"I wrote in my last how we got down here, how we ran from Sancho
Panza's windmills. We are still here. We had orders to march and were
all ready an hour before daylight yesterday morning, when the orders
came countermanding the marching. We were to go back to Jonesboro. We
are having a delightful day and a very quiet and most welcome Sabbath.
I have been reading 'The Words and Mind of Jesus,' and I got hold of
an 'Independent,' which was quite a treat, as I don't often see any
religious paper here. I went over to the house of Mr. Henderson (the
leading citizen of this place) and found he had quite a good religious
library; plenty of Presbyterian works. I told him he appeared to be
sound religiously, if not politically; he is considerable of a rebel.
"We have been enjoying our rest of late very much, and if we were not
stirred out every little while with reports of large rebel forces right
upon us, we could get more real enjoyment out of it. This evening a
citizen (a _reliable_ one, of course) reports the enemy advancing in
force. To-morrow an equally reliable and _intelligent_ one will know
that there are none this side of the Holston River. If Willie were out
here he would see a great deal more about soldiering than he used to
see at Henderson."
In my letter of November 8 I give an account of a bold dash of the
rebels to Rogersville, which routed a Federal force stationed there,
and captured four hundred and four guns:--
"General Wilcox, who was in command in upper Tennessee, when he got
the report of the fight from the scared fugitives, became alarmed for
fear the enemy would get in our rear, and he caused a general retreat
of the whole army. Our cavalry and all marched all Friday night and
till late in the morning of Saturday, and abandoned the whole country
for eighteen miles below Greenville, thus giving up all we had gained.
And all without reason, for as it turned out while we were marching all
night one way the rebels were retreating with their booty and prisoners
the other! Where we will go next I do not know, but I hope right back
and occupy the country clear up to the Virginia line. We can do it
without difficulty.
"The whole cavalry force of Burnside's army has been formed into a
cavalry corps and placed in command of General Shackelford. The corps
is composed of two divisions. Our brigade is in the Second Division.
It would be commanded by Colonel Carter, if present, but he may be
absent for some weeks, and I have been assigned to the command of this
division. It will be a very nice command and quite complimentary to me."
I may state that I remained in command of this division of cavalry
during the remainder of my service in Tennessee. I extract from my
letter of November 13:--
"Major Brown and nine men of the Sixty-fifth are about leaving for a
recruiting service in Indiana, and I send this letter by him. I told
Major Brown that I did not know that I could say I wished (as he) that
I too was going home, but I could say with emphasis that I wished the
war was over and that I was going home to return no more. This going
home to stay a week or two and then come back, tear away from home and
all its dear attachments, is worse than the first departure. I can't
say that when the campaign is pretty well over I may not apply for a
leave of absence; but when I think of the parting from home again and
the long muddy winter ride across the mountains, I begin to balance the
matter. When I come home I want it to be my last 'leave.' When shall
that be? I am too great a lover of my little wife, my darling children,
and my happy home to make a good soldier, at least a professional
soldier. How sweetly you wrote in your last letter of our little
Alice praying her evening prayer for her absent papa. I believe He
who noticeth the fall of a sparrow will hear and answer the prayer of
innocence and childhood, and bring me home in safety that I may be the
guardian of our dear family."
My letter of November 14 reports an unfavorable change in the situation
in East Tennessee. General Bragg commanding the rebel forces in front
of Chattanooga, feeling that he had Rosecrans's army safely besieged,
dispatched Longstreet, one of the ablest of the Confederate generals,
with his army corps to capture or drive out Burnside. It is to that
situation my letter refers:--
"The intelligence this afternoon from Knoxville was rather ominous of
evil to us. General Wilcox telegraphs me that the enemy have forced
the right bank of the river below Loudon, that General Burnside had
gone down to-day, and that if the enemy were too strong for our forces
there we would have to look out for a retreat to the gaps in the
Cumberland Mountains. Our line of march would be to Cumberland Gap, and
I am notified that I with my division will have the important work of
guarding the approaches to this route, down the valleys of the Holston,
Clinch, and Powell Rivers, and also keeping open the communication
with General Burnside on our right to Knoxville. We will know more
definitely to-night or to-morrow.
"I hope and pray that we may not be driven to that dire necessity.
In proportion as our joy was great in the occupation of this country
would our regrets be deep at being compelled to abandon it. But I have
hope that to-morrow will bring the welcome intelligence that our army
below has driven the enemy back over the river. It would be with a sad
and heavy heart that I turned my back upon the loyal people of East
Tennessee. I have confidence that God does not will it so."
When my next letter November 22 was written from Tazewell, on the
route to Cumberland Gap, Burnside had been besieged for a week by
Longstreet:--
"We are lying quiet here, just out of hearing of the fighting
that is raging at Knoxville. Our messengers from Knoxville report
Burnside holding out heroically. I have little time to write and less
inclination, even to my dear wife. I am heart-sick and gloomy, though
not discouraged. General Burnside, the best man of the generals I know,
and a gallant army have been beleaguered at Knoxville for a week, and
are still fighting manfully. We are almost powerless to do him any
good, but I have asked General Wilcox to let me take my cavalry and
support me at the fords of Clinch River with his infantry, and I would
make at least one vigorous effort to break the rebel lines and raise
the siege. He is at the Gap. General Burnside ordered him to look out
for his line of retreat and at all events to hold Cumberland Gap. This
he is in a position to do."
