The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1878-02-13

palgn Ia East tennessee, mas InuuC'
ed us to ask the above question.
That paper says:
During the seige of Knoxville the
only communication which existed be
tween the Government. and General
line from Knoxville to Louisville, ola
Cumberlan Gap. Through it all orders,
respecting the movements of the army,
where transmitted by the former, and
all orders for supplies by the latter.
Longstreet's forces invested the city,
and he well understood the indispensable
value of this channel of communication,
inasmueh as his troops had possession
Of every other outlet. The wires passed
directly over the heads of his soldiers
and yet they remained uncut-unmolest-
ed"
Those not fully acquainted with
the condition of things around Knox
vile during the seige of that city by
the Confederate forces under Gen.
LoBgtreet, in the winter OF 1864.
would of course be led to believe
from reading the above paragraph
that he was a traitor TO his country,
and purposely left the wires up so
that Burnsides could communicate
with Grant at Chattanooga and also
with the Federal Government at
Washington.
The editor of the Journal, in the
same article, remarks further, in re-
lation to the battle of Missionary
Ridge: Within one hour after the
battle the full results were known
in Knoxville through dispatch to
Gen. Burnsides." He says also:
We were in Knoxville during the
entire seige; were we'll acquainted
at headquarters, and some of the
facts stated cannot be questioned"
That seems TO be a pretty strong
case against Gen. Longstreet, and
yet we have not any sort of doubt
that the editor of the Journal is
in tie main fact. We do
not believe there was any telegraph
ic communication between Knox.
vile and Cumberland Gap while
Gen. Lsngstreet was in front of that
city. The Confederate cavalry were
scouting from Kingston to Beans
Station en- both sides of Clinch
Without orders from
these men would have cut
yhe wires in twenty places. 1t would
have taken very positive orders from
headquarters to prevent these men
rom destroying the telegraph, and
f the cavalry had not torn down the
wires the infantry would have done
20.
The truth is Gen. Lengstreet'
iorces never did invest Knoxville so
closely as to cut off communication
With the country outside. Men, to
,ur certain and personal knowledge,
we're constantly, night aud day. pass,
ng in and out of that city through
he lines. Communication from per-
ons in the city were brought to
headquarters almost
leurly. and every officer and even
he private soldiers knew exactly
What was going on in the Federal
ines. Between Knoxville and Cum
,erland Gap shrewd scouts could
,ass with little danger of arrest, and
his is the telegraph line Gen. Burn
ide used. The messages were sent
o him at the Gap, from which point
rusty scouts took them through the
7eods and along by-paths TO the
in the city. We hap
en- to know some Of the men Zone in
who, at that time belong
d to Burnside's scouts and did
ervice during the so-called seige.
AS to the battle of Missionary
.idge, we guess Gen. Longstreet
new about that as soon as Burnside
id. Every man in Longstreet's
rmy knew a great battle was rag
10 at Chattanooga. The air was
Ill of the sound-that heavy, dead.
ullen roar, which is not exactly
ound, but is something which tells
, the educated ear of the veteran
oldier that the big guns are boom
% in the distance. We were in /
ont Of Knoxville with Longstreets
my, and we knew the boys had
,me together at the Ridge-just {
xeetly ho1O we knew it would be {
ard to tell, but it seemed that the i
ar of artillery was high up in the t
r. or rolling along on the ground, +
,outs coming through from Chat c
uooga soon brought us word. of the c
eat fight and the terrible defeat,
I'd scouts brought Gen. Burnside e
e news in the same way. n
We have ne defense to make Of II
en-. Longstreet's course since the T.
lr. We belonged to his corps in t
e war. He was our Commander. a
3 was a brave man. We honored Il
N. Since the war he has caused Ii
to hang our head in shame for the 0
ieftain in whom we had so much b