Statewide County TN Archives Military Records.....Chapter VIII 
Civilwar 1st TN Cavalry (Union)
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Chapter VIII
CHAPTER VIII.

EAST TENNESSEE CAMPAIGN—CLIMBING THE CUMBERLAND. THE FIRST TENNESSEE AT HOME—A

LIVELY SET-TO AT DANDRIDGE—A BRILLIANT CHARGE—THE SABER FREELY USED—CHRISTMAS

EVE IN CAMP.



    On the 28th, a sad accident occurred at the same ferry where the First

Tennessee crossed Caney Fork. The Second Brigade was in charge of our division

train, and in ferrying the wagons over, seven men of the Second Indiana Cavalry

were drowned by the foundering of the boat.



    It now became apparent to all that a vigorous campaign was to be carried on

all winter. While we were lying in camp at Sparta, an order was received from

General Thomas, directing General Elliott, chief of cavalry, Army of the

Cumberland, to march at once with the First and Second Brigades, the Seventh

Kentucky Cavalry, Third Brigade, and Lilly's Eighteenth Indiana Battery—all of

the First Division —and report to General Burnside at Knoxville. No order ever

created so much enthusiasm in the First Tennessee as this one did. This movement

would give scores of the men an opportunity to visit home and see father,

mother, wife, brother, sister and sweetheart, or "the girl we left behind."



    Early on the morning of December 7, camp was broken, and soon the long, dark

lines of McCook's division could be seen slowly winding along the crooks and

turns of the old State road toward Kingston. We "tackled" old Cumberland

Mountain again on this road, and after a hard day's march over bad roads we

camped for the night near Crossville.



    Reveille was sounded at 4 o'clock the next morning, and after a hasty

breakfast the column was again set in motion, and, descending the mountain, we

bivouacked near Post Oak Springs. The next day the whole division moved to

Kingston, where it remained for two days, waiting for the wagons to close up,

finding at this place plenty of forage for the horses. On the 14th, we were

again in the saddle, and after a disagreeable march of twenty-five miles over

bad roads and through a cold, drizzly rain, we camped in Hardin Valley, five

miles from Ball Camp.



    We were now within fifteen miles of Knoxville, and at 7 a. m. on the 15th,

the line of march was taken up and when the command reached Third Creek, five

miles from Knoxville, General McCook halted his division for a short time, to

allow the line to close up and get ready for the grand entry. into Knoxville.

General McCook gave the First Tennessee the honor of leading his division

through Knoxville, it being the home of Colonel Brownlow and many of his men.

The band of the Second Indiana Cavalry was ordered forward to the head of the

column, and the march resumed.



    We entered Knoxville by the Middlebrook and Clinton roads, and on the range

of hills just west of town we passed through Longstreet's main line of works.

Shortly after passing this point, we caught sight of Fort Sanders and Benjamin's

"dogs of war," which were still peeping through the embrasures, looking bold and

defiant. This fort had been furiously assaulted by Longstreet's troops on the

29th of November, in which they were repulsed with severe loss. The huge forts

and the long line of new-looking earthworks that crowned the crests of the hills

and ridges that almost encircle the town bore the marks of battle and told in

silent language that "past events had cast their shadows behind."



    We proudly entered our native town about 3 p. m., and marched down Gay

street in platoons, with colors flying and bands playing, and were warmly

greeted by the loyal people of Knoxville who lined the streets to witness the

parade of McCook's veterans. Where Reservoir street crossed Gay, we passed

through Burnside's main line of works, the yellow clay towering high above our

heads. General Burnside made his headquarters during the siege in the old

Crozier mansion on Gay street, but was relieved a few days before we reached

Knoxville, and we were reviewed by his successor, General John G. Foster.

Turning east on Cumberland street, we passed the home of Rev. W. G. Brownlow,

whose son Jim was colonel of the regiment. The "parson"—as he was familiarly

called—and his family came out and witnessed with a great deal of interest the

regiment as it marched by, under the command of its youthful colonel. We gave

the "parson" and his interesting family three rousing cheers as we marched by.

