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Hey everyone,

1:01

welcome to the 437th episode of

1:04

our Civil

1:06

War Podcast. My name is Rich.

1:10

And

1:20

Tracy will be MIA

1:23

again. She did get home last

1:25

night from her trip but is pretty tired

1:29

and has to go back to work tomorrow. So

1:32

I thought it might be a good idea to

1:34

just let her rest all day

1:36

today and not worry about doing

1:38

the podcast. So

1:40

yeah, but I'll do the best

1:43

I can here by myself to

1:45

get us a little farther along

1:48

with the story of what happened

1:50

there at Knoxville, Tennessee in

1:52

November 1863 with

1:55

James Longstreet and Ambrose

1:57

Burnside.

1:59

As you guys will recall in the last

2:02

episode, the Confederates crossed

2:05

the Tennessee River some 40 miles

2:08

southwest of Knoxville on November

2:10

14th. But then

2:12

Longstreet failed to come to grips

2:14

with the Yankees at Lenoir's

2:17

station the next day, and

2:19

also missed a chance to trap

2:22

them at Campbell's station

2:24

on the 16th. After

2:28

winning the race to Campbell's station,

2:30

the Federal's successful stand

2:33

there not only prevented

2:35

the Rebels from cutting them off from

2:37

Knoxville, but it also gave

2:39

the Yankees valuable time to

2:42

work on Knoxville's defenses.

2:46

Burnside had given that important

2:48

task to his command's chief

2:51

engineer, Captain Orlando

2:53

Poe. Poe,

2:56

a 31-year-old West Point graduate,

2:58

recalled, quote, I

3:01

was instructed to select around Knoxville

3:04

lines of defense and have everything prepared

3:07

to put the troops into position as they

3:09

should arrive. What

3:13

Poe had to work with was a series

3:16

of largely unfinished

3:18

trenches, battery sites,

3:21

and earthworks that stretched

3:23

around Knoxville. The

3:26

town itself sat on a high,

3:30

half-mile-wide plateau, 150

3:34

feet above the Tennessee River, which

3:36

bordered Knoxville to the south. Two

3:40

streams, both of which ran from

3:43

north to south and emptied into

3:45

the Tennessee, cut through the

3:47

plateau. First

3:50

Creek separated the main portion

3:52

of Knoxville from the east

3:54

side of town, about

3:57

a thousand yards farther west,

4:00

Second Creek ran along the western

4:02

edge of the plateau. A

4:05

third stream, creatively

4:08

called Third Creek, flowed

4:10

about a mile west of Second Creek.

4:15

After completing their 15-mile

4:18

retreat from Campbell Station, when

4:20

the weary federal troops reached Knoxville

4:23

on the morning of November 17th, Poe

4:26

directed them to their positions.

4:29

First to arrive were the men of

4:32

Edward Ferraro's division of

4:34

the Ninth Corps, who were put into

4:37

the defenses west of town,

4:39

from the river up around

4:41

to Second Creek. John

4:45

Hartrant's Ninth Corps division

4:47

manned the line between Second and

4:49

First Creeks, while soldiers

4:52

from the 23rd Corps filled

4:54

the remaining portion of the line east

4:57

of First Creek, and assisted

5:00

Union cavalry troopers in

5:02

maintaining positions on the south

5:04

side of the river. The

5:08

key to the federal defenses on

5:10

the west side of Knoxville, the

5:12

direction from which the Confederates

5:15

were approaching, was Fort

5:17

Loudon. Named

5:20

by the rebels who had begun its construction

5:23

when they held Knoxville, Fort

5:26

Loudon was still unfinished on

5:28

November 17th. It

5:31

was nevertheless a formidable

5:33

position. Built

5:36

atop a nearly 200-foot hill,

5:38

the fort was, in the words of Captain

5:41

Poe, quote, "...a

5:43

bastioned earthwork built upon

5:46

an irregular quadrilateral, the

5:48

sides of which are, respectively,

5:51

one hundred and twenty-five yards southern

5:54

front, ninety-five yards

5:56

western front, one hundred

5:58

and twenty-five yards northern front."

5:59

Front

6:01

and 85 yards Eastern Front. When

6:06

the Federal troops reached Knoxville, Poe

6:09

said that Loudon's, quote,

6:11

Southern Front was about half done. The

6:14

Western Front was finished, except

6:17

cutting the embrasures, and

6:19

the Northern Front was nearly finished.

6:24

The fort was surrounded by a ditch

6:26

about 12 feet wide and as

6:29

much as 8 feet deep. So

6:31

coupled with the height of the parapet,

6:34

anyone looking to scale the

6:36

exterior wall of the fort faced

6:39

a climb of as much as 20 feet. A

6:44

picked Tagueras and Fort Loudon

6:47

were the men of the 79th New York

6:49

Infantry, known as the Highlanders,

6:52

because most of them were of Scottish

6:55

descent. Lieutenant

6:58

Samuel Benjamin of the 2nd U.S.

