomas Easterling, Jesse Edens, Barton Edsall, Edward Edwards, JN Edwards, Milton Edwards, Thomas Eisely, William H Eisenhower, Levi Elbert, Adam Eldridge, Adin L Eldridge, William Eldridge, David Eller, JW Ellis, John Ellis, William D Ellis, Holden Elmerpat, T Elsboy, Camaliro Emerick, Joel M Enrit, William P Epperson, Agustus Erickson, John Ervin, John Erving, Abraham Eshleman, James Esie, Thomas Esterling, Andrew J Estis, Jackson Evans, John Evans, George B Ewing, John D Eyer, Rubin R Faris, Joseph Farman, Abraham Farran, Thomas Farrand, Adam Farrin, Peter R Faulk, John J Faulkinghoe, William Faybury, Isaac Feinder, Chauncey Felton, David Arthur Fenner, Frank M Ferguson, M Ferguson, Thomas Ferrill, Aaron Fields,Orrin Fields, Isaac Fiender, J Fincher, Richard R Fisk, Samuel A Fleener, James M FLemming, Willis Fleshmar, Josiah Fletcher, Lawson Fletcher, Henry Flinn, W Flishman, William Flockmers, Jomas Flora, Eugene Ford, Josephus Ford, Leander C Ford, Hiram Fortner, Phillip Fost, CA Foster, Peter Foulk, George W Foust, Wiley G Foust, Oscar F Fox, Robert Nelson Fox, JW Franklin, John W Franklin, John Frederick, Francis French, Henry C French, R Frew, Abraham Frezlich, William Frolich, Alvin Fuller, E Fulton, John M Gaines, Sullivan Gaines, W G Gallocks, Charles Galpin, Henry B Gano, Urias B Gardner, Isaac RW Garretson, John Garrison, John H Garver, Mitchell Garvin, Jacob Gaskill, James M Gates, Jesse Smart Gates, WH Gates, TK Gay, Solomon Gee, John W George, Thomas German, Charles Franklin Gervin, George Gevitt, James W Gibson, Charles Gifford, German Gifford, William A Gill, William Gillett, Joesph Gilley, George Gillham, James Gilmore, Raymond Wesley Givens, Ezra J Glass, Joseph Glass, William Glass, George Gnitt, George W Godby, Giles Godfrey, Harrison Godling, Calvin L Goldston, PA Goleanor, Jacob Good, WH Gooden, Richard Goodhastler, HC Goodrich, Jno Goodrich, Jackson Gordon, William Gourley, Charles Graef, George Graham, Marion B Graham, H Grant, William Graves, TK Gray, William A Gray, Peter Green, Samuel Green (2), William Green, John Greer, John Gregory, William Gridley, Silas H Grogan, Joseph Grubs, Hiram T Guard, Harrison Gum, Jacob Gwinn, Charles Hahn, Alonzo Haight, Jesse Haild, Joshua Haines, William C Haley, Almond Hall, Edward Hall, James M Hall, Martin Hall, Thomas Hall, William H Hall, Francis M Halley, James Halliday, Reuben Hamblin, James Hamilton, , Wesley Hamilton, George Hammond, Henry Hammond, Robert Hampson, DS Hanah, Stephen Hanaway, William T Hanna, Decatur Hanner, William Hannman, Lucas C Hannum, Arnst Hanschal, Benj Hansford, Christian Hardin, Richard Hardwick, William Harle, George Harris, Morgan Harris, RP Harris, David Harsh, Nathan Harsh, Robert Hart, William Hart, Francis M Hartley, A Hartmn, Eather Hartman, Charles H Harvey, Jacob Harvey, William Harvey, Ebeneezer Harwood, Edwin Harwood, Ephraim Hatton, Fred Hatts, John Haus, FM Hawley, John Haws, Delos Hayes, John Hayes, Abna S Hazen, James M Heany, Homer B Heath, Geise Hickman, Lawrence Heming, Gustavus Hemple, CC Henderson, Clinton D Henderson, Robertson Henderson, David A Hendicks, MR Henry, Samuel Henry, John M Hepp, James W Hersley, Morris Hesler, Daniel Heston, Joseph J Hibbs, Alfred Hickman, Ira E Higgins, Joel Phelps Higley, Bartlett Hill, Calrk Hill, HC Hill, John W Hill, Richmond Hill, William Hill, Hamilton Hoag, John Hoag, Fred Hodel, John Hodge, Vergil Hodstale, Lorenz Hoerning, Isaac Hoff, William D Hoff, John D Hoffman, Charles Hohn, Michael Hoist, Elmore Holden, Elmore Holden, John Holdman, James Holiday, St Holland, James Holiday, Henry J Hollinger, Elias Homes, Andrew J Honchines, William Honeycut, Abraham Hoover, John Hoover, Thomas Horborn, John Horn, Michael Horst, Orville Hosford, Newton P Howard, Orville Howard, George Howarth, E Hudson, James Hudson, JM Huett, Lawrence Hufnagle, Arthur Hughes, Gome R Hughes, Guilford C Hughes, James Hughes, John W Hughes, James Hughs, George H Hull, HH Hull, John Hulten, Hiram Hults, James Hunter, Marion Huntington, John Huntoon, William