Possibly no family in all East Tennessee had been so cruelly and unmercifully

treated by the disloyal people and bands of Confederate soldiers, who were urged

to call and pass insults upon the Brownlow family. But with all the cruel

treatment, this loyal and patriotic family bore it all, resented insults,

defended the "old flag," and never for once did they cease their devotion to the

Union and love for the glorious old flag that today floats proudly over a free

people, the sight of which every true American should respect and honor. John

was also in the Union army, he being lieutenant-colonel of the Ninth Tennessee

Cavalry.



    We had marched nearly three hundred miles, over bad roads, crossing

mountains and fording rivers and swollen streams, bringing with us our artillery

and wagons without loss, to find the siege of Knoxville raised and the

Confederates under Longstreet gone, he having left on the 5th of December and

moved northeast, toward Rutledge. Long-street had learned of Bragg's defeat at

Missionary Ridge on the 25th of November, and determined to attack Burnside in

his works before Grant could reinforce him.



    He selected Fort Sanders, one of the strongest and best built forts in

Knoxville, as the point where the attack should be made. It was named for the

young and gallant Kentuckian who was Burnside's chief of cavalry, who gave up

his life early in the siege a short distance south of the fort. This fort was

laid out by Captain O. M. Poe, chief engineer Army of the Ohio, and was on a

hill just west of the University of Tennessee. Captain Poe, in his report of the

East Tennessee campaign, gives the following description of Fort Sanders:



    "It is a bastioned earthwork, built upon an irregular quadrilateral, the

sides of which are respectively one hundred and twenty-five yards southern

front, ninety-five yards western front, one hundred and twenty-five yards

northern front and eighty-five yards eastern front. The eastern front was

entirely open, and is to be closed with a stockade; the southern front was about

half done; the western front was finished, except cutting the embrasures, and

the northern front was nearly finished. Each bastion was intended to have a pan

coupe. The bastion attacked was the only one that was completely finished. The

ditch in front of the fort was twelve feet in width and in many places as much

as eight feet deep. The irregularity of the site was 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, which, 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."



    The garrison of Fort Sanders on the morning (Sunday) of the assault

consisted of Lieutenant S. N. Benjamin's Battery E, Second United States

Artillery, with four 20-pounder Parrott guns; Captain W. W. Buckley's Battery D,

First Rhode Island Artillery, four 12-pounder Napoleons and two three-inch steel

guns; and one section of Captain Jacob Roemer's Battery L, Second New York Light

Artillery; the Seventy-ninth New York Highlanders, and portions of the

Twenty-ninth Massachusetts and Twentieth Michigan, one company from the One

Hundredth Pennsylvania and Second Michigan—in all about three hundred men,

commanded by First Lieutenant Benjamin, Second United States Artillery.



    In addition to the deep ditch in front of the fort, telegraph wire was

stretched from stump to stump, so that when the enemy moved forward on their

wild charge they were tripped by the wire, producing great confusion in their

ranks as they tumbled and fell in confused heaps. This plan of obstruction was

the work of the fertile brain of Mr. J. B. Hoxie, a loyal and patriotic citizen

of Knoxville, now deceased, who first suggested it to Burnside. The hero of the

East Tennessee campaign saw it was a good suggestion, and ordered it put into

execution.



    Fort Sanders was evidently the key to the defense, and against it

Longstreet—Lee's "old war-horse"—hurled his trusted veterans. It is not

generally known that General Leadbetter, chief engineer Army of the Tennessee,

who reached Longstreet's headquarters on November 25th, suggested, after a hasty

inspection and reconnoissance of the entire Union line, that in his opinion

Mabry Hill was the weakest point and promised the best result in case of an

assault. But after another inspection on the 27th, by Longstreet, Leadbetter,

Jenkins and Alexander, Longstreet's chief of artillery, all came to the

conclusion that the ground over which the troops would have to pass was too much

exposed and the distance to be overcome under fire was too great, consequently

it was abandoned.