7:00

Artillery Regiment, whose guns

7:02

defended the fort, had personally

7:05

requested the Highlanders. You

7:08

see, Benjamin knew the regiment well, having

7:11

served alongside the New Yorkers for

7:13

much of the war. In fact,

7:16

some of them had helped work his guns

7:18

at the Battle of South Mountain and

7:21

also at Antietam. Here

7:25

at Fort Loudon, Benjamin had 10 guns, 4

7:27

20-pounder parrots, 4 12-pounder

7:29

Napoleons, and 2

7:35

3-inch rifles. Before

7:39

they were directed to Fort Loudon shortly

7:41

after sunrise, the men of the

7:43

79th New York spent several

7:45

hours in town. Corporal

7:48

William Todd recorded, quote,

7:51

"...even at so early an hour,

7:54

the streets were filled with citizens, all

7:56

wearing an anxious and rather doleful

7:59

appearance."

10:00

white and black residents, worked

10:02

around the clock to improve the town's

10:05

defenses. At

10:07

Fort Loudon, the intensive

10:09

labor produced impressive results.

10:13

Embraisers for the guns were cut in the walls.

10:17

Cotton bales wrapped in rawhide

10:19

were placed atop the parapet to

10:21

offer the defenders greater protection

10:23

from enemy bullets. And

10:26

outside the fort, where numerous

10:28

trees had been cut down to clear

10:31

fields of fire, telegraph

10:34

wire was strung between the stumps

10:36

to form shin-high

10:39

entanglements meant to slow

10:41

down the charge of attacking enemy

10:43

troops. However,

10:46

the enemy attack for which

10:48

the Federals were so feverishly

10:51

preparing was slow in

10:53

coming. When

10:55

failed to trap the Yankees at Campbell's

10:57

Station, Longstreet resumed

11:00

the Confederate advance at sunrise the next

11:02

day, the 17th. Around

11:05

half past nine that morning, McCleod's

11:07

men came into contact with the Federal

11:10

Rear Guard, several regiments

11:12

of Union cavalry and mounted infantry

11:15

commanded by Brigadier General William

11:17

Sanders. The

11:20

30-year-old Sanders was born in Kentucky

11:23

and raised in Mississippi. In

11:26

fact, he was a cousin to

11:28

Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

11:33

Sanders was a West Point graduate and an

11:35

officer in the old army who,

11:38

when war came, remained loyal

11:40

to the Union. Later

11:43

on November 17th, Sanders,

11:46

with about 600 men, conducted

11:48

a series of skillful delaying actions

11:51

between Campbell's Station and Knoxville,

11:54

slowing down the Rebel advance. Finally,

11:58

Sanders withdrew to a

13:28

thousand

14:00

unread emails in his inbox, I feel

14:02

like there's a lesson there. Oh

14:04

well, this is The Constant, a history

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of getting things wrong. I'm Mark Chrysler. Every

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episode we look at the bad ideas, mistakes, and

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accidents that misshaped our world.

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everyone, it's Takuya here.

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And I'm Gabi. And we are

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Are you curious about all the stories of the terrible

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and wacky history can be.

15:10

In fact, William Sanders

15:13

would hold off the Confederate infantry well

15:15

past noon on November 18th. But

15:19

around 2.30 that afternoon, the

15:22

rebels finally broke through. And

15:25

Sanders, while trying to rally his

15:27

men, was shot in the left side.

15:30

He died the next day. However,

15:33

the time he had bought with his defensive

15:35

stand was invaluable. Orlando

15:39

Poe would write, quote, every

15:42

spade full of earth turned while Sanders

15:44

was fighting aided in making

15:46

our position secure, and

15:48

he had determined to sacrifice himself

15:51

if necessary for the safety

15:53

of the rest of the army. The

15:58

men at work on Fort Loudoun including

16:01

Major Cutchin, had a clear view

16:03

of Sanders defensive stand there

16:06

west of town and Cutchin

16:08

said quote it was

16:10

a sorrowful sight to see our brave fellows

16:13

forced back. In

16:17

honor of their fallen comrade the Federals

16:19

renamed Fort Loudon Fort

16:22

Sanders. On

16:25

the afternoon of November 18th the Federals

16:27

in the fort who saw the Confederates finally

16:30

break through Sanders thin

16:32

line were certain the rebels

16:35

would keep coming. Corporal

16:37

Todd of the 79th New York said

16:40

quote General

16:42

Burnside was looking over the parapet of the

16:44

fort watching the engagement and

16:46

when he saw Sanders driven back he

16:49

went from point to point along the west front

16:51

of the fort encouraging the men

16:53

advising us to keep cool

16:56

fire low and be sure and hit something

16:58

every time. But

17:03

the Confederates didn't

17:05

keep coming because Longstreet

17:07

didn't believe his force was strong enough

17:10

to risk an all-out assault

17:12

on the Yankee works. He

17:15

would say quote we

17:17

went to work therefore to make our way forward

17:20

by gradual and less hazardous

17:22

measures at the same time

17:24

making examinations of the enemy's

17:27

entire positions. Well

17:31

Longstreet placed the brigades of McClaws

17:33

division west of town stretching

17:36

northward from the river to a point beyond

17:39

the northwest bastion of Fort Sanders.