Hurless, Joshua Hurt, Henry Hurston, James Hutchinson, Smith Hutchinson, Curtis Hutchison, John D Hyde, Lawrence Hyland, Anthony Hyland,Samuel Ingersol, James Ingle, Samuel Ingram, Charley Wilford, Thomas Irwin, John W Jackson, Joseph Jackson, WT Jackson, CO Jacobs, Alexander Jarvis, Stephen Jaycox, Barker Jeans, William Jenkins, Nelson Jenks, Reuben Jennings, Thomas J Johmson, Bailey Johnson, David W Johnson, Elias Johnson, Harvey Johnson, JM Johnson, Jackson Johnson, James Johnson (2), MW Johnson, Minea Johnson, Myron Johnson, Presley Johnson, SM Johnson, Simon M Johnson, AH Jones, Charles Jones, James Jones, Jeremiah Jones, WL Jones, Jackson Jordan, F Judd, Cambridge Justice, Samuel Keefer, Nicholas Keller, Robert Kelly, Isaac Kelmer, Milton Kennedy, William Kennedy, E Kenzie, JH Kerelfield, Frederick Kerelmin, James Kerr, Washington C Kearney, Andrew Kessinger, George Kibbee, CH Kimball, Jacob Kimball, Benjamin Kimberling, Richard Kimman, Eli Kimmons, Emanuel King, JC King, Joseph King, Thomas King, Washington C Kinney, Joseph Kinsey, William Kirby, John W Kircher, William Kirk, R Kirkham, William Kirchner, W Kisner, Godfrey Kline, Henry Kline, Cyrus Knight, Everette Knight, F Knight, Zephaniah Krall, C Kranworth, Joseph Kridler, A Lampkin, Phenius L Lane, John H Langley, Asaph Lantz, John Lawson, Goliah Leadbetter, AA Lee, BF Lee, JJ Lee, John J Lee, John W Lee, Mathias TS Lee, William Lee, Joseph Leonard, Robert Leroy, Rudolph Leuderking, William Lewis, William Bayliss Lewis, Wilson A Lewis, Henry Librook, Joseph Lientz, Solomon Lighty, James Linderman (3), Randall Linsey, Robert Linton, Lewis Linville, Gilbert Litchfield, Levi Little, WH Little, Harlon Livingston, RL Load, Charles Lock, Oscar Long, William H Long, Emmitt Losure, Rudolph Louderking, Absalom Love, William Lucas, Charles Lund, Adolphus A Lunsden, Henry S Lutz, David Lyon, William Lyons, James D Lysle, George Lytle, Henry Mack, HR Madard, Jeremiah Madden, Samuel Mahoney, Samuel S Maloon, Lewis Maynard, Zachariah Mannin, John S Manning, Stewart Mansol, John Mapier, Phillip Markley, Elihu Farmer Marshall, George Marshall (2), John Marten, George F Martin, Luther Martin, William H Martin, GP Mason, Samuel Masser, John W Masters, Robert Mathews, Thomas Mattis, James Mayberry, John Mayer, William Mayer, John D Mayes, Alonzo D Maynard, JD Mays, Daniel McBand, Robert McBride, Robert McCabe, Martin McCam, Martin McCann, Thomas McCarney, James McCartney, Hohn H McCarty, George W McCausland, Joshua McClane, Jessie R McClaud, John F McClelland, John F McClintock, Jesse McCloud, James H MsCollough, homas B McConnell, William McCormick, George McCostinell, George McCrarey, Edward McCuen, James H McCullough, Hector McDonald, Missouri McFarland, James McFarn, William McFerrin, John McFyan, Joseph H McGinnis, Phillip McGinnis, Green McGuire, Jacob McGuire, William McHenry, James McKenna, Laughlin McKenzie, Aaron McLain, Joshua McLain, Thomas Harrison McLain, William H McLain, John McLaughlin, Robert McMahan, George W McMichael, J McMillan, John W McMillen, John W McMillen, WA McMinds, Joseph McNabb, James S McNemer, JS McNewman, JH McPherson, John B McPherson, BP McSline, Charles S Mead, Taylor Meadows, Amish Meek, James Meeks, Harold J Melloy, William M Melond, Robert Merlin, SH Merrill, Jno W Merriman, George Messer, Hamilton M Messer, SM Messer, William Metcalf, Nickolaus Meyer, James M Miles, Stephen N Miles, James H Mills, John W Miller, William Miller, James Milligan, John Milligan, David H Mills, Adam Minehart, TW Miner, Theodore Miner, Charles Minmire, Henry Minnick, Theodore Minor, William Mires, Robert J Mitchell, Jacob Mitchelson, Pleasant Monday, John Montgomery, James O Moore, Sylvester Moore, Joshua Morehouse, John R Morgan, C Morris, George Morris, Joseph Morris, William Morris(2), Edwin Morse, Sylvester Mort, Edwin Moss, John R Mote, Theophilus J Mountz, John H Murphy, William G Murphy, David Murray, John Murray, William Mussrole, Nichols Myers, William H Myers, John Napier, JW Nash, Lewis Needler, Bazeleel