1C • FARRAGUTPRESS THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2013

■ TAMMY CHEEKtcheek@farragutpress.com

Although the Confederate army outmanned the Unionarmy by more than two to one, it still failed to keep Uniontroops from advancing to Knoxville during The Battle ofCampbell Station.

Both sides were tired, hungry and short on supplies,which included food, clothing and transportation.

“They pretty much canceled themselves out because ofhunger and lack of rations,” said Gerald Augustus, local his-torian and author of “The Battle of Campbell’s Station 16November 1863.”

“It’s really difficult to get food and resupply an army thatis on the march anyway,” said Mark Blevins, Bearden HighSchool history teacher and local historian who also partici-pates in re-enactments. “For both sides, that’s very diffi-cult. Here, even in Knoxville, the Union army that’s herenumbering about 12,000 is more than three times the pop-ulation of the City of Knoxville, so you can imagine howmuch food is going to be left for the civilians of Knoxvilleduring this campaign.”

Nevertheless, what they lacked in food and clothing, bothsides made up for in human endurance, Augustus said.

“The Confederates were pulling canons,” he said. “Theydidn’t have horses.”

Also, the railroad locomotives did not have the power tocarry all the troops, so many had to walk.

Also, both sides had to trudge through mud that resultedfrom the storm that took place the night before the battle,Augustus said.

The Union forces did have the advantage in weaponry,however.

Jerry Keyes, who has been hunting and finding relicsfrom the Battle of Campbell Station since the early 1970s,said he has found the Confederate weaponry was inferior tothe Union’s. The South’s artillery was poorer quality andweaker. The artillery shells would fracture after being fired,he noted.

Another factor affecting the battle’s outcome was thebickering that took place between the Southern generals –Gen. Braxton Bragg, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, Brig. Gen.Evander McIvor Law, Brig. Gen. Micah Jenkins, Gen.Jerome Bonaparte Robertson and Maj. Gen. LafayetteMcLaws.

Longstreet graduated from West Point in 1842. Accordingto Augustus, he was a major in the U.S. Army when he

Longstreet’s errorscostly during battle

Lt. Gen. JamesLongstreet

See LONGSTREET on Page 5C

■ ALAN SLOANasloan@farragutpress.com

A reluctant Civil War commander of Union forces inEast Tennessee, Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside was a failedcommander of the Army of the Potomac atFredericksburg, Va., in late 1862.

Though fighting an “intestinal affliction,” Burnside’sfortunes would change dramatically starting with TheBattle of Campbell Station Nov. 16, 1863, in present dayFarragut as area historians reflect upon the battle’supcoming 150th anniversary.

Burnside’s 9th Army Corps, mostly northeasters plusMichigan brigades of which 5 of 6 brigades belong, and23rd Army Corps, one brigade of mostly Midwestern,Kentucky and Tennessee troops, added up to roughly5,000 troops.

A handful of these men distinguished themselves. Although outnumbered more than two-to-one at

Campbell Station, and overcoming severe hardships facedby his men, Burnside “was brilliant” in limiting Unioncasualties and succeeding in his two basic goals of TheBattle.

That’s according to several local Civil War experts,including Mark Blevins, who in addition to teaching U.S.History at Bearden High School for 20 years also teachesa unique Americans at War class that includes NativeAmerican suffering in the Civil War.

“Burnside had done very poorly up to that point,”Blevins said. “It was just a flat-out massacre atFredericksburg.”

However, “Nobody could have done any better thanwhat he did” at Campbell Station, Blevins added. “His jobis to keep [Lt. Gen. James] Longstreet [Confederate com-mander] at bay.

While also attempting to escape Confederate flankingand reach the Union stronghold in Knoxville, “Burnside’sjob is to keep Longstreet in this semi-siege for as long aspossible so Longstreet cannot go back and reinforce [Gen.Braxton] Bragg in Chattanooga. … Burnside’s whole jobis to delay Longstreet,” Blevins added.

Gerald L. Augustus, highly respected local historianwhose latest book, “The Battle of Campbell’s Station, 16November 1863,” spells out battle details and timelines,agrees.

“Burnside is not one of the great generals of the CivilWar, but his East Tennessee campaign, you can’t top it,”

Union solidersbrilliant, brave

Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside

See UNION on Page 4C

Alan Sloan

Monument honoring Congressional Medal ofHonor recipients Maj. Frederick Swift andSgt. Joseph Brandle, with the 17th MichiganVolunteer Regiment, located at Sgt. MitchellW. Stout Medal of Honor Memorial andVirtue Cemetery off Evans Road. This site isclose to where Swift’s and Brandle’s braverywas displayed, in The Battle of CampbellStation’s bloodiest confrontation, near pres-ent day Virtue Road and Virtue Mill alongTurkey Creek.

2C • FARRAGUTPRESS THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2013 THE BATTLE OF CAMPBELL STATION

■ ROBBY O’DANIELrodaniel@farragutpress.com

The house where CharlieRussell grew up was marked bythe Battle of Campbell Station:A bullet hole was in the frontdoor. It has since been patchedup, but Russell remembers it.

“I was told that one of thechimneys was shot off by can-non shot or broken partiallydown,” Russell said.

Those are not the only waysmarkers were left at the home,located at the corner of NorthCampbell Station Road andKingston Pike, from the battle.

