The Portland daily press., 1892-09-17

the simple obstacle, breach the line of bat
tie, take city and decide campaign-he
was focusing of elements for a sensation,
even at the front in war time 1t was at
Fort Sanders, on Sunday morning, Nov.
&c. 1868, 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
more 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 a few miles south of the city, for
Burnside was pushing on to Chattanooga,
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-
yond 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
full of men with him We're to act as foil
while their infantry comrades were getting
things in trim behind them. With the
enemy closing in and the breastwerks and
batteries unfinished, Burnside's engineers
asked for a days grace at their labors. The
general referred the matter to Sanders,
who said yes, without of course consulting
Longstreet as to his intentions. The days
grace was to be up at midnight of the 18th.
During the night of the 18th Sanders men
built breastwork out Of fence rails, sent
their horses to the rear and awaited the
issue with the other party.
1t so happened that Longstreet was anx-
ious for a speedy attack, and his leading
soldiers ran into Sanders rail pile early on
the 18th and drew back with countless
broken shins. Then artillery was brought
into play, the rails we're knocked into
splinters, and Confederate column charg-
ed upon and overwhelmed the brave cav
alrymen. Sanders was n1ortally wounded
while he stood erect, head and shoulders
above the fiimsy bresstwork, over which
bullets swept like driving hail. Ills cour-
age stimulated his followers and they buff
feted the enemy until darkness Grew on,
and by that time the breastworks 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
remodeling 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 300
rifernen belonging to the Seventy-ninth
New York Highlanders, the One Hun
dredth Pennsylvania Ronndheads, and the
Twentieth Michigan were distributed
about the fort, which was an irregular
quadrilateral 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 its capture by
the Confederates would carry down the
adjacent Union lines running east and
south from it, 1t was faulty placed and
poorly constructed, but such as it was the
defenders had to make the best of it.
The Confederates found out that Fort
Sanders WIS 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 skids 80 as to rain down shells verti-
cally inside the parapet, at Fort Sanders,
and four loEg range guns were placed on
hill mile and half away, having
rapge to rake lengthwise the trenches adj
jacent to the fort on the south. Ordinance
enough, it would seem, to make dust out
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