Neely, William Neff, Daniel Neil, Arnold Nelson, John H Nelson, John W Newland, John Nichols, William Nichols, Daniel Nicholson, Albert Niles, Garnett Niles, MG Niles, George W Noland, William Numbers, Jacon Nyhart, Jeremiah Oaks, Joel Odelway, Stephen Ogden, Joseph Oliver, Thomas O'Neal, Joel Ordway, Jesse Osborn, William Osborn, Elisha Osteen, Lewis Ottinger, Daniel Ottoe, B Paff, William Page, David Palmer, John A Parker, James Parrish, Alexander Patterson, EH Patterson, John M Patterson, Jasper M Payne, Jacob Pearce, James H Peckenpaugh, Freeman Peden, John Peden, James A Pegg, John B Pendleton, Charles C Pennyman, N People, Joseph Peoples, David Perkey, Robinson Perkins, Thomas Pero, Frank Perry, Thomas Paw, Lorenzo D Phelps,James Pherson, David Phillips, Elijag Phillips, Emanuel Phillips, HM Phillips, Amos Pickett, Marion M Pickle, George L Pierce, George W Pierce, John Pierce, C Piett, George Platte, Benj Poff, George W Pool, TJ Poole, William Poormans, William H Post, HB Potter, JB Potter, William H Potter, William Potts, Miner Powell, William Powell, Hiram J Preeos, John F Preetz, William Presley, Charles Prestage, John B Price, John M Pritchitt, James Arthur Pritchett, Jeremiah Probus, H Prossah, IA Quick, Edward Rafty, S Raisby, JF Rardin, Marvin Rathburn, James P Ray, LA Ray, Stephen Ray, SS Reaves, JB Redhead, Moses Redman, Reed B Miles, Charles Reed, Fackrider Reeder, William Rees, Isaac Reimer, SR Reins, SW Reist, Albert Reity, Joel Rennelle, Samuel W Rest, Archibold Reups, JW Rice, William Rice, Chas E Richards, John Richards, Thomas Richards, LaFayette Ricketts, Van B Rider, Dwight Ripley, Jeremiah A Ristine, John Ritter, George Ritzell, GW Ro, Isaac N Roach, James Roach, James Porter Roach, Archabald Roads,William Roark, Hial RObers, James Robertson, David Roberts (2), Frank Roberts, George W Roberts, George Washington Roberts, Hial Roberts, John Roberts (2), Robt Roberts, William Roberts, RR Robins, Albert Robinson, David Robinson, John A Robinson, Samuel Robinson, Thomas Robinson, Alfred L Rockhill, John Rodgers, Henry Rodolph, Leo Rogers, John Rogers, Leo Rogers, D Roll, Myhue Rollins, William Roon, Daniel Ross, Elijah J Ross, WC Ross, A Roth, Charles Rothweiller, John W Royce, Henry Rudolph, Charles Russell, McDaniel Russell, WD Russell, Jeremiah A Rustine, HK Ruth, Albert Rutty, Felix Ryan, Henry Sabal, Jefferson Saborech, John Saddler, Abraham Saidley, William H Saiss, John Salisbury, John Henry Salling, John Salsberry, Josiah Salter, Charles Sanders, JohnR Sanders, Samuel Sandusky, Phillip Sash, William Savage, William Sawyers, William Sazer, Charles F Schiltmeyer, Henry Schlappi, John Schrock, John Schroth, David Schultz, Reinhard Schumacher, Peter Schwain, Isaiah Scott, WW Scott, John M Scripps, John Scroth, John D Scutchel, David Sears, James Seaton, Marrett R Seaton, John Seay, John Sefford, Canaan Sellers, Joshua Sellers, John Sensiby, Lemuel Severs, Charles Seward, George Shaffer, CW Shamblin, Daniel Shanks, Cyrus Sharp, William F Sharp, Benj F Shaver, Joseph Shaver, AA Shaw, Jackson MC Shaw, William Shaw, Andrew Shawson, Patrick Shea, James Shearer, William Sheeley, Jno W Shepard, Daniel O Sheperd, JW Shepard, John Phillip Shew, Jacob Shimkwiler, Lewis Shirar, James Shoart, Abraham B Shockey, Elias J Shockley, James Showsh, L Shrier, William HH Shuler, Abraham Sidla, Wesley Simes, Robert M Simmons, Thomas A Simmons, John T Simms, John W Simpson, A Jepth Singer, Zachariah Sisco, Adoniram Judson Slafter, James Slaven, William C Sleepe, Charles Small, John Smallman, John Smelcer, John Smiley, Charles Smith (2), Elza C Smith, George Smith, Harrison Smith, Henry Smith(2), Henry A Smith, Henry G Smith, I Smith, James A Smith, John Smith, John F Smith, Joseph Smith, LE Smith, Marion Smith, WC Smith, William Smith (2), Newton Snodgrass, Hand Snyder, John Snyder, Abraham Soden, Daniel Sofera, Baldwin H Solomon, LE Solomon, LaFayette Souders, Joseph Southard, George W Southerland, John Southers, William Sozer, Jacob Spain, Alfred Spears, John Spence, Samuel