“We had the floors sanded,when I was probably 12 or 13years old, upstairs,” he said.“They’re big pine boards. ...Mother asked, ‘Well can’t youget this out over here and cleanthis?’ The guy said, ‘No, ma’am.That won’t come out. That’s

blood.’ He said that we’d sandall the way, we’d be downstairsif we tried to sand that out. Hesaid that’s something that’s setthere a long time and stained it.... You can look and see somecolorations. I thought at first itwas the boards, but if you look,you can see that and other peo-ple have said that’s what itappeared to be.”

The blood is most likely fromthe wounded – soldiers on boththe Confederate and Union sideof the battle -- who were shel-tered that day in the house, hesaid.

The family of Robert Russell,Charlie’s great grandfather,lived at the house, as well asother family members and ser-vants, he said, at the time of thebattle.

“The old block house was stillhere then, and that had beenused as an inn and a store,” he

said. “There was a tanneryhere. ... They were farming.They had a farm here, and alsothe farm was over 500 acres. ...I assume that’s what they weredoing during the war, and that’swhat I was told – they ran thisfarm during the war. I was alsotold that they had a favoritewhite horse that they took inthis basement, and most likely,with some of the servants andthe rest of the family, and hidthere during the Battle ofCampbell Station.”

Most likely Robert’s father,John, and possibly Robert him-self ran the store, he said, dur-ing the time of the battle.

One of the ledgers kept in1855 gives evidence to the typeof store it was.

“They sold thread, tobacco,”he said. “... Flour, coffee ... andclothing, thread, needles andleather.”

Photo submitted

A family portrait of Robert Russell’s family taken around 1900 in front of their home. Picturedfrom left are Charles Walker Russell, Matthew Russell III, Lida Belle Russell, Andrew PitnerRussell (Tobe), Dannie Russell, Avery Russell, Pleasant Russell and his wife and children.

Russell familywitnesses war firsthand

■ ALAN SLOANasloan@farragutpress.com

Roughly 16 hours, that’s theestimated time frame summingup The Battle of CampbellStation Nov. 16, 1863.

Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside,commander of Union 9th and 23armies in East Tennessee, androughly 5,000 troops started outchurning in knee-deep mudupon leaving present dayLenoir City on Lenoir Road,which no longer exists, whiledragging 1,400-pound cannonsbefore fighting off numerousConfederate flanking attemptsin present day Farragut.

The payoff was a much lessobstructed path to Union-forti-fied Knoxville on Kingston Road(roughly what is today’sKingston Pike) around 6 p.m.

Around 2 a.m., “Burnsidesends from Lenoir Station —which was just basically theplantation, there was no city —a cavalry detachment, a rela-tively small one, right after mid-night [Nov. 16] to go up[Lenoir] Road, close toKingston Road, to secure theCampbell Station intersection,”said Steve Dean, creator/pro-ducer of “The Heartland Series”that has run on WBIR-TV chan-nel 10 since 1984, who also is alocal historian. “Shortly afterthey left, he started sending allhis troops in the early morninghours.”

Burnside won a race mosthistorians describe as “a tur-tle’s pace” to Campbell’sStation.

“After sunrise, theConfederate forces … didn’tknow where Burnside was sothey were a little hesitant about

going in,” Dean added. “Rightafter the sun comes up, 7 to 8a.m., and this is all rough [esti-mates], they go into [what isnow] Lenoir City and see in factthat most of Burnside’s troopshave gone, and they immediatestart chasing him, those are[Brig. Gen. Micah] Jenkins’people, on the Lenoir Road.”

Meanwhile, “Word gets to[Confederate Maj. Gen. Lafa-yette] McClaws around 8 a.m.to pursue on the KingstonRoad,” Dean said.

Gerald Augustus, highlyrespected local historian whosebook “The Battle of Campbell’sStation” was released to coin-cide with The Battle’s upcom-ing 150th anniversary, said lit-tle fighting took place before 9a.m.: the estimated time atwhich all of Burnside’s forcesfinally reached the key loca-tion, the intersection ofKingston Road and Lenoir Roadwhere the front parking lot ofpresent day First BaptistConcord is located.

However, Augustus addedabout time estimations,“Everybody [in 1863] had theirown time. There was no stan-dard time … that doesn’t comeuntil the 1880s. … Even if [sol-diers] give a time, it doesn’tmean it’s that [equivalent] inmodern times.”

Immediately upon arriving atthe crossroads, the first Unioncavalry sent out upon reachingthe Lenoir Road intersectionwith Kingston Road “went twomiles down Kingston Road westto sort of delay the advance ofMcClaws’ troops a bit. And per-haps they did,” Dean said.

Roughly 16 hoursneeded for Union

Tactical mistakesplague Confederates■ TAMMY CHEEK

tcheek@farragutpress.com

Twenty-four hours changedthe lives of some 17,000 soldiers150 years ago, when The Battleof Campbell Station made theFarragut area a battlefield.

Charged with flanking theUnion forces and stopping themfrom reaching Knoxville,Confederate troops headed tothe junction at CampbellStation.

Gerald Augustus, local histori-an and author of “The Battle ofCampbell Station 16 November1863,” noted the bloodiest fight-ing was at Virtue Road, whereGen. John Bratton’s brigadefought William Humphrey’sbrigade and had 18 killed and106 wounded.

