The Battle Of Fort Sanders

Submitted By Blake-Cosby
Words: 621
Pages: 3
Open Document
The Battle of Fort Sanders

Background
• The Battle of Fort Sanders was the decisive engagement of the Knoxville Campaign of the
American Civil War, fought in Knoxville,
Tennessee, on November 29, 1863. Assaults by
Confederate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet failed to break through the defensive lines of Union
Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside, resulting in lopsided casualties, and the Siege of Knoxville entered its final days.

Summary
•

In attempting to take Knoxville, the Confederates decided that Fort Sanders was the only vulnerable place where they could penetrate Union Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside’s fortifications, which enclosed the city, and successfully conclude the siege, already a week long.
The fort surmounted an eminence just northwest of Knoxville. Northwest of the fort, the land dropped off abruptly. Confederate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet believed he could assemble a storming party, undetected at night, below the fortifications and, before dawn, overwhelm Fort
Sanders by a coup de main. Following a brief artillery barrage directed at the fort’s interior, three Rebel brigades charged. Union wire entanglements-–telegraph wire stretched from one tree stump to another to another-–delayed the attack, but the fort’s outer ditch halted the
Confederates. This ditch was twelve feet wide and from four to ten feet deep with vertical sides. The fort’s exterior slope was almost vertical, also. Crossing the ditch was nearly impossible, especially under withering defensive fire from musketry and canister. Confederate officers did lead their men into the ditch, but, without scaling ladders, few emerged on the scarp side and a small number entered the fort to be wounded, killed, or captured. The attack lasted a short twenty minutes. Longstreet undertook his Knoxville expedition to divert Union troops from Chattanooga and to get away from Gen. Braxton Bragg, with whom he was engaged in a bitter feud. His failure to take Knoxville scuttled his purpose. This was the decisive battle of the Knoxville Campaign. This Confederate defeat, plus the loss of Chattanooga on
November 25, put much of East Tennessee in the Union camp.

facts
•
•
•
•
•

880 total casualties
Resulted in a Union victory
Part of the Knoxville campaign
November 29, 1863
Knox County, Tennessee

Union
•
•
•
•
•

General Ambrose E. Burnside
The army of Ohio
About 13 union casualties
Union Victory
440 union soldiers

Confederates
•
•
•
•
•

General James Longstreet
The Confederate forces in Tennessee
About 813 Confederate casualties
Hard loss for the Confederates
About 3000
Show More

Related Documents: The Battle Of Fort Sanders

America In The Great War

Ronald Schaffer’s America in the Great War gives new insights into World War I. The book gave historical accounts about the war that other books negated to included. The thesis that Schaffer tries to prove that the Great War was the start of the American welfare state and the beginning of “big” government. America in the Great War was structured in chronological order of the war, from America’s mobilization to the actual fighting. What the book did not include is a detail account…

Words 343 - Pages 2

Mommy Wars In America

“Mommy Wars In America” Brandi Alvey Cultural Anthropology, ATW 11, Mr. Goings Brandi Alvey Cultural Anthropology/ ATW11 Mr. Goings Mommy Wars in America I have been fortunate enough to experience being both the Stay At Home Mother (SAHM) and the Professional Working Fulltime Mother (PWFM). At some point it’s a choice every mother has to make. Statistics show that 48% of mothers with children under the age of 2 and 25% of mothers with children between the ages of 3-6 years…

Words 2407 - Pages 10

War Of Poverty In America

States (U.S.) who’s grasps is hard to escape. In the aftermath of the Great Recession poverty has been of great concern for many politician and economist. Poverty was so much of a concern in 1964 that President Lyndon Johnson declared a “War on Poverty.” The “War of Poverty” made great strides in reducing the poverty rate in the U.S. The policy is responsible for programs such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). There are a myriad of consequences of the effects of poverty. Many…

Words 206 - Pages 1

war on drugs in america Essay

War on Drugs in America Drugs are destroying our country as we know it. Our neighboring country and their people known as the cartel are overpowering our nation’s drug trade. The problems that go along with it are so extreme that we as a nation need to take greater precautions as well as bring it to a stop, but is that possible? The war on drugs has been an epidemic for quite some time, and the seriousness of this epidemic is escalading out of control. The cartels’ violence is an outrage to…

Words 698 - Pages 3

From War To America Analysis

The central idea of “From War to America”, by Kristen Lewis is, “When you see someone suffering, it is your responsibility to help.” An example on page 6 is, “ For the Jacob family--- and the millions of other residents of Aleppo--- the sounds of gunfire and explosions became routine.” This example shows that being a refugee ( Credit to Scholastic Scope- Refugees are people forced to flee their countries because of war, persecution, violence, or natural disasters.) has its many challenges, and…

Words 483 - Pages 2

The Effect Of The War On Drugs In America

has made the war on drugs a little more difficult to control because the congress is trying to push hard but it seems like these drug traffickers have found a way to make more money by selling these drugs. The drug traffickers can get a lot of money by selling these drugs and they are not afraid of the punitive punishments they can get if caught and that is why the war on drugs has been a failure. The unintended consequences from U.S drug policies that thwarted the drug use in America There were many…

Words 307 - Pages 2

America and the Great War Essay

America and the Great War John F Bailey Hist 405 Devry University 10/15/2012 Introduction World War I (WWI) was a worldwide war concentrated in Europe that initiated on July 28, 1914 and ended roughly after four years on November 11, 1918. It is called the World War since it involved all the world's great powers which gathered in two opposing coalitions: the Allies were Britain, France and Russia, the second collation was the Central Powers that were an Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy…

Words 1318 - Pages 6

The Best War Ever America And World War II

“World War II and the Depression are now nearly as far back as we can go in living memory, and so the loom large in our active folk story. And many who lived then were too young to understand it in its depth; they remember only that the war was a great victory” (Adams 115). In Michael C.C. Adams’ The Best War Ever America and World War II, the author explains and clarifies the truth about the many myths in and about the war. There are many reasons as to why the war was seen as something positive…

Words 1111 - Pages 5

The Best War Ever: America, And World War II

World War II Photo Essay." A World War II Photo Essay. http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/ww2/photoessay.htm (accessed April 9, 2014). This photo essay put on by the University of Illinois shows many important pictures from World War II. This will be my main source of World War II images for my paper. They share photos from home and from war. Unfortunately this source does not have any analysis of the photos however the selection is still very good. Michael C.C. Adams. The Best War Ever: America…

Words 1285 - Pages 6

World War 1 Effects On America

he effects that happened to America during World War One we’re not easy for any american at this time. Many things we’re changing including an ongoing battle between the countries to declare political, territorial and economic rights. The United States emerged being called “The World’s Superpower” because of President Woodrow Wilson, the United States became the savior of Europe. Economically speaking, America was left unharmed in the war. Factors and country sides were and performing…

Words 332 - Pages 2