Spencer, Conrad Sprinkler, John D Sproul, John Stafford, Joseph M Staing, Comfort E Stanley, FM Stanley, John M Stantt, James Starnes, Belden Starr, John M Stautt, William H Stearman, John S Steel, William Steel, James Steele, James S Steen, John O Stelles, David Stephen, David Stephens, George Stephenson, Isaac Sterword, Virgil Stevens, Joseph Stevenson, Isaac Steward, Edward Stewart, David Stober, Geo G Stone, James Stone, James S Stone, NC Storie, Oliver B Stout, David Stover, Elias Franklin Strain, S Strickland, Joseph M String, Thomas Stripling, John G Strolls, Edward Strong, Frank Strong, Frank Strong, John Sughrue, Geo Sullivan, Joseph Sutter, Chas H Sutton, Jmaes Sutton, William C Sutton, Alfred Swafford, William Swanger, John Swanson, Jeremiah D Swart, Benjamin F Swatzel, Francis H Swatzel, Abram B Swearegen, J Sweat, J Sweeney, Newton Sweeny, J Swinney, William Swiss, Jeremiah Swort, Eli Wilbur Syers, Elijah Talbert, JV Talbot, John Talley, GW Talman, William Winfield Tanner, Andrew J Tant, Alexander Tarwater, Robert Tate (2), George Wood Taulman, Henry Taylor, John Taylor, Sam W Tate (2), William Taylor, Aaron Templeton, Wesley A Templeton, William M Templeton, Thomas Thatcher, George W Thayer, Abram Thomas, Henry Thomas, J Thomas, Jasper Thomas,John M Thomas, Thomas G Thomas, William Thomas, Zenas J Thomas, CR Thompson, Calvin Thompson, ET Thompson, Edward Thompson, Eli S Thompson, Ennu Thompson, James Thompson, William Thompson, Charles Thorton, Winfield Throckmorton, James Thurman, JP Tice, Eli Tinker, Reuben Tinkham, Charles Tipton, Robert Tirrey, Calvin Todd, Elijah Tolberd, IV Tolbert, LaFayette Tompkins, William Tooper, Edwin R Totten, LaFayette Townsend, Tasker Townsend, John Trafford, HC Tranum, Hugh Traxler, Edwin S Treadway, John J Tremon, Allen Trent, John J Trickett, William Trinkle, Virgil Tripp, James Trowbridge, William Tucker, Amos Tutle, Charles Twining, Eli Twining, Wilson Twining, SM Tyler, Joseph Humphrey Updike, Matthew S Updyke, Henry P Upton, William Henry Urquhart, Silas Valentine, Andrew Van Vickle, William Van Fleet, Henry Van Wert, Aaron VanAtter, David G Vance, John Vance, Pleasant Vandergrave, Robert Vanderpool, Edwin Van Dusen, Henry Vanhauser, John Van Houghton, James Van Sickle, William Van Wie, Alfred Vare, jacob Vassler, JW Vaulps, McFarland Vest, Isaac Viene, Aaron Waddle, Robert D Wade, David B Wadling, Benjamin F Walker, Charles Walker, Fredk N Walker, Isaac Walker, John Walker (2), John T Walker, PB Walker, Thomas Walker, William A Walker, Jones Wallace, William P Wallace, David Walker, David F Walker, Lemuel Walkers, David P Wandling, Arthur Ward, John Ward, William H Ward, Horace Warner, John J Watkins, Francis M Watson, John S Watson, TM Watson, M Wyatt, Samuel Watters, Isaac Watts, GW Weakley, George F Webster, John Weir, Daniel Welch, Louis Welch, JJ Wells, Joseph W Wells, Thomas Wells, William W Wells, Daniel Welsh, August Werts, Joseph Wesley, Devillard West, James West, John West (2), SD West, Jonathan Westfall, Daniel Weston, Matthew Francis Wethington, Chester Wetmore, Jerry Whaley, Harrison Wheeler, Richard Wheeler, Smauel B Whipple, William Whitehead, B Whitlock, Charles Whitman, Curtis E Whitman, William Whittaker, John A Whitten, Philander Wickham, Joseph H Wicks, Frederick Wilard, William Wilcox, George Wilder, David Wilds, Jeremiah Wilkins, DD Wilkinson, Frederick Willard, Anson Williams, David Williams, GW Williams, George Williams, JR WIlliams, Mark Williams, William Willis, Henry Wilpor, GP Wilson, Isaac Wilson, JP Wilson, Marion Wilson, Samuel Wilson, William Wilson, William Winn, Emanuel Wire, Charles Wise, E Wise, Peter Wise, Samuel Wise, John Wiseman, Alfred Witt, Aaron Woddle, Homer C Wolvin, Thomas M Wood, Ag Woods, F Woods, James Woods, Andrew D Woodson, CC Woolvin, W Worthington, Garret Wright, Lewis Wright, Jacob Wyatt, James Wyatt, George Yapp, H Yeagle, Henry Yeagley, David Young, Henry Young, Matthew Young, Silas Young, Asa Zeller, Jojn G Ziller, John G Zillman, Alenzo D Zimmans, WIlliam N Zook