The Confederates and Unionwanted to take Knoxville. MarkBlevins, Bearden High Schoolhistory teacher and local histo-rian, said Knoxville was impor-tant because of the railroad andthe poultry and other food avail-able there. Blevins’ interest inhistory was spurred on by hisown family history, as his great-great grandfather was a privatein Longstreet’s corps during TheBattle of Campbell Station.

“This railroad here linksVirginia, Tennessee, Kentuckyand Georgia,” Blevins said. “Sowhen the Confederates lost therailroad, they knew they had toregain it.

“They have to go on railroadthrough the Carolinas and thenacross South Carolina intoGeorgia, up through Atlanta,and they just get to the battle-field in the nick of time atChickamauga. And, as soon asthey get in line, Longstreet’sforces just burst through theUnion line, pushed the Union

forces back on Snodgrass Hilland really had a chance todestroy the Union Army.

Augustus said the Confeder-ates began to place a pontoonbridge across the TennesseeRiver during the night a coupledays before. Lt. Gen. JamesLongstreet, the overall com-mander, was across theTennessee River on Nov. 15.

“He would have liked to real-ly come in from the east,”Augustus said.

“It was flatter, but he lackedthe wagons and bridges.

“The alternative was to gowest only a mile but it was fiveto six miles from Union troops inLoudon,” Augustus said. “Conf-ederates crossed at Huff’s Valleythe next morning.”

The historian said it hadstormed the night before, leav-ing the roads muddy so troops’advancement was slow. Augu-stus said during the night UnionMaj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside,commander of the Army of theOhio, had ordered his troops towithdraw toward Knoxville.

“His [Burnside’s] job was tokeep Longstreet at bay, to keepLongstreet in this semi-siege aslong as possible so Longstreetcould not go back and reinforceGen. Braxton Bragg inChattanooga,” Blevins said.

“The primary thing was tokeep Longstreet here and keephim occupied so [Gen. UlyssesS.} Grant’s and {Gen. WilliamT.] Sherman’s armies can movein to Rosencrantz to helpRosencrantz’s former army, whonow Gen. George Thomas is thehead of the army there. So thenyou have three Union armiesmove in, which is eventuallywhat happens, and they are able

See 16 HOURS on Page 4C

See TACTICAL on Page 3C

■ ROBBY O’DANIELrodaniel@farragutpress.com

Caretaking of a Union soldierafter he was injured in the Battleof Campbell Station led to years ofcorrespondences from a soldier toa local family.

“Nancy Galbraith and the localpeople all took care of those sol-diers, fed them, nursed them,”said Gerald Augustus, historianand author of “The Battle ofCampbell’s Station: 16 November1863.”

Local women changed bandag-es and brought in food, he said.

V. W. Bruce was a Union soldier.In the Battle of Campbell Station,he was shot in the leg. He endedup losing his right leg while hewas at the home of NancyGalbraith, Augustus said. TheConfederate surgeons amputatedBruce’s leg since it had been shat-tered at the knee.

But Bruce remained in contactwith the Galbraiths years after thewar, Augustus said.

Six letters from Bruce toNancy’s daughter, Eliza, are at theFarragut Folklife Museum, saidlocal historian Barbara Beeler,with dates that range from 1896 to1898.

According to notes by Beeler,“From reading these six lettersfrom Bruce, it appears that he hadbeen writing Nancy Galbraith and

Galbraith, locals carefor North, South wounded

other members of her familyfrom the time he returned homefrom the Civil War. We just didnot receive those letters at themuseum; they were perhaps lostafter Eliza died.”

Nancy Galbraith was the focusof Beeler’s personal research.

“I’m more interested in herthan I was [interested in]Bruce,” she said. “Because youdon’t hear very much about theladies who were heroes of theCivil War.”

Nancy Galbraith was a widowthat had plenty of worries at thetime of the battle.

“They had a massive farm, andhere she had these young kids[two sons], 13 and 11,” Beelersaid. “And the others were in the

service, the two older ones, andthen she had her 9-year-old boy,he died right before [the bat-tle].”

Beeler wrote in her notes thatshe provided: “The troop move-ments and the skirmishingaround her house in Virtue hadmade Nancy uneasy for the boystrying to complete their farmwork, with what help her twodaughters, ages 15 and 7, and asmall 5-year-old son could givethem.”

On the night of the battle, agroup that consisted ofConfederate soldiers, Union pris-oners, wounded Union soldiersand a Confederate doctor wentto her house, Beeler said. Thegroup included Bruce.

Robby O’Daniel

A “shoe purportedly belonging to V. W. Bruce,” along with oneof his letters, is displayed at Farragut Folklife Museum.

FARRAGUTPRESS THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2013 • 3CTHE BATTLE OF CAMPBELL STATION

to defeat Bragg easily at thatpoint.

“Of course, Bragg shouldnever have sent Longstreet uphere to begin with, but he wastrying to get rid of one of hismain nemesis ... most of his gen-erals were anti-Bragg.”

Bragg was the principal com-mander in the Western Theaterof the War Between the Statesand later was the military advis-er to the Confederate PresidentJefferson Davis.

“Davis had already visitedChattanooga to bring the gener-als together but it actuallymade it worse, and then Davisleft Bragg in command at Armyin Tennessee because they werebest friends, and thatreally made things worse forthe Confederate army inTennessee.”