    The assault was made by three brigades of McLaw's division, composed of

Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina troops. Longstreet ordered the assault

to be rriade in two columns, thinking that the spirit of rivalry between the two

brigades that were to lead the assault—one being from Georgia and the other from

Mississippi—would be sufficient cause to urge them to their work with increased

dash and courage. Woford's brigade, now commanded by Colonel S. Z Ruff,

Eighteenth Georgia, was composed of the Sixteenth, Eighteenth and Twenty-fourth

Georgia, Cobb's and Phillipps' Legion and the Third Georgia Battalion of

Sharpshooters. Humphries Brigade, Thirteenth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth and

Twenty-first Mississippi. These two brigades were supported by portions of

Anderson's and Bryan's brigades, composed of Georgians and South Carolinians,

all well-seasoned veterans.



    The troops were formed for the assault at 4 o'clock Sunday morning, November

29. Rain had fallen during the week and on the 27th it turned cold. The water in

the ditch was covered with ice and the steep sides of Fort Sanders were also

frozen, making it almost impossible for the men to gain a foothold in their vain

attempt to scale the slippery parapet. A dense fog hung lazily about the river,

completely shutting out the movements of both armies on this part of the line.



    About daybreak on the 29th, the enemy suddenly opened a terrific artillery

fire on Fort Sanders, which was immediately responded to by the Union guns all

along the lines. In a short time the enemy's fire slackened and then from the

direction of the railroad the enemy moved up the gentle slope toward the fort,

while the guns of Benjamin, Buckley and Roemer poured out "thunder and

lightning." As they approached the fort, the well-known rebel yell was heard

above the roar of battle, then the black-throated monsters from the fort, double

and triple-shotted, pierced the advancing column through and through, making

wide gaps, which were quickly filled.



    On they came with a yell, tumbling and falling when the wires were reached,

while only a few rods away the deadly volleys from the muskets were cutting

them1 down like grain before the reaper. At the ditch they paused for a moment

only, but, forcing their way across the ditch, they attempted to gain the fort

by climbing its icy sides. A few gained the crest, to be shot down and roll back

into the ditch, which was full of men, some yelling, others groaning. Now the

real destruction came, when the 20-pound shells, with fuse cut short, were

lighted and tossed over the parapet into the crowded ditch. The enemy, being

unable to capture the fort, now broke and fled to the rear, leaving hundreds of

killed and wounded around the fort and in the ditch. Others, finding it useless

to keep up the fight and being unable to get away, surrendered.



    E. A. Pollard, the great Southern historian, makes the following mention of

the battle of Fort Sanders: "There was a spatter of blood and brains. In this

terrible ditch the dead were piled eight and ten deep. In comparatively an

instant of time we lost seven hundred in killed, wounded and prisoners. Never,

excepting at Gettysburg, was there in the history of the war a disaster adorned

with the glory of such devout courage as Longstreet's repulse at Knoxville."



    The official returns of Longstreet's assistant adjutant-general show the

following loss in the assault on Fort Sanders : one hundred and twenty-nine

killed, four hundred and fifty-eight wounded, and two hundred and twenty-six

captured, making a total of eight hundred and thirteen. Something over one

thousand stands of arms fell into our hands, and three battle-flags. The

prisoners captured represented eleven different regiments. The Union loss was

eight killed and five wounded. The loss in McLaw's division showed the splendid

fighting qualities of his officers and men in their attempt to capture the fort.



    Among the officers of higher rank who fell in the assault and in the ditch

were: Colonel Ruff, Eighteenth Georgia, commanding Woford's brigade; Colonel

McElroy, Thirteenth Mississippi; Colonel Thomas, Sixteenth Georgia, besides

majors, captains and lieutenants. Lieutenant-Colonel J. C. Fiser, of the

Seventeenth Mississippi, lost an arm while attempting to scale the parapet of

Fort Sanders. The assaulting column numbered about four thousand men and was

formed for the assault near where the Knoxville Woolen Mills now stand.



    Longstreet had promised his men that they should dine in Knoxville on the

29th, but it turned out that not more than two hundred and twenty-six availed

themselves of the opportunity, and among them was Lieutenant-Colonel A. G.