Winter Camp 1863-64

Second Michigan Infantry

The extreme suffering from cold and hunger of Burnside's army at Knoxville was without a parallel in the whole war. Following is a memorandum of an inspection of one brigade which unquestionably represented the condition of Burnside's entire army at that time: 

 

Regiments in the brigade: Second Michigan Infantry, One Hundredth Pennsylvania, Twentieth Michigan Infantry, Seventh Michigan Infantry, Provost Guard

Without underclothing: 374

No shoes: 386

No blankets: 65

No overcoat: 471

No tents: 218

No socks: 657

No pantaloons: 295

No coats: 186

(Source: Michigan in the War, Michigan. Adjutant-General's Department, State Printers, 1882)

 

 

Michigan Seventeenth Infantry

On the raising of the siege the regiment participated in the pursuit of the enemy as far as Bean's Station, but falling back to Blain's Cross Roads, it there encamped until the 16th of January 1864. From the commencement of the retreat to Knoxville, during the siege and the movements subsequent thereto, and while at Blain's Cross Roads the regiment endured much hardship and privations. Living on quarter rations foraged from an almost destitute country, their sufferings were greatly increased by the want of clothing. On an inspection made during the intensely cold weather in January it was found that some were entirely without shoes, and others nearly barefooted, a large number were without overcoats, and but few had a change of underclothing. The regiment marched to Strawberry Plains on the 16th of January. On the 20th, our forces having withdrawn the regiment, was left to guard the crossing of the Holston river. January 21st, it was engaged in skirmishing with the enemy, but on the following day fell back to near Knoxville, skirmishing with the rebel cavalry during the movement. On the 24th, it broke camp near Knoxville and participated in the advance to Morristown, falling back to Mossy creek March 2d, where it remained until the return to Morristown on the 12th. On the 14th, with a small body of cavalry, the regiment engaged in a reconnaissance to the bend of Chucky river, seven miles from Bull's Gap, where the enemy were in force. Finding two battalions of rebel cavalry posted at the mouth of Lick creek, the regiment forded the stream and forced the enemy's position, the rebels fleeing and leaving their camp baggage and a number of arms and horses. Marching from Knoxville the regiment on the 21st proceeded to Nicholasville, Ky. (Source: Michigan Seventeenth Infantry)

Longstreet's Winter Headquarters in Russellville Link

The highest praise is due to officers and men of both battalions for gallantry on the field and the patience and fortitude with which they endured their labors and exposure to the inclement weather, with only the summer allowance of blankets and tents, and in great need of clothing and shoes."

"The artillery horses suffered severely and some were lost for lack of horseshoes. Our only source of supply for over a month what could be collected from dead horses." Report of Col E Porter Alexander C 8 Artillery Chief of Artillery (Congressional Serial Set, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1891, p. 481)

Brother against Brother?

Just before the war:

Thomas Beals and Martha Emeline White moved to Mill Bend in Hawkins County from Greene County sometime between 1850 and 1860.  In 1860, they are living with their children: Allison W (19), John FM (13), Carter (15), Matilda (11), James (3) and Jackson C (1). Thomas is a farmer with $1,000 in real estate and $350 in personal property.

At this time, Mill Bend had a post office (Henry S Burem was postmaster). It was located about 6 miles from Rogersville and had a Methodist Episcopal church, one store, one saw mill and grist mill. The post office served about 600 residents.

