Overview
The Knoxville Campaign developed from the Union occupation of East Tennessee in 1863. President Abraham Lincoln considered control of the region important because many residents remained loyal to the Union and because the railroad through Knoxville connected Richmond, Virginia, with Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the Deep South. General Ambrose Burnside led the Army of the Ohio into East Tennessee during the summer and occupied Knoxville on September 3.
After Confederate General Braxton Bragg defeated General William Rosecrans at the Battle of Chickamauga (September 19–20), Bragg besieged Union forces at Chattanooga. Bragg later sent General James Longstreet north to deal with Burnside. Longstreet left the Chattanooga area on November 4 with about 10,000 infantrymen supported by roughly 5,000 cavalry troops.
Longstreet tried to cut Burnside off from Knoxville at the Battle of Campbell’s Station (November 16). Burnside reached a critical road intersection first and conducted an orderly retreat despite repeated Confederate attacks. His army successfully reached Knoxville and occupied the city’s fortifications.
Longstreet placed Knoxville under siege and searched for a weak point in the Union defenses. He chose Fort Sanders and ordered an attack on November 29. Confederate soldiers could not cross the fort’s deep defensive ditch under Union fire. The attack failed in about 20 minutes and cost the Confederates more than 800 casualties, while Union losses totaled only about 20 men.
After Bragg lost the Battle of Missionary Ridge on November 25, the Confederate situation changed. Longstreet remained near Knoxville until December 4 and then marched northeast. Union troops pursued him and fought the Battle of Bean’s Station (December 14). Longstreet won a tactical victory but did not renew the attack after Union soldiers entrenched overnight.
The Knoxville Campaign ended as a Union victory. Longstreet failed to recapture Knoxville, leaving East Tennessee under Union control for the rest of the war. His absence from Chattanooga also deprived Bragg of important manpower when Union General Ulysses S. Grant broke the Confederate siege there.
Essential Facts
- Date: November 4–December 14, 1863.
- Location: East Tennessee.
- Participants: The United States of America (USA) and the Confederate States of America (CSA).
- USA Commanders: Ambrose Burnside.
- CSA Commanders: James Longstreet.
- Era: Civil War, July–December, 1863.
Statistics
United States of America
- Casualties: Undetermined, but at least 1,100 killed, wounded, captured, or missing.
- Forces Engaged: Department of the Ohio, including the 9th and 23rd Army Corps.
- Troop Strength: Roughly 20,500.
Confederate States of America
- Casualties: Undetermined, but at least 2,300 killed, wounded, captured, or missing.
- Forces Engaged: Longstreet’s Command.
- Troop Strength: Roughly 15,000.
Significance
The Knoxville Campaign is important to American History because the Union victory secured control of East Tennessee for the rest of the Civil War. General James Longstreet failed to cut off General Ambrose Burnside at Campbell’s Station and then suffered a costly defeat while attacking Fort Sanders. The decision to send Longstreet away from Chattanooga also deprived Braxton Bragg of important troops when Ulysses S. Grant broke the Confederate siege there. Together, the Confederate defeats at Knoxville and Chattanooga shifted the focus of fighting in the Western Theater away from the border states and toward the Deep South, helping prepare the way for William T. Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign.
History
Tennessee Secedes from the Union
On June 8, 1861, Tennessee became the last Southern state to secede from the Union. The decision, however, was far from unanimous. In the eastern part of the state, the referendum on secession lost by some 20,000 votes at the polls. Starting an independent secessionist movement, citizens of East Tennessee petitioned the state legislature to form a new state that would remain in the Union. The governor responded by sending military personnel to Knoxville to enforce the statewide vote for secession. Despite attempts to coerce the population, many residents in East Tennessee and Knoxville remained pro-Union throughout the American Civil War.
Ambrose Burnside’s East Tennessee Campaign
President Abraham Lincoln considered the liberation of East Tennessee to be of paramount importance. Beyond the moral and political duty to support the loyal citizens of that part of the Union, East Tennessee was strategically valuable. The main railway connecting the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia, to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and on to the Deep South ran through Knoxville. In addition, East Tennessee farmers produced large amounts of food supplies that either side could use to sustain their armies if they controlled the area.
Despite its strategic importance and being high on the president’s list of priorities, events in other theaters of the war delayed any major Union action in the area until the Army of the Ohio, commanded by Major General Ambrose Burnside, moved to occupy East Tennessee in the summer of 1863. By the time Burnside neared Knoxville, events occurring in the Chickamauga Campaign had forced most of the Confederate defenders to move to southern Tennessee, leaving only a token force behind. Burnside’s cavalry reached Knoxville on September 2, almost unopposed. On September 3, Burnside marched his army into Knoxville, where the citizenry warmly received them. With Knoxville occupied, Burnside next captured the Cumberland Gap on September 9, and he turned his attention to clearing the area of any remaining Confederates.
Burnside Moves South
Shortly after Burnside secured East Tennessee, Confederate General Braxton Bragg and his Army of Tennessee soundly defeated Major General William Rosecrans and his Army of the Cumberland at the Battle of Chickamauga (September 19–20). Bragg drove Rosecrans’ army out of northern Georgia, back to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and then besieged the city for two months. As the Union situation at Chattanooga worsened, Washington officials ordered Burnside to leave Knoxville and march south to help lift the siege. Burnside moved toward Chattanooga, but skirmishes with Confederate cavalry from Virginia slowed his advance.