17:43

Jenkins division continued the Confederate

17:45

line eastward. As

17:48

McClaws and Jenkins men began to

17:50

dig in Wheeler's cavalry

17:53

recalled from their foray on

17:55

the south side of the river now patrolled

17:58

the ground to Jenkins left. east

18:01

of First Creek. And

18:04

so, instead of immediately

18:06

attacking, Longstreet instead

18:09

proceeded to position his troops around

18:11

the Union lines north of the Tennessee

18:14

River, in effect laying

18:16

siege to Knoxville.

18:30

Clearly, the first two weeks of

18:32

his campaign to eject

18:35

Burnside from Knoxville and reclaim

18:38

East Tennessee for the Confederacy had

18:40

not gone well for James Longstreet.

18:44

Bragg had emphasized that, quote,

18:47

the success of the plan depends on rapid

18:49

movements and sudden blows, end

18:52

quote. But

18:55

there had been no rapid movements,

18:58

thanks to transportation

19:00

challenges and muddy roads,

19:03

and there had been no sudden blows

19:06

struck. Though

19:08

Longstreet did now have Burnside virtually

19:12

bottled up in Knoxville, his

19:14

own logistical concerns and

19:17

Bragg's precarious situation

19:20

back at Chattanooga meant

19:22

old Pete couldn't afford to

19:24

waste time on a lengthy siege.

19:29

Even so, he now proceeded to

19:31

display a surprising lack of

19:33

urgency over the next 10

19:37

days. Longstreet

19:40

and his lieutenants spent two days,

19:43

November 19th and 20th, just

19:46

studying the federal lines, a

19:48

task that wasn't made any easier

19:51

since they didn't have any good maps

19:53

of Knoxville or the surrounding countryside.

19:58

But by the 21st, Longstreet's

20:00

survey had convinced him of

20:03

one thing, that he needed

20:05

more men. He

20:08

had about 12,000 infantry in

20:10

McClellan Jenkins' divisions and

20:12

around 5,000 horsemen in

20:15

Wheeler's command, but,

20:18

although Burnside only had about 12,000 men

20:20

in Knoxville, Longstreet

20:23

mistakenly pegged enemy troop

20:25

strength at 20,000,

20:28

and so he wired Bragg that

20:31

he needed reinforcements, saying,

20:33

quote, I think that my force

20:36

is hardly strong enough to warrant my

20:38

taking his works by assault. And

20:43

later that same day, in another message,

20:46

old Pete made clear what

20:48

he thought he needed, asking of Bragg,

20:51

quote, can't you spare

20:53

me another division? It will shorten

20:56

the work here very much. But

21:01

with Ulysses S. Grant clearly

21:03

almost ready to launch the long awaited

21:05

federal attack at Chattanooga, Braxton

21:08

Bragg, who was by this point

21:10

heavily outnumbered by Grant, had

21:13

no troops to spare to send

21:15

to Longstreet. That

21:18

meant old Pete was going to have to make

21:21

do at Knoxville with what

21:23

he had. And

21:27

I think that's where I'm going to start to

21:29

wrap up this show. Hopefully

21:32

it's enough to tide you over

21:35

until next time, when we'll have

21:37

Tracy back with us once again. That

21:47

means it's time for this episode's book recommendation.

21:51

And our recommendation this time is

21:54

Burnside by William Marvel.

21:58

And this is actually a real. recommendation,

22:01

but it seems like a good time to

22:03

trot it back out. And

22:06

I vaguely recall mentioning last

22:08

time we recommended this, that

22:11

out of the hundreds and hundreds of books

22:13

in our Civil War library, this

22:15

biography, at least the

22:17

edition we have, well

22:20

it has hands-down the

22:22

most hideous cover of

22:24

any of those hundreds and hundreds of books.

22:28

And I feel compelled

22:30

to mention that once again because

22:33

it really is, well,

22:36

awful.

22:37

In any case, you can

22:39

find a list of all of our book recommendations

22:42

if you head over to the podcast website

22:44

which is www.civilwarpodcast.org.

22:51

And at the website you can find information

22:53

on joining the Strawfoot Brigade

22:56

over on Patreon, just

22:58

like Tom S. and

23:00

T.O. did this past

23:02

week. There

23:04

at the website you can also make a one-time

23:07

donation if you wish, just

23:09

like Bill K. did this

23:11

past week. So

23:14

thanks guys, we appreciate

23:16

your support of the podcast. And

23:21

this week here in the States we have

23:23

Thanksgiving coming up and we

23:25

hope all of you have a fantastic

23:28

holiday with family and or

23:31

friends. And if you

23:33

aren't here in the States, we

23:35

hope you still have many people and things

23:38

in your life for which you're thankful.

23:42

We're thankful for all of you. Thanks

23:45

for listening to this episode.

23:48

Tracy and I do hope that you join us again

23:50

next time, but until then, take

23:53

care. Thanks everyone.

23:55

Bye.