It was on the South side of the Holston river near the line of the Tennessee and Virginia (South side of the Holston River) and the Rogersville and Jefferson railroads (a spur that was being constructed from Rogersville to Bull's Gap). At the time of the Civil War, the railroad bridge had not yet been built and a ferry was used to cross the river.

On 12 July 1862, Carter Milburn enlisted in the First Tennessee Cavalry, Co K. He mustered out on 14 June 1865 in Nashville, Tennessee.

On 21 March 1863, Allison Woodville enlisted in Co K 59th Tennessee Infantry.

AW was captured at Vicksburg on 4 July 1863

He was paroled at Vicksburg on 10 July 1863.

On 25 September 1863, in Jonesboro, John F M enlisted in the 8th Calvary, Co I. He mustered out on on 11 September 1865 in Knoxville.

After Carter was paroled at Vicksburg, he returned to Hawkins County.

There are no records to confirm that the brothers saw each other during the war.  John FM was sick and he was treated by a soldier in his unit with something that cause permanent kidney damage. It was during John FM's illness that John Simpson Beals visited his cousin frequently.  John Simpson writes about these visits in John FM Bail's Civil War pension application.  John S and John FM were neighbors as well as cousins.

It isn't hard to imagine that their Mother thought about her boys in quiet times while she was mending clothes by the fire or at night after everyone else was asleep.  Trips to town or the mill, as well as church would have provided opportunities to hear the latest news as well.

There in no indication of any hostilities between the brothers after the War.  John FM married Delphia Coldwell in 1866, Carter married Sarah M Myers in 1866, Allison married Dolly Stacy in 1867.  Carter was married in Greene County and John and AW were married in Hawkins. 

Carter left Hawkins County and moved West, eventually settling in the Memphis area.  AW remained in Hawkins County and John and Delphia moved to the Rheatown area of Greene County around 1875.

Seige of Knoxville

Fort Sanders and College

About 6 AM on Sunday, November 29th, the enemy opened a heavy artillery fire upon Fort Sanders, to which no reply was made, because our limited supply of ammunition made it necessary to reserve it for use at a more critical moment. The fire continued for about twenty minutes and then slackened, whereupon the columns moved to the assault, and were at once met by all the fire that could be concentrated upon them from our lines. Encountering the wire entanglements, their organization was somewhat disturbed, but the movement was not seriously checked thereby, nor did the slight abatis retard it. Although suffering from the terribly destructive fire to which they were subjected, they soon reached the outer brink of the ditch. There could be no pause at that point, and, leaping into the ditch in such numbers as nearly to fill it, they endeavored to scale the walls. Having no scaling ladders, a portion of the men, scrambling over the shoulders of their comrades planted, the battle flags of the 13th and 17th Mississippi and the 16th Georgia upon the parapet, but every man who rallied to them was either killed or captured and the flags were taken.

Meanwhile those who remained in the ditch found themselves under a deadly flank fire of musketry and canister, supplemented by shells thrown as hand-grenades from inside the fort, without the slightest possibility of returning a blow. Advance and retreat were about equally difficult, and it needed but a very short exposure to convince them that if any were to leave the ditch alive it could only be by the promptest surrender. Those who were able to walk were brought through the ditch to the south-eastern angle and there entered our lines as prisoners. Such of the assaulting forces as had not entered the ditch fell back, at first sullenly and slowly, but flesh and blood could not stand the storm of shot and shell that was poured upon them, and they soon broke in confused retreat.

The assault had been gallantly made, but was repulsed in little more time than is required to describe it. When the result became apparent Longstreet directed the withdrawal of the supporting brigade, but the order did not reach Anderson in time to prevent his troops from pushing on as though the assault had been successful. They swerved however somewhat to their left, and attacked a short distance to the eastward of the designated point, only to meet with as decided, though not so bloody, a repulse.

The assaulting columns were rallied under partial cover some five or six hundred yards from Fort Sanders and there reorganized but no further open attempt to carry our lines was made.

Many reasons have been assigned for the failure of this assault, and there some difference of opinion in regard to the matter. Some of those opposed to us, of unquestioned ability and fairness, have attributed it to the warning given us by taking our picket line the night before, the insufficient use of their artillery and the improper direction taken by two of the columns, resulting in their intermingling and consequent confusion. The opinion has been confidently expressed that a subsequent assault would have been successful. All this assumes, first, that we were not already vigilant and waiting for the attack; second, that a heavy and continued artillery fire would have greatly damaged and demoralized us; third, that the confusion arising from the convergence of the advancing columns would not have occurred again; fourth, that the "works were very faulty in plan and very easy to take by a properly managed assault ": and last but not least, that the troops of the enemy were better than ours. The first of these assumptions is erroneous, the second greatly exaggerated, the greatly exaggerated third might have been verified but again might not the fourth is correct only within the limits and to the extent already explained and the last has no evidence to sustain it.