For Confederate troops, theday of the battle started at day-break, when Confederates, ledby Brig. Gen. Micah Jenkins,began to move toward Lenoirsbut found the Union forces weregone.

“Gen. Jenkins’ men had a ter-rible time,” he related. “Theystarted to raid Burnside’s wag-ons but had to pass up on thefood.”

The Confederate troops werethen ordered to follow theretreating Union troops led byCol. John Bratton’s SouthCarolina 5th Infantry of Jenkins’Division.

Daybreak: Fighting Begins:At 8 a.m., Longstreet sent

orders for Brig. Gen. EvanderMcIvor Law’s men, who campedat the north end of HotchkissValley Road, to advance toKingston Road, which is nowHighway 70, and cut off Unionforces before they could get toCampbell Station. That planfailed.

“Gen. Layfayette McLaws wasordered to wait until Lawcomes down,” Augustus said.“Everything hinged around Lawgetting around.

“McLaws started to move menforward then Longstreet ordershim back.”

Longstreet would later criti-cize Law, saying he did not go farenough. Augustus said, addingLongstreet’s plan was thatMcLaws could reach Campbell’sStation ahead of Union troopsand attack.

Burnside’s army reached thejunction at about 9 a.m. A caval-ry force was sent down theroad toward Kingston. TheConfederate cavalry, command-ed by Col. John R. Hart, and inadvance of McLaws’ infantrydivision, met the 6th IndianaCavalry, led by Col. JamesBiddle, after it went about twomiles.

Augustus said the Union cav-alry successfully drove theConfederates back to theirinfantry support.

Several Union forces gatheredbetween Kingston and Concord.Augustus said Hart’s Confed-erate cavalry could see the Fed-

eral troops deploying ahead andwatched as they went into bat-tle, Augustus said.

Union Col. John F. Hartranft’sInfantry Division, which consist-ed of two brigades commandedby Col. Joshua K. Siegfriedand Lt. Col. Edwin Schall andCompanies L and M [Consoli-dated] 3rd U.S. Artillery, rea-ched Kingston Road behind thecavalry, the historian related.

Rather than head toKnoxville, though, Hartranft’sbrigades and two cannons of itsartillery turned left ontoKingston Road. Schall’s brigadehad been stationed in Knoxvilleduring the battle. After travelinga short distance west onKingston Road, Siegfried’s andSchall’s brigades went into bat-tle north of the road. After thatattack, Biddle’s cavalry took upposition on the right ofHartranft’s line, Augustus said.

Col. Marshall W. Chapin’sbrigade of the 23rd Corps fol-lowed Hartranft’s troops, whichwere sent to the east onKingston Road. They stoppedbeyond Campbell’s Station Innand went into battle acrossKingston Road.

As Col. Benjamin C. Christ’sbrigade arrived at the junction,it turned toward CampbellStation, Augustus said. Thetroops continued until theystopped to defend the artilleryon the north side of KingstonRoad near the junction ofConcord Road.

Next, Augustus said, Col.David Morrison’s Union brigadearrived at the junction and tookup a position in an open fieldbetween Kingston and Lenoirroads.

“The 8th Michigan Infantrywas to the left of the 36thMassachusetts with their left onthe Lenoir Road,” he said. “The45th Pennsylvania Infantry wasin front of the brigade, acting asskirmishers. The 79th New York,which was also a part of thebrigade, had been sent with theartillery and wagons to the junc-tion of Concord and Kingstonroads.”

The brigades of Siegfried,Schall and Morrison were thenengaged with McLaw’s Conf-ederate infantry, which hadarrived at Kingston Road.Meanwhile, Union wagons andartillery were moving on LenoirRoad. Union Col. WilliamHumphrey’s Brigade was fight-ing Jenkins’ troops. At about 10a.m., all of the Union wagonsand artillery finally passed ontoKingston Road and were movingtoward Knoxville.

Meanwhile, just north ofVirtue Cemetery, the 17thMichigan infantry was orderedto stop and slow the advancingConfederates, Augustus said.

“There are skirmishes run-ning with Union troops runninginto Confederates, who are dart-ing behind trees like Indians,”Augustus said. “The Northerninfantry realized it was beingflanked and started to pullback.”

While one Union troop foughtto slow Jenkins’ men, the rest of

Burnside’s army reached thejunction of Kingston and Lenoirroads, Augustus said.

Most of the Confederate cav-alry, commanded by Gen. JosephWheeler, was already sent to theother side of the river to try tocapture the hills overlookingKnoxville. The day before thebattle, Wheeler’s cavalry firedon Union forts. However,Augustus said the forts wereheavily defended so Wheelerchose not to make an all-outattack, instead riding southfrom Knoxville to rejoinLongstreet.

Blevins said this was one ofLongstreet’s errors of the battle.Had he kept the cavalry withhim, it could have flankedBurnside.

Once Burnside got his wagonsand artillery through the Lenoir-Kingston Road junction, he wasready to retreat to Knoxville.Humphrey’s brigade was thefirst to move; however, thebrigade was heavily engaged andhad to charge the Confederatesto drive them back before theycould withdraw.

Humphrey’s brigade held itsposition until 1:30 p.m., whenthey went into a ravine as areserve and was out of the heatof the battle. Siegfried’s andSchall’s troops withdrew nextwithout difficulty, Augustus said.Then, the 8th Michigan Cavalrymoved back to help protect theartillery on the plateau on thefar eastern end of the battle-field, Augustus added.

