Battle of Bean ' s Station The Battle of Bean ' s Station was a battle of the Knoxville Campaign of the American Civil War , occurring on December 14 , 1863 , in Grainger County , Tennessee . General James Longstreet had been outside of Knoxville until December 4 , when he abandoned their position and left heading Northeast . He was trailed by General John G . Parke , who had just replaced General Burnside . On December 13 , Shackelford was near Bean ' s Station on the Holston River . Longstreet decided to go back and capture Bean ’ s Station . Three Confederate columns and artillery approached Bean ' s Station to catch the Federals in a vice . By 2 : 00 a . m . on December 14 , one column was skirmishing with Union pickets . The pickets held out as best they could and warned Shackelford of the Confederate presence . He deployed his force for an assault . Soon , the battle started and continued throughout most of the day . Confederate assaults occurred constantly , but the Union forces held until southern reinforcements tipped the scales . By nightfall , the Federals were retiring from Bean ' s Station through Bean ' s Gap and on to Blain ' s Cross Roads . Longstreet attacked the Union forces again the next morning , but as he approached them at Blain ' s Cross Roads , he discovered that they had entrenched themselves beyond eviction . Longstreet withdrew and the Federals soon left the area . The Knoxville Campaign ended following the battle of Bean ' s Station . Longstreet soon went into winter quarters at Russellville . Background . For the past few months , the war had started to turn towards the Federals . The Confederates lost the Battle of Gettysburg and hope of advancing towards Washington . This is often called the High water mark of the Confederacy . The following day , the Confederates lost the city of Vicksburg to the Federals in a drawn out siege . Britain , having observed the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg , had just declined sending any aid for the rebels . Prelude . On December 4 , Longstreet retreated from Knoxville and headed northeast towards Rogersville , Tennessee . Union General John G . Parke pursued the Confederate retreat into Tennessee . That night the Confederates arrived at Blain ' s Crossroads , eighteen miles to the west of Rogersville . The successful Union commander at Knoxville , General Burnside , had been officially replaced before the Siege of Knoxville , but his replacement , Major - General John G . Foster , had been stuck outside the town during the siege . On December 10 he arrived and took command of the Union forces . The Confederate army passed through Bean ' s Station and encamped near Rogersville . After learning that the Federal cavalry at Bean ’ s Station was farther ahead than the Union infantry , Longstreet attempted on December 14 to encircle the Union forces . He enjoyed superior numbers and counted on surprising the Federals . The southern general ordered his cavalry under the command of William Martin to move behind the enemy position at Bean ’ s Station to cut off their line of retreat . Longstreet ’ s encircling movement was tactically sound but did not succeed upon execution later that day . Longstreet ' s plan was to move his infantry on the station from his bivouac at Rogersville . W . T . Martin with four cavalry brigades was to go down the south side of the Holston River and cross at or below the station , while " Grumble " Jones with two cavalry brigades was to go down the north side of the Clinch Mountains and cut off the Federal retreat at Bean ' s Station gap . The battle . First Day of Fighting . On the morning of December 14 , Bushrod Johnson ’ s infantry division moved out , followed by Lafayette McLaws ’ s division and elements of Hood ’ s division . Colonel Henry Giltner ’ s cavalry brigade established contact with federal pickets before Bean ’ s Station by about 2 : 00 p . m . , and the battle began . The Federal position , rested on both sides of the Rutledge Road . The Union commander , Brig . Gen . J . M . Shackleford , positioned his artillery behind a brook on either side of the road . Confederate forces advancing from the east also positioned their artillery batteries above and below the roadway . The Confederate force , with Johnson ’ s Tennessee Brigade maneuvering below the road and Gen . Archibald Gracie ’ s Alabama Brigade above it to the north , was met with heavy fire from Federal batteries behind the creek and riflemen inside the tavern itself . Confederate artillery batteries advanced to pour fire into the hotel , and Longstreet sent a brigade around Gracie ’ s northern flank to encircle the Union left flank . Federal commanders detected the movement and decided to execute a fighting retreat towards Rutledge . The Union forces retreated successfully towards Rutledge road . Jones and the infantry performed their part of the operation well . However , Martin mishandled his part , and Shackelford ' s cavalry escaped to Blain ' s C . R . without more serious loss than a few wagons . Second Day of Fighting . The next day the fighting began at about 2 p . m . when the Confederate cavalry encountered the Union pickets about three miles east of Bean ' s Station . This soon developed in a general engagement , with Brigadier General A . Gracie ' s brigade in the forefront on the Confederate side . The Union cavalry was slowly forced back . One division managed to get around the Union left flank , and as darkness fell the Confederate forces were in occupation of Bean ' s Station . Aftermath . An attempt to cut off the retreating Union army failed when it encountered Parke ' s infantry . The casualties totaled around 700 Union and 900 Confederate killed and wounded . Bean ' s Station marked the end of the fighting in the Knoxville Campaign . Despite being a Confederate victory it had little long term effect . Longstreet had had a chance to attack an isolated Union detachment , but would have needed significant reinforcements to go back on to the offensive . Instead , as the winter set in the fighting in east Tennessee stopped . The next spring Longstreet ' s men returned to the Army of Northern Virginia .