O'Brien, of the Thirteenth Mississippi Volunteers, a brother of Mrs. W. G.

Brownlow. He bravely forced his way up the steep wall of the fort and was

captured inside. Burnside granted Longstreet a truce, in order that he might

care for his wounded and bury the dead. Longstreet recalled his broken and

shattered columns, withdrew his army from Knoxville and moved into upper East

Tennessee, where his army spent the remainder of the winter, subsisting wholly

on the country. There were numerous engagements and skirmishes during the

winter, and toward spring he left Tennessee and rejoined Lee in Virginia.



    Let us now return and follow the movements of the cavalry under McCook. On

the 15th of December, the day of our arrival in Knoxville, General Elliott,

commander-in-chief of the cavalry, Army of the Cumberland, who had accompanied

McCook's division to East Tennessee, reported to General Foster, who had

succeeded General Burnside in the command of the Army of the Ohio, with

headquarters at Knoxville. Foster ordered Elliott to immediately cross Holston

River and attack the enemy's cavalry under Martin, at or near Morristown.



    In pursuance of the above orders, and without delay, the First Tennessee,

with the remainder of the division, left Knoxville and moved northeast toward

Strawberry Plains. We crossed the Holston on the 15th at Armstrong's Ford, which

was barely fordable and rising, and went into camp a few miles beyond. Reveille

called us at 4 o'clock the next morning, and at 8 o'clock we resumed the march,

reaching Strawberry Plains, on the East Tennessee railroad and seventeen miles

from Knoxville, where we bivouacked for the night. At this point, Elliott

reported to General S. D. Sturgiss, chief of cavalry, Army of the Ohio, who by

virtue of his rank took command of all the cavalry then operating in East
Tennessee.



    This was the beginning of the ever-memorable East Tennessee campaign, so

well remembered by the survivors of the First Tennessee. After one day's rest at

Strawberry Plains, the division moved on the 17th to McKinney's Ford, where it

crossed the Holston, which was deep, and after a hard and disagreeable day's

march went into camp near Blaine's Cross Roads. Here we found the most of our

army rn camp, with but little to eat, standing around their camp-fires "thawing

out" one side, while the other froze, the weather being cold and disagreeable,

with now and then a light fall of snow. The farmers in their crippled condition

had hardly produced enough to keep the "wolf" from their own doors, much less

furnish supplies for two armies.



    The next day we moved forward to Richland Creek, and went into camp along

the southwest side. Stone's Mill on Richland Creek was kept busy day and night,

grinding up whatever amount of grain our foragers could find for the use of the

army. Just a short distance north of us lay the Confederate army under

Longstreet, hungry, shoeless and thinly clad, and very much discouraged, their

future being dark and gloomy. The weather still continued to be cold, the

mercury "tumbling" away below the freezing point and was rapidly approaching

zero. This sudden freeze made the roads exceedingly rough, so that our movements

were both difficult and dangerous, but with the elements around us and the enemy

in front of us, we tried to make ourselves as comfortable as possible under the

circumstances.



    Early on the morning of the 23rd, we left camp at Richland Creek and,

recrossing the Holtson at Nance's Ford, moved up the valley to New7 Market, a

pleasant little village whose inhabitants were intensely loyal. This was the

home of Russell Thornburgh, the senior major of the regiment. This was a hard

and disagreeable day's march, being made over bad roads, and late at night we

went into camp about two miles beyond town on the Dandridge road, cold, weary

and hungry.



    On the morning of the 24th, Campbell's brigade and Lilly's battery were

ordered to Dandridge to attack a Confederate force at that place. Reveille was

sounded at 3 a. m., and soon the whole camp was astir; the camp-fires were

rekindled, and, after partaking of a hasty breakfast, we mounted and marched

toward Dandridge. Colonel Garrard's brigade of cavalry, Army of the Ohio, moved

on the Bull's Gap road and was to unite with Campbell's brigade near Dandridge.

