ARMY OPERATIONS. 



121 



reached, and the next day the army encamped 

 at Montgomery, in Morgan county, Tennessee, 

 having made, during the two days, a march of 

 forty miles. The movement continued on the 

 31st, and, on the 1st of September, Gen. Burn- 

 side, with an escort, proceeded to Kingston, 

 while the army took a shorter road to London 

 bridge, leaving Kingston to its right. At Lou- 

 don, the East Tennessee and Georgia railroad 

 crossed the Holston river over a fine bridge 

 more than two thousand feet in length. To save 

 or to destroy this bridge, as the situation should 

 demand, was undoubtedly one of the objects of 

 the forced march. The distance from Knox- 

 ville is thirty-nine miles. The artillery came 

 into position, on the 2d, within easy range of 

 this bridge, just in time to see the rear of the ' 

 enemy pass over and apply the torch to the 

 structure. It was entirely consumed. By the 

 fire of the artillery several of the enemy were 

 killed and wounded. The march then con- 

 tinued to Leoni Station, twenty-two miles from 

 Knoxville. On the next day it was resumed to 

 Knoxville, which had been occupied on the 1st 

 by the advance. As Gen, Burnaide approached 

 Knoxville the inhabitants turned out to wel- 

 come him. His reception is thus described by 

 a spectator : " As we neared Knoxville, the 

 evidences of the intense devotion to the Union 

 dwelling in the hearts of the people became 

 more and more apparent. Along the entire 

 route, especially the last ten or fifteen miles, 

 the whole population seemed gathered on the 

 roadside to give welcome to the Yankees. On 

 the appearance of Gen. Burnside on the outskirts 

 of the town, the news of his arrival spread, and 

 everybody, rich and poor, the lame and the 

 halt, rushed out to greet him. It was no vul- 

 gar curiosity to see a man famous in the world's 

 history it was the greeting of an oppressed 

 people to their deliverer. Uncovered, and at a 

 slow pace, the general rode through the streets 

 to his headquarters. His progress was constant- 

 ly impeded by the rushing of men to his horse's 

 side to seize him by the hand and say, ' God 

 bless you.' On arrival at headquarters, a large 

 crowd assembled in the yard, and were clamor- 

 ous for speeches. Brig.-Gen. S. P. Carter, a 

 native of East Tennessee, came forward, and in 

 a few words congratulated them on their deliv- 

 erance. In response to repeated calls, Gen. 

 Burnside then appeared and said, that although 

 his profession was arms, and not speaking, yet 

 he would take the occasion to say that, from the 

 moment he took command of the Department 

 of Ohio, it had been his fervent wish to lead an 

 army into East Tennessee, to their deliverance ; 

 and he took great pleasure in saying that he 

 had come with means sufficient, with their as- 

 sistance, to hold the country permanently and 

 securely. 



" On the conclusion of the speaking the gar- 

 rison flag of the United States was flung from 

 the portico, and the crowd rushed up and seized 

 it in their hands, many of them pressing it to 

 their lips. While this was passing at head- 



quarters, the troops had been waylaid all over 

 the city, and carried off by violence to be feast- 

 ed, without money and without price, on the 

 best which the land afforded. Not officers 

 merely ; their bounteous hospitality knew no 

 difference in rank among their deliverers." 



At Knoxville, three locomotives and a large 

 number of cars and railroad machine shops 

 were taken possession of. A large train was 

 also captured twelve miles northwest on the 

 road to Virginia. On the 4th a movement was 

 made upon Cumberland Gap. At Tazewell a 

 slight skirmish took place with a small force 

 of the enemy under Col. Carter. At daylight 

 on the morning of the 7th, the Gap was invest- 

 ed, and its surrender demanded by Gen. Shack el- 

 ford. Gen. Frazier, commanding the enemy's 

 force, refused, and stated that he was prepared 

 to hold out. It appeared that the enemy had a 

 large quantity of grain in the gap, with a mill, 

 which they used to grind it. During the en- 

 suing night an expedition was sent ou^ by Gen, 

 Shackelford, which succeeded in destroying the 

 mill. The enemy still refused to surrender, bnt 

 on the arrival of Gen. Burnside, on the 9th, 

 terms were agreed upon, and a surrender made 

 unconditionally. The officers, however, were 

 allowed to retain their side arms. About forty 

 wagons, two hundred mules, four thousand 

 pounds of bacon, two thousand, bushels of 

 wheat, a large quantity of other stores, and ten 

 pieces of artillery, were surrendered. The num- 

 ber of prisoners was about two thousand. The 

 march of Gen. Shackelford to the Gap, a dis- 

 tance of fifty-two miles, was made in sixty 

 hours. 



Meantime a column of cavalry ascended the 

 valley to Bristol, driving the enemy across the 

 Virginia line, and destroyed the railroad bridges 

 over the Holston and Watauga rivers, so as to 

 prevent their return into East Tennessee. The 

 main body of Gen. Burnside's army was now 

 ordered by the general-in-chief to concentrate 

 on the Tennessee river, from London west, so 

 as to connect with Gen. Rosecrans's army, which 

 reached Chattanooga on the 9th of September. 



At this time the authorities at "Washington 

 were led to believe that Gen. Lee was receiving 

 reinforcements from Gen. Bragg. The slight re- 

 sistance made by the enemy in East Tennessee, 

 and his abandonment without defence of such 

 an important position as Chattanooga, rendered 

 plausible the reports of spies and deserters from 

 Gen. Lee's army, that reiinf or cements were ar- 

 riving there. Fearing, therefore, that Gen. 

 Rosecrans's army might be drawn too far into 

 the mountains of Georgia, where it could not 

 be supplied, and might be attacked before rein- 

 forcements could reach it from Gen. Burnside, 

 Gen. Halleck sent the following despatch to 

 Gen. Rosecrans : 



HEADQUARTERS OF THE AEMT, "WASHINGTON, D. C., > 

 September lltt, 1868. $ 

 Maj- Gen. Rosecrans, Chattanooga : 



Gen. Burnside telegraphs from Cumberland Gap that 

 he holds all East Tennessee abore Loudon, and also 

 the gaps of the North Carolina mountains. A cavalry 