Then, Confederates foughtMorrison’s brigade, which wasstretched between the Lenoirand Kingston roads, whileConfederates advanced on bothroads, for about 30 minutes,then McLaws’ men advancedpast Morrison’s line on theKingston Road.

The Confederates were tem-porarily back by a volley from36th Massachusetts and 8thMichigan infantries but the twoinfantries were overtaken by theSouthern troops. While theinfantries were captured, Mor-rison’s men retreated toKingston Road. Augustus saidthe Confederate troops forcedMorrison’s men to move north ofthe road past the Campbellhome and through a new line ofbattle, which formed west of theNelson House. They stopped atConcord Road and restedbehind another battle line.

Augustus said the next phaseof fighting took place in a valley,in which the northern rim isnow occupied by Farragut HighSchool. At that time, the areawas wooded.

He said the most importantfeature was a small plateau.During fighting there, theRussell family and their whitehorse hid in the basement,Augustus said.

While Confederates foughtthe brigades of Humphrey,Morrison, Siegfried and Schallwest of the Lenoir-KingstonRoad junction, Burnside createda new defensive line across thevalley just west of the Nelsonhome, Augustus said.

At about 3 p.m., Humphrey’sBrigade was moved to the rear ofthe artillery on the hill,Augustus said. Meanwhile, the29th Massachusetts was on theextreme right of Burnside’sinfantry.

He said another Union battleline was formed in the middle ofthe valley with reserves nearConcord Road.

McLaws’ Confederate forces,which advanced on KingstonRoad, joined the forces ofJenkins from Lenoir Road,Augustus said. That was the firsttime the two divisions werereunited.

McLaws reported toLongstreet for further orders.He was ordered to deploy hismen to the north of the road but“not to show it beyond thewoods.”

With McLaws positioned onhis line of battle, Brig. Gen.Joseph B. Kershaw’s SouthCarolina Brigade took a positionon the right nearest the road.Following Kershaw was aGeorgia brigade, led by Col.Solon Z. Ruff, and Brig. Gen.Benjamin G. Humphrey’sMississippi Brigade was on theextreme left of the division.Brig. Gen. Goode Bryan’sGeorgia Brigade was behind theline.

Augustus said Jenkins’brigades filed to the south ofKingston Road into battle. Col.John Bratton’s South CarolinaBrigade, Brig. Gen. George T.Anderson’s Georgia Brigade andBrig. Gen. Henry L. Benning’sGeorgia Brigade joined histroops. He said Jenkins divisionwas unobserved because of thewooded nature of the area.

Augustus said when theConfederates first came out ofthe woods toward Union troopsthey were mistaken as Unionsoldiers. He said theConfederate troops had beenissued new uniforms, whichresembled Union uniforms,which were issued after theretreat at Gettysburg.

As the Southern forces movedtoward the Union, theConfederate artillery was stilltrying to move through the mudso they had no artillery support,the historian said.

Then, the Confederatesmoved into a ravine and beganfiring. The fire was quicklyreturned, he said.

Longstreet’s artillery arrivedto support the infantry. Col. E.Porter Alexander’s infantry sup-ported Jenkins’ Division.

While the Union troops weredown in the valley, theConfederates were up on a hill,making it difficult to return fire.

After the Confederates with-drew into the woods,Confederate and Union artillerybegan heavy firing.

During the fighting in thislocation, Longstreet had twoclose calls from artillery fire. Hisluck ran out May 6, 1864, whenhe was accidentally fired on byhis own men and was disabled.

The fighting continued as bul-lets and shells exploded. Duringthe battle, Burnside attempted

to send a telegraph to Col.William P. Sanders nearKnoxville to ask for Sanders toform a battle line on KingstonRoad to protect his retreatingarmy and slow up advancingConfederates, but he gave upbecause the Confederates occu-pied Concord, Augustus said.

After Longstreet’s threeunsuccessful attempts to breakthrough Union lines, he orderedMcLaws’ Division to move for-ward and engage the enemy.

One of McLaws’ brigades andsome of Hart’s Cavalry wentaround to the left of the line tostrike at the Union left flank.Both attacks were supposed tooccur simultaneously.

McLaws began to place hisbrigades forward. After waitingfor the attack on the right tobegin, McLaws ordered his divi-sion to advance. He didn’t hearthe attack on Jenkins’ flank, andLongstreet rode over andstopped McLaws’ advance.

About 3 p.m, Jenkins began toposition his men to attack. WhenLaw reported he was in position,Jenkins ordered Anderson’sBrigade to move forward andattack. However, he discoveredLaw had not gone far enough andsent word to Anderson’s Brigadeto stop and wait for orders. Hethen ordered Law to attack with-out Anderson’s men.

Law advanced and overlappedAnderson’s Brigade. Augustussaid the result was Hartranft’sleft hand force was able tochange fronts and withdraw to anew position on the east side ofConcord Road.

Both Jenkins and Longstreetblamed Law for the failure.Augustus said Law would blameLongstreet for not orderingMcLaw’s Division to move soon-er and distract the enemy.

