NOVEMBER 17, 1863:
The Siege
of Knoxville begins. After having had his nose bloodied at Campbell’s Station,
General James Longstreet turns his force and invests Knoxville with 17,000 men.
Knoxville, the home of anti-secessionist Parson William E.
Brownlow (“If hell freezes over I’ll fight them on the ice!”) is a center of
Unionist activity, though there are many pro-Confederates as well.
General Burnside’s men, inside Knoxville, are hardly
discommoded by the siege; their earthworks are strong and their Main Supply
Route is secure. Civilians inside Knoxville, however, are not so fortunate.
Many, Unionist and Confederate both, lose their homes which are converted to
military uses, and sometimes destroyed. Burnside orders many mules killed to
conserve fodder, and has their carcasses dumped in the Tennessee River, fouling
the Confederates’ fresh water supply.
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