We crossed Bay's Mountain at Flat Gap, and at 9 a. m. reached Dandridge and

found the place unoccupied. Campbell halted his brigade at the far edge of town,

to await the arrival of Garrard's brigade.



    After waiting about one hour, Campbell received a dispatch from Garrard to

advance at once on the Bull's Gap road to his support, as the enemy were

advancing on his brigade. The First Tennessee, under Colonel Brownlow, was

ordered to advance, which it did, and soon commenced skirmishing with Russell's

brigade. Lilly's battery was placed in position and the Second Michigan ordered

to support it. After driving the enemy back a short distance, they opened on

Brownlow with artillery, and at the same time advanced their whole line and were

pressing his regiment so close that Campbell sent the Ninth Pennsylvania and one

section of Lilly's battery forward on the gallop to the support of Colonel
Brownlow.



    A detachment of the First Tennessee charged the enemy's dismounted

skirmishers, killing three and capturing fifteen prisoners. The enemy ran

forward three guns and opened a vigorous fire, but fortunately very few of our

men were wounded. The two guns of Lilly's battery were placed on a hill near

Hay's Ferry, about four miles from Dandridge, and after shelling them vigorously

for a short time the enemy fell back and all became quiet on this part of the

line. Campbell received an order from Garrard requesting him to move forward on

the same road, saying that his brigade would move on a parallel road to his

left. Colonel Campbell immediately moved the Ninth Pennsylvania in column along

the road and the First Tennessee in line of battle on the right of the road, the

right of the regiment resting on French Broad River; the Second Michigan was

dismounted and placed in line to support the battery.



    The First Tennessee and Ninth Pennsylvania had advanced about half a mile

when Campbell ordered them to halt, he having received an order from General

Sturgis to return to New Market. At this moment, heavy firing was heard in his

rear, where the remaining artillery, ambulances, pack-train and cooks were

stationed under an escort of the Second Michigan. This attack was made by Crew's

Georgia brigade, who succeeded by overwhelming numbers in capturing two guns and

scattering the pack-train and cooks in all directions. The remainder of the

Second Michigan and the Ninth Pennsylvania were ordered to charge and recapture

the guns.



    The order was executed with promptness and great gallantry, and after a

fierce struggle in which the saber was freely used, the guns were recaptured and

the enemy driven from the field, with severe loss in killed and wounded and

fifteen prisoners. Among the former was Major Bales, commanding the Sixth

Georgia, who fell among the captured guns. Campbell's brigade was in a critical

position—one brigade in front and one in the rear, and no tidings from Garrard.

Colonel Campbell sent to Garrard for reinforcements. but the aide was unable to

find him. Campbell's brigade was composed of well-seasoned veterans, and on that

day did not exceed sixteen hundred men.



    The only way of escape was by falling back by a rough, hilly road to our

left. We had for a commander an officer of undaunted courage, cool and

self-possessed in action—a commander who did not lose his head when he got into

a tight place. The artillery, ambulances and led horses were ordered into the

woods and moved as rapidly as possible toward the New Market road, closely

followed by the Ninth Pennsylvania and the First Tennessee. The Second Michigan

was dismounted and covered the rear. In this way Campbell moved his brigade back

in good order for some distance, the enemy all the time pressing hard our rear

and left flank.



    The Ninth Pennsylvania was ordered on this flank and soon relieved it. At

the same time, Lilly's battery was placed in position some distance beyond, with

the First Tennessee in line as a support. The enemy still continued to press our

rear, and when the Second Michigan and the Ninth Pennsylvania reached our

position, Lilly opened a vigorous fire from his three-inch Rodmans, which

checked the enemy for a short time only.



    The enemy again advanced, and with superior numbers attempted to capture our

battery and drive us from the field. The fighting became severe all along the

line, and it seemed that Campbell's little brigade would be swept from the

field. The enemy pressed on close up to our guns, amid a perfect tempest of

bullets from the carbines of the First Tennessee, while grape and canister flew

thick and fast from Lilly's "black-throated monsters." Campbell now ordered the

First Tennessee, under Colonel Brownlow, to charge the enemy with saber, which

he did, driving them back in great confusion, but not without serious loss in

his own ranks. The severe fire of the other two regiments at close range and the

skill with which Lilly's guns were handled, seemed to satisfy the enemy, as they

made no further attempt to press our lines, but fell back, and at dark we

returned to New Market.