Evening action: Withdrawsbegin:

Late in the afternoon,Augustus said the final battle linewas formed by tired, hungryUnion soldiers of the 9th and23rd Corps. Anticipating aretreat, all of Buckley’s BatteryD, 1st Rhode Island Artillery,except one section of two 12-pow-der cannon, commanded by EzraK. Parker, was ordered backabout one mile about 4 p.m.

The 1st Rhode Island waitedthere in reserve until about 5:30p.m. With no indication it wouldbe needed, it was ordered to pro-ceed to Knoxville, Augustus said.

As Union forces began towardKnoxville, there were only twoartillery units left firing at theConfederates: Battery D, 2ndU.S. Artillery and the two 12Pounders of Parker’s Battery D,1st Rhode Island Artillery.

Augustus said when it becametoo dark to see, Parker’s two-gunsection was ordered to with-draw. Then Battery D, 2nd U.S.Artillery began the night retreatas well.

At the end of the battle,Longstreet, which had 11,000men, had 340 casualties whileJenkins had 22 killed and 152wounded, Augustus said. Therewas never a report fromMcLaws.

TacticalFrom page 2C

Behind the cavalry came aUnion infantry wave to slow theConfederates coming east onKingston Road, courtesy of Col.John F. Hartranft, commanderof Second Division of Union’s9th Army. “It’s not until you getyour infantry in there that theroad is halfway secure” for theUnion, Augustus said.

Dean said he doubtsBurnside beat Longstreet tothe Kingston Road-Lenoir Roadintersection by just 15 minutesor so, a commonly held belief.

“You hear that, but it takes alot longer than 15 minutes toget the amount of supply wag-ons and artillery and cannonsthrough there,” Dean said.“Maybe [Burnside’s troops] gotthrough there with 15 minutesto spare.

Augustus said estimates onMcClaws’ arrival at the cross-roads behind Burnside’s men“varies from 15 minutes to ahalf-an-hour.”

The 17th Michigan VolunteerRegiment was rear guard of theUnion Army as Jenkins’Confederate forces were clos-ing in on Lenoir Road. Theirsuccessful mission, to “delaythe advance of the Confederateforces up Lenoir Road” at

Turkey Creek near modern dayVirtue Road and the formerVirtue Mill, “would probablyhave been around 11 a.m.,maybe close to noon,” Deansaid.

However, Augustus puts thetime of this bloody confronta-tion closer to 9 a.m.

The portion of The Battleeast of the Kingston Road-Lenoir Road, which spreadroughly one mile north-to-south in the Turkey Creek val-ley and ended with the Unionsuccessfully holding its posi-tion on Concord Hills [near oldFarragut High School] on theUnion’s left flank and near thecurrent FHS location on itsright flank, ran roughly “from 1p.m. to 6 p.m.,” Dean said.“Burnside purely was in adefensive position. He wasn’tever going to move forward. Heknew he could not keepretreating because they wouldcatch him, so he had to stop,turn and fight at least untildark, which he did successful-ly.”

As action moved east whilealso spreading north and south,“The first of three Confederatecharges began at roughly 1 p.m.in the afternoon,” Augustussaid of battles including wherethe current Kroger parking lotis located.

With the Confederates fail-ing to break through Unionlines, “By the time everybodygets reorganized, somewherearound 3 or 3:30 is when[Confederate commander, Lt.Gen. James] Longstreetdecides to try and flank [theUnion],” Augustus said.

Meanwhile, Union troopsfound artillery position on highground just east of ConcordRoad and north at the currentFHS location.

The 29th Massachusetts,Second Brigade of Union’s 9thArmy, successfully fought off aConfederate attempt to flankhis northern line of Unionresistance, on a wooded hillnear where present day FHS,around 3:30 to 4 p.m, Augustussaid.

About that same time, Col.John F. Hartranft, commanderof Second Division of Union’s9th Army, fought off Brig. Gen.Evander Law’s attempt to dothe same east of Concord Roadat Concord Hills, near whereFHS was located until fall 1976.

With Burnside’s forces great-ly aided, by their hilly position,to evaluate Confederateadvances, Union forces heldKingston Road when darknessfell, then headed to Knoxville.

“For the Knoxville campaignit was extremely important

16 hoursFrom page 2C

Augustus said. “He did every-thing exactly right in this case.”

The key during CampbellStation is “being able to slipthat army out twice and getthem up to Knoxville,” Augustusadded.

Unlike Longstreet’s troopmiscommunications atCampbell Station, Burnside’s“troops had to do what he want-ed, and they did … they didwhat they were told and theyaccomplished their goal,”Blevins said.

“The command of the UnionArmy was so far superior to thecommand of the ConfederateArmy in this particular battle,it’s almost uneven,” Blevinsadded.

Joan Markel is Civil War cura-tor at McClung Museum ofNatural History & Culture.“Everybody said it was textbook.… One of the contemporarieswho wrote about it said, ‘It waslike moves on a chessboard,’”Markel said. “These [Union]units were very well disciplinedand did exactly what theyshould to accomplish their goal,which was holding the road so

that all of Burnside’s troops andwagons could get intoKnoxville.”

After the war, Burnside saidabout the battle, “’Don’t give mecredit for it, give my men creditfor it,’” Augustus said.

In giving credit to his men,however, Blevins notes thatBurnside “is a politician, too.He’s the future governor ofRhode Island.”

Regardless, “If they hadn’tperformed a virtually super-human thing of pulling thosecannon and getting out of there,[Burnside] would have beentrapped” on Lenoir Road beforereaching the intersection withKingston Road, Augustus said.