I wrote the 26th from Cumberland Gap, where I had come to try to get
horses:--
"We have no news from General Burnside direct since the 23d, when
he said he could hold out ten days, that his position was a strong
one, and we are hopeful of his success for Grant at Chattanooga will
push vigorously against Bragg. I will be off in the morning to harass
the enemy. I shall make my headquarters at Tazewell, and send my old
brigade over Clinch River toward Knoxville to stir up the enemy a
little, and try to divert them from Burnside. Our cavalry is in such
wretched condition it is almost impossible to do anything, the horses
worn out, without shoes, and with very little forage. I regret it
exceedingly when so much is expected of us and needed. General Wilcox
is ordered to keep his infantry near the Gap and send my cavalry out
toward the enemy to gather information and annoy them."
I wrote again on the 29th when we had just heard of Grant's victory at
Chattanooga, but were without information of the gallant defense of
Fort Stevens and the bloody repulse of the rebels at Knoxville:--
"We have no news except the glorious victory of Grant's army, and
we are hoping to see its effect in the deliverance of Burnside. The
enemy seek to starve him into a surrender. I sent out yesterday my
old brigade to go down toward Knoxville and feel out the enemy. I am
getting a little anxious about them as there was cannonading heard
below and I have had nothing from them since they left. It would be a
serious affair for me to have my old brigade captured.
"We are having rather a hard time to live, subsisting entirely upon the
country. Our cavalry get along better than the infantry; the latter
have been for days without flour or meal. Twenty-five cents have been
refused for a cup full of corn. Parched corn is a luxury. But we are
hoping for better times in a few days. The men bear it manfully."
In my letter of December 4, in acknowledging receipt of a late letter
from my wife, I reply:--
"I wish very much I could be at home to enjoy with you the
entertainments you write about, but I shall have to forego all these
pleasures, and live on corn-bread and pork, cold nights, muddy roads,
and occasional skirmishing. I don't know when I can promise you to
come home, but not while the enemy is before us, as now. I think a few
days hence will see them driven away. I mentioned in my last letter
sending the Second Brigade down to the vicinity of Knoxville. They were
attacked by the whole of Longstreet's cavalry and pressed back. They
gave the enemy a severe fight, killing and wounding a considerable
number of them. Our losses were a few taken prisoners, four killed and
thirty wounded. Our men did bravely. My whole division will try it
again to-morrow. We expect Sherman, who was sent up by Grant after his
victory to relieve Burnside, will reach Knoxville to-morrow, when if
Longstreet has not retreated there must be a severe battle. We want to
be near at hand with our cavalry. I would have been there two or three
days ago with my whole division, but have been constantly held back by
General Wilcox."
Sometime before the siege of Knoxville General Burnside had asked to be
relieved of the command of the department, and General John G. Foster
(of New Hampshire) of the Eastern army had been appointed to succeed
him. He arrived at my headquarters while the siege was in progress.
In this letter writing about a leave to come home, I refer to General
Foster:--
"If matters quiet down here there is a probability that I may come
this winter, but nothing certain; a man in the army can't go when he
pleases. If General Burnside had remained, I think I would have had
no difficulty, but it is uncertain as to General Foster, how strict
he will be. I have been with him here for three or four days, being
frequently consulted by him as to movements, the country, etc., and
have been quite intimate at his headquarters. He is quite a Yankee and
not so agreeable in his manners as Burnside, but withal he may make a
good commander. But there is no man like Burnside for this department
with his soldiers. I especially will regret his leaving."
The day after I wrote my last letter, Longstreet retreated from
Knoxville (December 5) up the valley toward the Virginia line, and the
next day (the 6th) General Sherman reached Knoxville. On December 10 I
wrote:--
"Bean Station, where we are now camped, you will find on most maps of
Tennessee. It is ten miles from Morristown on the road to Cumberland
Gap, just at the foot of the Clinch mountains, forty-two miles from
Knoxville. We have followed the enemy this far up from Knoxville. From
Tazewell I joined the Second Brigade near Knoxville. Colonel Graham
of that brigade reported that an encampment of the enemy was over the
mountain about five miles, so I sent him over, had a skirmish, captured
a captain, several prisoners, and seventy-five horses, and drove them
clear over Clinch Mountain. Since then we have followed the enemy in
their retreat, skirmishing with their rear guard all the way. I doubt
whether we shall push the enemy much farther, as it will be difficult
to get supplies."
The siege of Knoxville was one of the most gallant events on the
Federal side during the Civil War. Burnside with an inferior force
successfully sustained a siege of twenty days, resisting the assaults
of the enemy with comparatively small losses, endured short rations,
and by the heroism of his command saved East Tennessee to the Union.
The result gave great joy to all loyal men, and President Lincoln
issued a proclamation, calling on the people "to render special homage
to Almighty God for this great advancement of the National cause," and
Congress thanked Burnside and his army. General Grant in his "Memoirs"
says: "The safety of Burnside's army and the loyal people of East
Tennessee had been the subject of much anxiety to the President, and he
was telegraphing me daily, almost hourly, to 'remember Burnside,' 'do
something for Burnside,' and other appeals of like tenor." In my letter
of December 10, I say: "Burnside goes out of this Department with the
admiration of the whole army. His defense of Knoxville was glorious,
and his goodness of heart and purity of character endear him to all who
know him." Years after, while Minister to Mexico, I visited Washington
at the time when Burnside was a Senator from his State, and received
from him much social attention in recognition of our army friendship.