Battle at Fort Sanders-Knoxville Tenn

[Garrett Silliman]

Re: Battle at Fort Sanders-Knoxville Tenn

Here's a link to another article with attached video:

http://www.wbir.com/news/watercooler/story.aspx?storyid=96912

[Thomas Alleman]

Re: Battle at Fort Sanders-Knoxville Tenn

Glad to hear that they are preserving the trenches and what a place to do a living history event. Good news.

[pineyboy]

Re: Battle at Fort Sanders-Knoxville Tenn

I went to the area we will be staying at Friday night and chose a spot to camp. Its right on the Holston River with a great veiw. Its very sucluded with very few if any modern intrusions. We also drove the marching route. Its gonnna be a good one. Hope to see yall there.

[Greg Barnett]

Re: Battle at Fort Sanders-Knoxville Tenn

The website has been updated as of this AM.

https://www.seigeofknoxville.com

We still have room for a few good men, especially you locals. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Also, keep Sean Cooper and Kristen in your prayers, as they are delivering their little girl today.

Regards

[suspenderless pard]

Re: Battle at Fort Sanders-Knoxville Tenn

Gentlemen,
We are a month away from the event. Things are coming together nicely. There is a work weekend for those who can make it next Saturday, September 26 starting at 9 a.m. Just a reminder to those who have registered and haven’t sent in their registration, please do so. That way, we know how many rations to plan on.
Here are a couple of logistical announcements. We will gather at the event site on Friday. We will be parking and gathering at the barn where we held registration for Race to Knoxville. You will have plenty of time to go over to the sutlers if need be. We will start running the shuttles to the Friday night camp around 6 p.m. The last shuttle will run at 10 p.m. Friday. If you can’t be on site before that time contact me directly (fedpard24@hotmail.com) to make arrangements. There will be no rations issued Friday night. Please feel free to bring any period rations that you will need for that night. The site Friday night is a private farm not owned by the event owner. Fires can be built, but when we leave they must be extinguished and the ground will look better than when we got there. Anyone disrespecting the land will be asked to leave.
Saturday morning we will issue a small marching ration. We will start our march as soon as the sun comes up. The march is around 7 miles. Start walking now to get in shape. We will march for 50 minutes and then take a 10 minute break. There will be a truck follow us that will have water for the march. Please take into consideration the march when you pack your gear. You will have to carry your gear throughout the weekend. The water truck is not a gear truck. The only exception is any period tools that you bring. You will be able to store those until we get on site.
When we arrive on site, be prepared. We are fair game whenever we step foot on site. Be prepared to be sent out as skirmishers or flankers. Please review how to deploy as skirmishers and how to do guard mount. We will be using both of these all weekend. We will have a drill Friday afternoon for those who are there. If you miss that one, don’t worry there will be plenty of opportunities throughout the weekend to catch up on it.
There will be a “campaigner area” set up for us at the site. We will be doing lots of drill and fatigue duties throughout the weekend. If you have any period tools please bring them. You will be digging some rifle pits and trenches and it will be a lot easier if you have some period tools to work with. We will issue the rest of the rations when we get on site Saturday morning. Those will be your rations for the rest of the weekend. You will have plenty of time to cook them up.
Please bring 80 rounds with you. We will have plenty of action throughout the weekend. Package your extra rounds in a period manner. You will have to carry your extra rounds. Show up to the site with a clean weapon. We will have a weapon inspection Friday night.
We will be sending out some more details as the event gets closer. If you have not chosen your first person name, please do so soon and let Greg know. Check out the website www.seigeofknoxville.com for the original roster, uniform guidelines, registration list and more. Contact Greg or myself if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you in the field.

[Greg Barnett]

Re: Battle at Fort Sanders-Knoxville Tenn

As of today:

Current registrants and their respective first persona:


Sean Cooper -Capt Henry Nash
Greg Barnett -1st Lt Charles Sims
James Cassell
Sean Wilson -2nd Sgt Nathaniel Fitzpatrick
Chris Barnett -Cpl William Barnett
Ryan Halsey -Cpl Allen Henry Daniel
Madison Barnett -Pvt David Barnett
Cary Meadows - Pvt Joseph Key
Shawn Sturgill - Pvt Baily Smith
Stephen Middleton -Pvt Elijah J Herring
Steven Brewington -Pvt Thomas Chandler
Paul Ogle -Pvt George Wilbur O’Kelly
Brent Feito -Pvt James King
Larz Prillaman -Pvt Robert Sorrels
Dane Hill -Pvt Jabez Chandler
Sam Bell -Pvt Neal Chandler
James Whitley - Pvt Henry R Smith
Jeremy Ray -Pvt William J Gholston
Jon Harris -Pvt Peter Wilder
Josh Kuckmuk -Pvt William S Grimes
Chris Cox -Sick Leave
Nathan Petersburg


I need everyone above to contact me with your email address. (only if I have not communicated with you in the past few days) I will be sending you a first person work sheet, so you may have your persona well in hand. This will allow you to easily communicate with one another as well as the public. I will also send you the event details. This will be to let you know how the camp will be run and what is expected. We will be following our own set of rules apart from the event rules and guidelines.