No one is more ready and willing than the writer to admit the excellence of the troops that fought us at Knoxville. They had few equals and I believe no superiors. But in making this admission, I do not abate one particle of my confidence in the valor and persistency of those who opposed them. They possessed those qualities in as high degree as General Longstreet's men or any others, and the succession of events had only served to improve their morale. It may fairly be doubted whether any disaster to our arms was imminent.

Again, the repulse may have been due to the existence of fewer faults in the works than supposed; to the measures adopted by us to remedy the faults which did exist; to the passive obstacles of wire entanglements, depth of ditch, and unusual relief of the parapet; to the enemy's error in deciding it to be unnecessary to provide scaling ladders for the storming party; and finally and emphatically, to a sufiicient garrison of the coolest, bravest, and most determined men. Each of these reasons seems to me to have contributed its share to the result, and some of them were surely of much graver moment than any of those assigned by the other side.

The successful resistance of the 29th did not lead to any remission of labor on our defenses. Work was continued by the troops with the energy that had characterized their efiorts thus far, but the enemy gave little indication of a purpose to do anything further upon their works of attack. On the 1st of December, large trains belonging to the enemy were seen moving to the eastward, and again on the 3d and 4th and on the night of the 4th his troops were withdrawn and the siege was raised. We had not yet heard the result of General Grant's operations at Chattanooga.

The conduct of the men who stood in the trenches at Knoxville cannot be overpraised. Half starved, with clothing tattered and torn, they endured without a murmur every form of hardship and exposure that falls to the lot of the soldier. The question with them was not whether they could withstand the assaults of the enemy, but simply whether sufficient food could be obtained to enable them to keep their places in the line. That they were not reduced to the last extremity in this regard is due to the supplies sent in by the loyalists of the French Broad settlements, who took advantage of Longstreet's inability to invest the place completely, and under cover of the night fogs floated down to us such food and forage as they could collect. (Source: Battles and Leaders of the Civil War: Being for the Most Part Contributions by Union and Confederate Officers,Volume 3, Part 2, edited by Robert Underwood Johnson, Clarence Clough Buel, 1888)

The New York 79th Volunteer Infantry in East Tennessee

New York National Guard

New York State Military Museum Civil War Exhibit Opening 061 Some rights reserved

At Knoxville:

"A patrol was sent through the town to arrest all stragglers, quite a number of whom were brought in and sent to their respective commands. At three o'clock in the afternoon the regiment was ordered to report to Colonel Morrison at the front, but, while on the way there, was ordered back again to headquarters where tents were pitched for the night. Early on the morning of the 18th we joined the brigade at the front, where, however, we remained but a few minutes.

The principal defensive work was a fort half a mile west of the city and near the Kingston turnpike. It had been begun by the enemy during their occupancy of the town and was called by them Fort Loudon. But little progress had been made towards its completion, until it became evident that a retreat from Lenoir was necessary, when Captain Poe had taken measures to put the work in a defensive state. A large number of laborers had been employed night and day for that purpose, and when the troops arrived Lieutenant Benjamin, who was also chief of artillery, had been specially charged with its defense, and he requested that the Highlanders be assigned to duty as the regular garrison. His request being granted, we were ordered there and felt quite proud of the distinction conferred upon us. On reporting at the fort, positions were assigned the various companies by Lieutenant Benjamin. B, H and K were placed in the northwest bastion, the other companies being distributed at various points along the west and north fronts. Captain William Montgomery was in command of the regiment.

When we entered the fort an engagement was in progress, about a mile distant on the Kingston road, between the enemy's advance, under General McLaw, and our cavalry and mounted infantry, under General Sanders of the Twenty Third corps. The latter had been ordered to hold the enemy in check as long as possible, in order that the troops arriving might be placed in proper positions to resist an attack. For several hours Sanders command held the enemy at bay, but was gradually driven in by superior numbers, until the Confederates came within short range of the shells from our twenty pounders, when the engagement ceased for a while. In the afternoon the fight was renewed, and as the combatants were in plain sight about half a mile distant on the hill just below the Armstrong House, we watched the operations with a good deal of interest. Benjamin's guns sent several shells into the enemy's lines, but the opposing forces were so close together that our own men were in as great danger from the shells as were the enemy, and Benjamin's fire ceased.

McLaw had been ordered by Longstreet to push on and force his way into the city, but the task was a difficult one to perform. Reinforcements arriving, the enemy finally drove Sanders from his position, and we were prepared to give the rebels a warm reception, should they come within range of our rifles. General Burnside was looking over the parapet of the fort, watching the engagement, and when he saw Sanders driven back, he went from point to point along the west front of the fort, encouraging the men, advising us to 'keep cool. fire low, and be sure and hit something every time.' But the enemy contented himself with driving back Sanders force and occupying the crest of the hill. General Sanders, a gallant soldier, was mortally wounded and died a day or two afterwards, and our fort was named in honor of his memory. Just before dark we noticed that the high ground to the northwest of the fort and about a mile distant was also occupied by the enemy. Our pickets were now established on the north and west and about four hundred yards distant from the fort. The enemy had established his picket line about four hundred yards distant from our own. Thus ended the first day of the siege.