With rain a major factor cre-ating thick mud, “Mules weresinking up to their stomachs. …Men literally helped pull, alongwith 12 animals, the cannonsand other supplies,” Augustusadded.

Col. Ebenezer Pierce, leadingthe 29th Massachusetts, madea critical decision to saveBurnside’s right flank near whatis now Farragut High School inthe afternoon hours of Nov. 16.

“The 29th sends out into thewood skirmishers, a couple ofcompanies, that’s when they

run into the Confederates,”Augustus said. “They realizethey’re being flanked, and sothey start pulling back. … Ifthey hadn’t had those skirmish-es out there they would havecaught them right in the flankbehind and right on the sideand would have really rolledthat end up.”

Roughly 250 troops of the17th Michigan were the rearguard for Burnside’s men whoheaded to Campbell Stationfrom Lenoirs (now Lenoir City)on Lenoir Road (now a non-exis-tent road, some of which nowparallels Martel Road) and con-necting with Kingston Road(now Kingston Pike) where themain front parking lot of FirstBaptist Concord now is located.

The bloodiest battle connect-ed with Campbell Station hap-pened along Turkey Creekwhere present day Virtue Roadruns, adjacent to the formerVirtue Mill and up the hillwhere present day Sedgefieldsubdivision is located.

Flanked by Confederateforces and trapped along thecreek, the 17th Michigan, partof Col. William Humphrey’sThird Brigade, would producetwo Congressional Medal of

Honor recipients: Maj.Frederick Swift and Sgt. JosephBrandle.

The 17 Michigan “panickedand start splashing across andgoing through the woods up thehill. … Brandle starts wavingthe flag and ordering the men tostop,” Augustus said. “And he’shit in the right eye, he’s hit inthe side. He’s losing so muchblood that he’s about ready topass out. And the colonel[Comstrock] orders him tohand the flag over to Cpl.Robert McKnight. As soon as hehands it off, McKnight is almostinstantly killed, shot throughthe head. At that point,Frederick Swift, who actually isonly a captain at the time, buthe’s the acting major.

“… He grabs the flag andyells, ‘Form on me.’ And byGeorge they do,” Augustusadded. “And they form a lineand are able to hold longenough that they can get theartillery up on the hill so theycan start firing down on theConfederates.”

Also, Sgt. John H. Starkins of34th New York Artillery washonored “for getting his cannonvirtually up that hill … and suc-cessfully keeping it from getting

captured … for ingenuity, forbravery,” Augustus said aboutmoving a roughly 1,400-poundcannon. “The simple thingwould have been to just leaveit.”

Sgt. Valentine Rossbach “didexactly the same thing” despitenot receiving the Medal ofHonor for this gutsy act,Augustus said.

By battling the Confederatesat Virtue Road and Sedgefield,“Humphrey’s brigade was let-ting the rest of Burnside’s armyget on up to the Kingston Road,”Augustus said.

Markel summed up the valueof Burnside’s brilliance atCampbell Station.

“If Longstreet had won there,stopped Burnside’s army fromgetting back to Knoxville, thewhole outcome would havechanged,” she said.“[Longstreet] probably wouldhave turned to go back down toChattanooga and could havechanged the events down there.

“If Chattanooga hadn’t fallen,what then would Sherman havedone and how they would themarch to the sea been differ-ent?” Markel added. “You justdon’t know.”

Union From page 1C

Union Brig. Gen. Robert B. Potter.

because Burnside was able toget out with most of his menand all but two of his cannons,”Augustus said. “His total casual-

ties were 338. … He had 31killed, 211 wounded, 96 cap-tured or missing.”

4C • FARRAGUTPRESS THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2013 THE BATTLE OF CAMPBELL STATION

resigned in June 1861 to join theConfederate Army as a brigadiergeneral. He was promoted tomajor general in October 1862.

Augustus said between UnionMaj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnsideand Longstreet, he thoughtLongstreet was the better gener-al. He said Gen. Robert E. Leepraised Longstreet for his per-formances in many battles, suchas the Battle of Chicamauga.

The reason Longstreet is moti-vated to be in Tennessee, Blevinssaid, is he hopes to get Bragg’sjob.

“He wants to be the command-er of the Army of Tennessee,” hesaid, adding that would be equalto the Army of Northern Virginia.Longstreet’s corps has two of thethree divisions that come withhim, he added.

However, Augustus acknowl-edged the general’s mistakes –jealousy and bickering with theother Southern generals, nothaving adequate maps, his mis-trust of the locals near CampbellStation – all contributed to thebattle’s outcome.

“Longstreet made a lot of mis-takes,” Blevins said. “Longstreetis looked at as a superior com-mander, and he was a greatdefensive commander.

“To me, the major thing to meis Longstreet did not understandthat some East Tennesseanswere loyal to the Confederacy,and those people who gave himadvice, he ignored it,” he said.“He did not have maps – Braggwould not furnish him maps – sohe’s in a foreign land for himself;he doesn’t understand the ter-rain here; and so a lot of what he

is doing is guessing.“A big mistake he makes is

dividing his army, his calvary.He’s going to send his calvary [onto Knoxville] and on the way upto Fort Dickerson, he wants toslip the calvary in on the backside and try to pinch Burnside’sarmy. Of course, that’s totallygoing to be unsuccessful.

