The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1892-06-09

.. -. I ~ a couple of hun
g "a dred men armed
| v with rifles and
- - hand grenades; a
G storming column
of 5000 peerless soldiery rushing up in the
| darkness, bayonet in hand, to Chamber over
! the simple obstacle, breach the line of bat
| tie, takes city and decide campaign-here
was a focusing of elements for a sensation,
even at the front in war time. 1t was at
Fort Sanders, on Sunday morning, Nov.
80, 1863 when Longstreet besieged Burn
sides army at Knoxville, Tenn. Long
street staked all on one hazard, as Lee
had done in Pickett's charge at Gettys-
burg. ...
Many an incidental fight took place for
the control of Knoxville, the key to east
Tennessee, and it fell to Longstreet, whose
corps of invincibles had been sent west
after Gettysburg to try and wrest it once
moro from the Union grasp. Burnside had
but recently jumped into the tracks of a
retreating Confederate army and hadn't
reached a firm foothold. He commanded
$4,000 men. Longstreet brought 10000
against him.
The opposing armies first came into col
lision few miles south Of the city, for
leaving Knoxville behind him, at the same
time that Longstreet was leaving Chatta
nooga behind him to surprise and carry
Knoxville. Little had been done by Burn
side toward intrenching the place, because
no one was expected to dispute his occupa-
tion. The field Of fighting had apparently
| moved south for good.
In the midst Of hasty efforts to build de-
fensive works around the city the Confed-
crates appeared in force about mile be-
You'd the outer Notifications, on the south,
on Nov. II, bent on going straight into
| Knoxville There was really little in the
| way Of their doing so on that:route, except
| about 700 Union cavalry led by Gen. w. P.
Sanders in person. Sanders commanded a
full cavalry division, but he remained at
the point OF danger to see it out. The hand
ful OF men with him were to act as a foil
| while their infantry comrades were getting
| things in trim behind them. With the
| enemy closing in and the. breastworks and
| batteries unfinished, Burnside's engineers
| asked Tor days grace at their labors ,Fhte
general referred the matter to Sanders.
who said yes, without of course consulting
LcnGStreet as to his intentions. The DAVIS
| grace was to be up at midnight of the 18th.
During the night of the 18th Sanders men
Dullt a breastWork out of fence rails, sent
their horses to the rear and awaited the
issue with the other party.
Ii SC happened that Longstreet was anx-
ious for speedy attack, and his leading
| soldiers ran into Sanders rail pile early on
The 18th and drew back with countless
broken shlns. Then artillery was brought
into play, the rails were knocked into
spll1ltcrs, and a Confederate column charg-
ed "pon and overwhelmed the brave cav
allElncn. Sanders was MORALLY wounded
while he stood erect, head and shoulders
above the fiimsy breastwork, over which
bullets swept like driving hail. His cour
age stimulated his followers and they buff
feted the enemy until darkness drew on.
art! by that time the breastwcrks and re-
doubts around the city were nearly COM
pleted.
Directly in rear of the spot where Sanders
fell, and at the most salient point south of
the town, there was an old Confederate
fort which the Union engineers were busy
renodeling during Sanders plucky fight
on the outposts. AS soon as news of his
heroic death was carried back the work
was named in his honor
The ruling spirit in Fort Sanders was
Lieut.. Samuel N. Benjamin, Battery E,
second United States artillery. Benjamin
commanded the artillery in the fort, ten or
twelve ordinary field pieces. About 800
riflemen belonging to the Seventy-ninth
New York Highlanders, the One Hun
dredth Pennsylvania Roundheads and the
Twentieth Michigan were distributed
about the fort, which was an irregular
quadrilaterar averaging 100 yards length
on side. The work was located at the
| angle where the lines of defense on the
north and west met, and it's capture bv
the Confederates would carry down the
adjacent Union lines running, east and
south from it. It was faulty placed and
poorly constructed, but such as it was the
defenders had to make the best of it.
The Confederates found out shat Fort
Sanders was the key to Knoxville and
devoted ten days to preparations for attack
upon it. Thirty cannons belonging to
Alexander's crack artillery corps were
placed in battery to fire upon the work at
short range. -Four pieces were elevated
upon sklds SO as to rain down shells verti-
cally inside the parapet, at Fort Sanders,
and four long range guns were placed on q
hill Il mile and a half away, having a.
range to rake lengthwise the trenches adj
jacent to the fort on the south. Ordinances
enough, it would seem, to make dust out
|