Longstreet Moves North
Meanwhile, in southern Tennessee, Bragg knew of the threat Burnside’s army posed to his investment of Chattanooga. During the siege, relations between Bragg and fellow Confederate General James Longstreet deteriorated because of Longstreet’s criticism of Bragg’s failure to pursue the defeated Federals more aggressively at Chickamauga. Wanting to rid himself of Longstreet, Bragg received approval from Confederate President Jefferson Davis to detach Longstreet from Bragg’s command and to send Longstreet north to deal with Burnside. Bragg planned on Longstreet being able to drive Burnside away, re-capture Knoxville, and return south before Ulysses S. Grant, who had replaced Rosecrans, could attempt a breakout from Chattanooga.
Battle of Campbell’s Station
On November 4, 1863, Longstreet departed from the Chattanooga area on the East Tennessee & Georgia Railroad with a force of about 10,000 infantrymen, supported by about 5,000 cavalry troopers. Progress was slower than expected, however, as the transport trains, loaded with soldiers and supplies, had trouble negotiating the steep mountainous grades in the region. Longstreet could not cross the Tennessee River until November 14. The two armies skirmished for two days until they met at the Battle of Campbell’s Station on November 16. Longstreet had hoped to occupy the intersection of Concord and Kingston roads at Campbell’s Station before Burnside, positioning the Confederates between the Federals and Knoxville. Burnside realized the danger of not being able to fall back to his fortifications at Knoxville. Thus, he ordered a forced march to the critical intersection and deployed his soldiers just fifteen minutes before Longstreet arrived. The Confederates launched several successful assaults, each driving the Federals back, but the Union retreats were orderly. Longstreet did not prevent Burnside from occupying his fortifications at Knoxville.
Siege of Knoxville
With the Federals safely entrenched in Knoxville, Longstreet decided to besiege the city on November 19. However, Longstreet also knew Confederate officials could recall him to Chattanooga if Grant threatened Bragg’s investment there. Thus, Longstreet searched for a weakness in Burnside’s fortifications that he might exploit.
Longstreet determined that Fort Sanders, northwest of Knoxville, was the most vulnerable position in Burnside’s defenses. On November 29, 1863, Longstreet ordered a surprise attack on the fort, which was protected by a twelve-foot-wide ditch with vertical sides nearly four to ten feet deep. Crossing the ditch under enemy fire proved impossible, and the Federals repulsed the assault in only twenty minutes. Confederate losses were heavy. Of roughly 4,000 men engaged in the attack, over 800 were casualties (129 killed, 458 wounded, and 226 captured). Federal losses were around only twenty men.
Battle of Bean’s Station
Before Longstreet could plan another assault, he received news of Bragg’s defeat at the Battle of Missionary Ridge (November 25, 1863) and of the Confederate retreat into Georgia. Bragg ordered Longstreet to abandon his siege at Knoxville and rejoin the Army of Tennessee in Georgia.
Grant, however, had sent a relief force toward Knoxville, commanded by William T. Sherman. Upon learning that Sherman was headed to Knoxville, Bragg changed his mind and ordered Longstreet to stay at Knoxville as long as possible to prevent Sherman from returning to Georgia. Longstreet held out until December 4, when he lifted the siege of Knoxville and marched his army northeast.
Pursuing federal troops engaged Longstreet on December 14 at Bean’s Station. The Confederates won a tactical victory by driving the Federals back by nightfall, but Longstreet did not continue the battle the next day because the Federals entrenched overnight. Instead, he moved off and established winter quarters in the northeastern tip of Tennessee and returned to Virginia in the spring.
Outcome
The outcome of Longstreet’s Knoxville Campaign was a failure in several ways. His inability to wrest Knoxville from Burnside secured East Tennessee for the Union for the rest of the war. Perhaps more importantly, the decision by Davis and Bragg to deploy Longstreet to Knoxville deprived Bragg’s army of critical manpower when Grant broke out of Chattanooga. On a personal level, Longstreet’s military reputation, which the defeat at the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863) had severely damaged, suffered another detrimental blow. On the other side, Burnside’s conduct partially restored the esteem that he had lost after his disastrous defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg (December 11-15, 1862). Overall, the combined defeats of Longstreet and Bragg shifted the focus of the war in the Western theater from the border states to the Deep South, paving the way for Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign.
Timeline
- 1861, June 8 — Tennessee became the last Southern state to secede from the Union, although many residents of East Tennessee opposed secession.
- 1863, September 2 — Ambrose Burnside’s cavalry reached Knoxville with little opposition.
- 1863, September 3 — Burnside marched his army into Knoxville, which was welcomed by the inhabitants.
- 1863, September 9 — Burnside captured the Cumberland Gap.
- 1863, September 19–20 — Braxton Bragg defeated William Rosecrans at the Battle of Chickamauga.
- 1863, November 4 — James Longstreet left the Chattanooga area and moved toward East Tennessee.
- 1863, November 14 — Longstreet crossed the Tennessee River.
- 1863, November 16 — Union forces won the Battle of Campbell’s Station.
- November 19 — Longstreet placed Knoxville under siege.
- 1863, November 25 — Bragg lost the Battle of Missionary Ridge and retreated toward Georgia.
- November 29 — Union forces won the Battle of Fort Sanders.
- 1863, December 4 — Longstreet lifted the siege of Knoxville and marched northeast.
- 1863, December 14 — Confederate forces won a tactical victory at the Battle of Bean’s Station.
AP US History
Definition
Knoxville Campaign (1863) — The Knoxville Campaign was a Confederate offensive in East Tennessee led by General James Longstreet against Union forces under General Ambrose Burnside. Burnside escaped Longstreet at the Battle of Campbell’s Station and reached the defenses at Knoxville. Longstreet besieged the city but suffered heavy losses during his failed attack on Fort Sanders. After Confederate forces lost at Missionary Ridge, Longstreet abandoned Knoxville. Although he won a tactical victory at Bean’s Station, the campaign ended in a Union victory that secured East Tennessee.
Alignment
The Knoxville Campaign is part of the following AP US History sections:
