battle of hay`s ferry - Jefferson County Vacation

December 24 BATTLE OF HAY’S FERRY
December 29 MOSSY CREEK ENGAGEMENT
January 14 KIMBROUGH’S CROSSROADS
January 17 ATTACK ON DANDRIDGE
January 28 BLANT’S HILL
BATTLE OF
HAY’S FERRY
Fighting for Food
1863
December 24
Hay’s Ferry once operated near here. The landscape you see
now was quite different during the Civil War. Then, fields
of corn grew along the banks of the French Broad River,
now submerged beneath the waters of Douglas Lake.
This corn, left on the stalk, was often all that stood
between Confederate soldiers in East Tennessee
and starvation during the winter of 1863. On
the cold morning of December 24, hungry men
from both sides began a battle near here that
ended hours later, three miles away.
Union Col. Archibald P. Campbell was dispatched with his cavalry brigade to Dandridge
with orders to clear out Confederate foraging
parties in the area. On Christmas Eve, the two
opposing forces met at Hay’s Ferry and the fight
was on. The struggle raged for much of the day with
both sides sustaining numerous casualties. The Confederate cavalry, more aggressive in its tactics, pushed the Union
troopers from one position to another. Col. Charles C. Crews’s
The French Broad River bottom (1941) - Courtesy Richard Taylor
CivilWarTrails .org
In November 1863, Confederate Gen. James Longstreet led
a force from Chattanooga to attack Union Gen. Ambrose
E. Burnside’s army at Knoxville. The campaign failed, and
in December Longstreet’s men marched east along the
East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad to winter quarters at
Russellville, where they remained until March 1864. Numerous
small engagements between Longstreet’s and Burnside’s
armies occurred during the winter.
Georgians captured two Federal guns, but Union horsemen
countercharged and recaptured them.
Attacked front and rear, the Federals retreated toward
New Market as night approached, leaving the river
bottoms and its corn still in Confederate hands.
The clash at Hay’s Ferry was one of several
fought in Jefferson County, where food was the
ultimate prize.
“This was a sad Christmas Eve to us, and as
we gathered around the campfires to discuss the
events of the day, many an unbidden tear could
be seen trickling down the tanned faces of the men
when reference was made to those who had fallen in
battle during the day.” ~ Sgt. William R. Carter,
1st Tennessee Cavalry (U.S.)
William R. Carter from William R. Carter,
History of the First Regiment Tennessee
Volunteer Cavalry (1902)
MOSSY CREEK
ENGAGEMENT
Bending but Not Breaking
CivilWarTrails.org
December 29
Map Courtesy
David C. Smith
An engagement took place here at Mossy Creek on December
29, 1863, when Confederate Gen. William T. Martin’s cavalry
attacked Union Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis’s Federal troopers, who
were pressuring Confederate soldiers preparing for winter camp
at Russellville.
Martin struck late in the morning, bending but not breaking the
Union line because of the effectiveness of Capt. Eli Lilly’s 18th
Indiana Artillery, which was positioned a few yards from here across
the road.
Lilly, who considered this the battery’s
most glorious and successful action, soon
Capt. E.J. Cannon
Gravestone of Capt. E.J. Cannon
faced hard times. A few months later,
Courtesy David C. Smith
in Branner Cemetery
he transferred to a cavalry unit that
surrendered to Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest in Middle Tennessee. He remained a prisoner for the
balance of the war. After the war, however, Lilly’s fortunes improved: in 1876, his small drug store in
Indianapolis began to evolve into the Eli Lilly Pharmaceutical Company.
Capt. Eli Lilly
Courtesy Eli Lilly
Company
Another Union officer, Capt. Elbert J. Cannon, 1st Tennessee Cavalry, led a daring saber charge
against the 11th Tennessee Cavalry (CSA). Some of the Confederates had dismounted and fired their
carbines from kneeling positions. Both Cannon and his horse were struck and they fell to the ground
as the charge thundered by into the woods. Two Southern soldiers found him, barely alive, and left him
to be retrieved by his own men. They also informed his mother, who lived near the Confederate camp. She
was escorted through the lines and remained at her son’s side until he died on January 1, 1864. Cannon is
buried a few yards west of here in Branner Cemetery.
ATTACK ON
DANDRIDGE
Fudicious Withdrawal
Troop positions on
morning of January 17
Courtesy David C. Smith
CivilWarTrails.org
January 17
Downtown Dandridge was a chaotic place on January 17, 1864, as it appeared that a full-scale
battle was about to develop. Union Gen. John G. Parke, commanding 26,000 soldiers and
34 artillery pieces here, defended the town against Confederate Gen. James Longstreet’s
20,000 men and 20 guns, advancing from the east.
Bradford-Hynds House
Courtesy David C. Smith
KIMBROUGH’S
CROSSROADS
Confederate Surprise
CivilWarTrails.org
Map Courtesy
David C. Smith
January 14
Two days after Union Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis’s cavalry divisions occupied Dandridge on January 14,
1864, he ordered his division commanders to reconnoiter and secure the countryside at Long Creek
on Chucky Road and here at Kimbrough’s Crossroads. Meanwhile, Confederate Gen. James Longstreet
likewise had ordered cavalry and infantry divisions to reconnoiter toward the Federals.