“Had Longstreet kept his cal-vary with him, they can flankBurnside’s army. They could getto Campbell’s Station easilybecause they are on horseback.They could be waiting forBurnside right there [at thecrossroads.],” he said.

“By the time they get to TurkeyCreek, by my estimation, theUnion army could have been sur-rounded.”

Another mistake historiansnote: the Confederates needed todestroy the Union army inChattanooga before advancing toKnoxville.

“You want to get Knoxville, butChattanooga’s more important,initially,” Blevins said. “If theyhad destroyed the Union armybefore Grant and Sherman couldget there, then they could holdChattanooga and then they couldeasily take Knoxville.”

“Then, they would haveregained East Tennessee,” headded.

“It wasn’t just Knoxville, theyhad to take East Tennessee,”Blevins said. “They had to havewon at Chattanooga, MissionaryRidge and Lookout Mountain aswell because Knoxville’s still notgoing to make a difference if youlose Chattanooga.”

Another factor in the South’soutcome was the performance ofBragg. Blevins described him asthe worst general in both armies.

“The U.S. Army thinks so high-ly of Braxton Bragg – our top fort,Fort Bragg, is named for him,”Blevins said. He noted the Armyof Tennessee never wins a majorbattle other than Chicamauga.

Additionally, feuding tookplace between Law and Jenkins,Augustus said. The rivalry beganwhen Jenkins was given a com-mand Law felt was his.

Also, Augustus said there werebad feelings between Law andLongstreet, who was unsatisfiedwith Law’s performance on occa-sions. Augustus said at CampbellStation, Jenkins and Longstreetboth criticized Law for failing toclose the left flank of Burnside’sarmy.

Augustus noted Longstreet’sobservation of Law’s rivalry withJenkins, saying Jenkins wouldhave gotten the credit if Law hadsucceeded. Later though, the his-torian said Longstreet broughtcharges of misconduct againstLaw, but the Confederate WarDepartment ignored him.

Longstreet also had problemswith Robertson, leader of theRobertson’s Texas brigade. Afterthe Battle of Wauhatchie,[Tennessee], Augustus saidLongstreet blamed Robertson forthe failure and relieved him ofcommand Nov. 1, 1863. Bragglater reviewed the case andrestored Robertson to command.

Longstreet also had issueswith McLaws from Georgia.Augustus said their friendshipcame to an end during theGettysburg Campaign in 1863,when other generals were tryingto remove Bragg from commandof the Army of Tennessee,McLaws refused to takeLongstreet’s side.

LongstreetFrom page 1C

File photo

David Hayes, owner of David’s Abbey Carpet & Floors poses next to the donated $1,000 checkto the HonorAir Guardian of Knoxville. HonorAir flies World War II veterans to see the World WarII Memorial in Washington D.C. free of charge, a trip most would not be able to make withoutthe HonorAir program.

A commitment of givingback to the communityhonors area veterans

David’s Abbey Carpet &Floors, a locally owned familybusiness, has been serving EastTennessee for 40 years. DavidHayes started the business in1973 with a commitment to offerthe community the highest qual-ity in floor coverings; to provideimpeccable customer serviceand offer a sincere dedication togiving back to the community.

In an effort to achieve thiscommitment of giving back andshow appreciation for area veter-ans, Hayes has become involvedin HonorAir Knoxville, a programdedicated to honoring EastTennessee World War II (WWII)and Korean veterans and thesacrifices they made to ensureour freedoms.

“I really appreciate all the vet-erans. Without those guys fight-ing for our country and the free-doms we have, I wouldn’t be ableto be in business and we would-n’t have the freedoms we havetoday,” said Hayes. “I am verythankful for that.”

Through contributions Hon-

orAir flies as many EastTennessee WWII and Korean Warveterans as possible toWashington D.C. to see thememorials built in their honorat no cost to those veterans.Usually about 120 veterans areable to make the trips in thespring and in the fall.

“I am one of many who spon-sor these trips,” explainedHayes, who said he promotesHonorAir several times a year.“We will run the currentHonorAir promotion through theend of the year. If someonecomes in the stores and makes a$25 donation I’ll match it.”

According to HonorAir justover 16 million Americansserved in World War II and quiteliterally saved the world fromdomination by the forces ofHitler's Third Reich, Mussolini’sItaly and the Empire of Japan.About three million veterans arealive today and each day approx-imately 1,200 are lost. In five orten years almost all WWII veter-ans will be gone.

David’s Abbey Carpet & Floorshas two locations. The mainstore is at 10853 Kingston Pike,Farragut, Tenn. and the second isat 259 Old Mill Avenue, PigeonForge. David’s Abbey Carpet &Floors offers carpet, tile, hard-wood, and area rugs includingtraditional, contemporary and

transitional designs that arehand knotted and handmade aswell as machine made. Thestores feature the latest patternsand colors available. The staffincludes four members who haveinterior design degrees and whocan assist customers with theirselections for floor coverings and

also tile in kitchens and bathsthat will best meet their wantsand needs.

For more information pleasevisit davids.abbeycarpet.com orcall 865.777.0661.

FARRAGUTPRESS THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2013 • 5CTHE BATTLE OF CAMPBELL STATION

6C • FARRAGUTPRESS THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2013 THE BATTLE OF CAMPBELL STATION