    Colonel Campbell, in his report of the battle of Dandridge, says: "I then

ordered the First Tennessee Cavalry to charge with sabers, which they executed

most nobly, driving the enemy's line over a fence, with severe loss to their
ranks."



    The loss of the First Tennessee in this engagament was eleven killed and

wounded and seven missing, as follows:



COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.



    Wounded—Major Russell Thornburgh, commanding First Battalion; Captain Paul

Sturm, Company H.



ENLISTED MEN.



    Killed—Company D, Private William J. Robertson; Company E, Private Pleasant

Anderson; Company G. Private Jacob I. Mallory.



    Mortally Wounded—Company A, Aaron Fields, died in hospital at Knoxville,

Tenn., February 20, 1864; Company K, Private Allen Bennett, died of wounds, date

unknown.



    Wounded—Company F, Private Samuel H. Humbard; Company I, Privates Jacob

Rector and G. F. Johnson; Company L, Sergeant Isaac F. Cartwright.



    Company C was not in this engagement, it being absent guarding Dyer's Ferry,

on Holston River. The regiment lost thirty-two horses killed and wounded. The

other two regiments lost about the same number of men, and the battery one. One

of Lilly's guns was disabled by the breaking of an axle. It was spiked and left

on the field, but was recaptured by our division at Fair Garden, Tennessee, the

27th of January, 1864.



    This short but spirited engagement is known in history as the battle of

Dandridge, and was fought on the 24th day of December, on the farm of Mr. B. A.

Blackburn, a true Unionist, who so kindly took care of our wounded. Though our

little brigade had contended all day against superior numbers, yet the enemy

seemed well satisfied with the punishment inflicted upon them, by allowing us to

withdraw from the field at dark and quietly march back to New Market. This was a

hard day's work. We had been in the saddle since early in the morning without

food; had marched and counter-marched over thirty-five miles of road, fought one

battle, and at night were again on the "old camp ground."



    This was a sad Christmas Eve to us, and as we gathered around the camp-fires

to discuss the events of the day, many an unbidden tear could be seen trickling

down the tanned faces of the men when reference was made to those who had fallen

in battle during the day. While great preparations were being made in our

far-off homes for a grand feast for the next day, the men of the First Tennessee

were thinking of the feast in store for them the following day, as the regiment

was under orders to march at daylight and could not tell how "Merry Christmas"

would be spent.



    Late at night we lay down on the cold ground, without tents, and, wrapping

our blankets around us to keep out winter's chilly blasts, were soon off into

dreamland, while visions of roast turkey, plum pudding and pumpkin pie flitted

before us, the weary vedette on the lonely picket-post standing through the

stillness of the night, guarding the army as it slept.



Additional Comments:
Extracted from:



HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT OF

Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry



IN THE GREAT WAR OF THE REBELLION,

WITH THE ARMIES OF THE OHIO AND CUMBERLAND,

UNDER GENERALS MORGAN, ROSECRANS,

THOMAS, STANLEY AND WILSON.



1862-1865.



BY



W. R. CARTER, COMPANY C.



ILLUSTRATED.



KNOXVILLE, TENN.:



GAUT-OGDEN CO., PRINTERS AND BINDERS.

1902.



Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1896, by

W. R. CARTER,

in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C.





TO THE SURVIVING MEMBERS OF THE FIRST TENNESSEE CAVALRY; TO THE MEMORY OF OUR

DECEASED COMRADES AND THEIR KINDRED; TO THE MARTYRED PATRIOTS OF EAST TENNESSEE

WHO DIED ON THE GALLOWS AND IN PRISON, AND TO THE LOYAL AND PATRIOTIC PEOPLE WHO

SYMPATHIZED WITH THEM, THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, IN FRATERNITY,

CHARITY AND LOYALTY, BY THE AUTHOR.



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