Gen. Micah Jenkins
Courtesy Library of
Congress
As Col. Israel Garrard, 7th Ohio Cavalry, led his division down the road in front of you past
this point at Ebenezer Church, he suddenly encountered Confederate Gen. Micah Jenkins’s
infantry division on the Morristown Road at Kimbrough’s Crossroads. After several minutes
of intense fighting, the Federals counterattacked, but Confederate artillery halted the advance.
When additional Confederate infantry reinforced Jenkins, Sturgis ordered Garrard to fall back to
Dandridge. The next day, January 17, the same units fought another action there at the town.
Confederate Pvt. Francis M. Kelley, 59th Alabama Infantry,
was shot early in the fight and died a short time later. His
brother-in-law Lieutenant William McGrady wrote home
to Kelley’s wife and told her of his death: “Caroline I can’t describe my feeling
when I found Marion lying cold. Weep not after him for I trust he is a great
bit better off than we are. He is done with this troublesome world.” Kelley is
buried in the Ebenezer Church cemetery.
“I received a dispatch from Colonel Garrard stating that he had come in contact with a
large force of the enemy, and was being driven back. I immediately commenced forming
my command in order to receive the enemy and cover the retreat of Colonel Garrard.”
— Col. Archibald P. Campbell
Ebenezer Church – Courtesy Ben Carmichael
ATTACK ON DANDRIDGE Continue
Union Gen. Philip H. Sheridan’s
cavalrymen crossed the French Broad
River on a pontoon bridge while Col.
Moore’s Ohio infantry had been
sent east of town to join Gen. Frank
Wolford’s cavalry. Capt. Eli Lilly’s
artillery was placed on a Dandridge
hill to protect Federal positions.
LEFT: Gen. James Longstreet
RIGHT: Gen. John G. Parke
Late in the day, in the parlor of the
Bradford-Hynds House to your
right, Parke and his commanders
met to confer. They assumed that
Longstreet had been reinforced,
and decided against a major battle.
With record cold temperatures and
signs of impending precipitation, the
generals agreed to withdraw overnight to
Strawberry Plains near Knoxville.
Longstreet’s main force approached the town
Courtesy Library of Congress
cautiously on three converging roads, with
Gen. Micah Jenkins’s sharpshooters in the lead but facing
Discovering the Union retreat the next morning,
increasing resistance. As Gen. John T. Morgan’s and Col.
Longstreet and his general officers gathered in this same
Thomas Harrison’s cavalry covered the flanks, the main force
house to plan a pursuit. There they found a whisky flask
of infantry and artillery under Gen. William T. Martin moved
that Gen. Gordon Granger left behind and toasted the
down Chucky Road to within two miles of Dandridge.
Union officer for having forgotten it.
BLANT’S HILL
Holding the Line
CivilWarTrails.org
Map Courtesy
David C. Smith
January 28
On January 28, 1864, as Union Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis’s cavalry pursued Confederate cavalry along
the road leading to Cowan’s Ferry on the French Broad River, they suddenly encountered strong
opposition here at Blant’s Hill. Earlier, Confederate Col. George G. Dibrell’s 8th Tennessee Cavalry had
dismounted here to occupy the heavily timbered hill and construct breastworks and rifle pits.
Although outnumbered, the stubborn Confederate resistance behind formidable defenses kept
at bay the leading Union forces under Col. Frank L. Wolford and Col. Oscar H. LaGrange. The
rifle fire was so intense that one participant described the scene as “flying bullets so thick that
their passage through the air sounded like a swarm of bees.”
Unable to advance at Blant’s Hill and with Confederate Gen. Bushrod R.
Johnson’s infantry crossing the river behind him, Sturgis broke off the fight
and withdrew his forces forty miles toward Maryville to obtain food for
his men and horses. This was the last attempt he would make to drive
Gen. James Longstreet’s army from East Tennessee. From then on,
Confederate soldiers called the place “Dibrell’s Hill.” The Union loss
was estimated at 300 with Confederate losses reported as minimal
Spencer Rifle
Courtesy Norm Flayderman
Col. George G. Dibrell
Courtesy Sam Davis
Col. Frank L. Wolford
Courtesy Library of Congress
“The enemy, advised of the approach of infantry, made his final charge and retired south towards Marysville. In his last effort one of his
most reckless troopers rode in upon head-quarters, but Colonel Fairfax put spurs into his horse, dashed up against him, had his pistol at his
head and called ‘surrender’ before the man could level his gun. The trooper was agreeably surprised to find it no worse. The enemy’s move
to Maryville left us in possession of the foraging grounds.” ~ Gen. James Longstreet
532 Partriot Drive
Dandridge, TN 37725
865.397.9642
Toll 877.237.3842
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