Now that our thoughts may be turned from the enemy for a moment, let us look at the situation within the Union lines. Knoxville is situated on the north bank of the Holston river, on a plateau about three quarters of a mile square, and bounded on the east and west by two streams called respectively First creek and Second creek. To the east of First creek, and a quarter of a mile distant, is an elevation called Temperance Hill, about two hundred and thirty feet above the level, and half a mile north of the river; on this elevation was built Fort Huntington Smith. To the east of this was Mabry's Hill, of about the same elevation, on the eastern extremity of which, and three quarters of a mile from the first named fort, was Fort Hill. On the north of the city, beginning at First creek, there were: Battery Billingslee (sp), Battery Wiltsee, Fort Comstock and Battery Galpin the latter flanked on the left by Second creek. To the west of Second creek was Battery Zoellner, and about seven hundred yards to the southwest of that was Fort Sanders, two hundred feet above the river. Six hundred yards south of Fort Sanders, and seven hundred yards from the river, was Battery Noble, while Fort Byington, on College Hill, defended an inner line, about six hundred yards east of Battery Noble. Between the river and Battery Noble on the west, or southwest, and the river and Fort Hill on the east of the city, were lines of intrenchments, while other lines connected the forts and earthworks already mentioned. Abattis and chevaux de frise were placed in front of many of the positions, and in front of Fort Sanders there was also a wire entanglement- placed there by Lieutenant Benjamin, the wires strung from stump to stump in order to obstruct and break up the lines of an attacking column. At the beginning of the siege, however, few of the works above mentioned had been begun, but soldiers citizens and negroes worked night and day till they were completed.

The troops were distributed as follows: Morrison's brigade stretched from the river in an irrregular line northwest to Fort Sanders, and the rest of the division from the fort to Second creek. Between that point and First creek the Second division held the line, while White's and Hascall's divisions of the Twenty Third corps stretched easterly to Fort Hill, and thence southwest to the river. South of the river, is a range of hills between three and four hundred feet high, commanding the town but most of the important points were occupied by portions of the Twenty Third corps, the enemy having batteries on two points only, and those about a mile and a half southwest of Fort Sanders.

There were no siege guns at any point on our lines. Roemer's light battery occupied College Hill; Benjamin's and Buckley's were in Fort Sanders; Gitting's and the Fifteenth Indiana batteries were placed on the line between Second and First creeks, and Simm's Twenty Fourth Indiana and Henshaw's and Shield's batteries, with one section of Wilder's, were distributed along the line held by White and Haskell, while the two other sections of Wilder's and all of Konkle's guns were south of the river. Two howitzers were placed at the bridge heads covering the crossing of the river. The East Tennessee and Virginia (or Georgia) railroad skirted the north side of the town and ran in a general southwesterly and northeasterly direction. All interest was centered on the lines north and west of the town.

The only part of Fort Sanders that was at all in a defensive condition when we entered it, was the west and a portion of the north fronts, and even in these no embrasures had yet been cut. From Captain Poe's report the following description of the fort is taken: 'It is a bastioned earth work, built upon an irregular quadrilateral, the sides of which are respectively one hundred and twenty five yards south front, ninety five yards west front, one hundred and twenty yards north front, and eighty five yards east front. The eastern front is entirely open and is to be enclosed with a stockade; the south front was about half done; the western front was finished except cutting the embrasures; the north front was nearly finished. Each bastion was intended to have a pan coupe.' Referring to the assault he states further: 'A light twelve pounder was mounted in the pan coupe (of the northwest bastion) and did good service. The ditch of the fort was twelve feet in width, and in many places as much as eight feet in depth. The irregularities of the site were such that the bastion angles were very heavy, the relief of the lightest one being twelve feet. The relief of the one attacked was about thirteen feet, and together with the depth of the ditch, say seven feet, made a height of twenty feet from the bottom of the ditch to the interior crest. From the fort the ground sloped towards the Confederates making a natural, but rather irregular glacis. All trees had been cut away from this glacis, the ground was thickly covered with stumps, the branches of trees had been utilized to form an abattis, and a wire entanglement had been made by stretching telegraph wire from stump to stump."

(Source: The Seventy-ninth Highlanders, New York Volunteers in the War of Rebellion, 1861-1865 (Google ebook), Press of Brandow, Barton & Company, 1886, William Todd, pp. 367-269)

Monument near the University of Tennessee campus