Anyone that may be sitting on the fence about coming, please contact Sean or me. "Walk ons" will be allowed, but you will not be able to draw rations and you will miss out on the pre-event communication. Anyone can pay the registration fee when you get on site, but Sean and I need the money to cover rations soon.

As always, if you have any problems or questions please get in touch with us. If you need gear or have a problem meeting guidelines, give a shout.

Cheers,

[Greg Barnett]

Re: Battle at Fort Sanders-Knoxville Tenn

For those who are registered please download the first person worksheet (attached) and see what you can develop.

Also, here is some general info abouth the 16th Georgia.

Wofford's Brigade - Colonel S. Z. Ruff (K)

Lieutenant Colonel N. L. Hutchins Jr.

16th Georgia Infantry Regiment --- Lieutenant Colonel Henry P. Thomas (K)

18th Georgia Infantry Regiment --- Captain John A. Crawford

24th Georgia Infantry Regiment --- Captain N. J. Dortch

Cobb's Georgia Legion --- Major William D. Conyers

Phillip's Georgia Legion--- Major Joseph Hamilton (W)

3rd Georgia Battalion, Sharpshooters --- Lieutenant Colonel N. L. Hutchins Jr.

K-48 W-121 M-81 =250


Wofford's Brigade suffered the most causalties during the Knoxville Campaign.

A little info about Brig Gen Wm. Tatum Wofford:

William Tatum Wofford was born to William Hollingsworth and Nancy (Tatum) Wofford on June 28, 1824, in Habersham County, Georgia. He attended local schools and Gwinnett County Manual Labor School in Georgia before graduating from Franklin College (later the University of Georgia) in 1844. He studied law, was admitted to the Georgia bar in 1845, and began his law practice in 1846 in Cassville, Georgia. He was a Methodist and a unionist Democrat.

Wofford first experienced military life in 1847 during the Mexican War, where he was a captain in the Georgia Mounted Volunteers. Wofford was mustered out of the volunteer service on July 12, 1848.

In 1852, Wofford was editor of the Cassville Standard newspaper. In addition, he was clerk of the lower house of the Georgia legislature from 1849 to 1853.

In the 1860 Federal census, William Wofford lived in Cassville, Cass County Georgia. He was enumerated as 37 years old, a lawyer with a net worth of $24,200. Both he and his wife, Julia, 27 years old, were listed as born in North Carolina. He had three daughters by this marriage. The mother, Nancy M. Wofford, 65, lived next door and ran a farm. She was born in Virginia and showed a net worth of $11,280.

Wofford was a delegate to the Southern commercial conventions in 1857 and 1858 and voted against secession as a delegate to the Georgia secession convention in 1861. However, when his state seceded, Wofford entered the Georgia State Militia as a colonel, then a captain in the 18th Georgia Infantry in April 1861. On the 25th of that month Wofford was promoted to colonel, and served in North Carolina and Virginia before being assigned to General John Bell Hood’s Texas Brigade. He saw action at Yorktown, Elthan’s Landing, and Seven Pines during the Peninsula Campaign. Wofford and the 18th also fought at Second Bull Run and Antietam, where he commanded the Texas Brigade.

He led the brigade, now referred to as Wofford's Brigade, at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, where he followed William Barksdale's Mississippi brigade in the assault through the Peach Orchard late in the afternoon of July 2nd. There Wofford's men drove Union troops out of the Wheatfield but had to stop short of the new Union line near Little Round Top.

Traveling to Georgia with Longstreet's First Corps to reinforce the Army of Tennessee, he arrived on the field too late to participate in the Battle of Chickamauga. His whereabouts are unknown during Longstreet's siege of Knoxville, Tennessee. Wofford fought in the Overland Campaign at the Wilderness and Spotsylvania, and was wounded in both battles. He left the Army of Northern Virginia before the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign and assumed command of the Sub district of Northern Georgia, of the District of Georgia, Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida on January 20, 1865, a post he held until he was paroled at Resaca, Georgia on May 2, 1865. Shortly afterwards Wofford was pardoned by the U.S. government on July 24th.

After the war Wofford was a planter and active in the law, Democratic politics, and education. As a delegate to the Georgia Constitutional Convention of 1877, he argued for the repeal of convict leasing, for Confederate veterans' benefits, and for African-American education. Many of his ideas appeared in the platform of the Populist Party a decade later. He died May 22, 1884, in Cass Station, Ga. and is buried in nearby Cassville Cemetery.

Sources: Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy, 1977, Jon L. Wakelyn. Federal Census Records. Wikipedia®

[suspenderless pard]

Re: Battle at Fort Sanders-Knoxville Tenn

In two weeks we will be arriving for the event. Below are directions to the site. The registration for us will be at the same place as Race to Knoxville.

Directions for Fort Sanders

Take the Rutledge Pike exit from I-40 (the Knoxville Zoo exit) and go north.

Go 11.8 miles on Rutledge Pike to Circle Rd.

Turn left on Circle Rd.

There will be a trailer about 2 miles on your right and a large barn. Turn in past the trailer and head up toward the barn. (if you make it to Washington Pike you have gone too far.)

This was the registration for Race to Knoxville. We will be parking and registering in a different location than the rest of the reenactment.

We will meet here and then the shuttle will take us out to the starting point for the march.

If you have any questions feel free to call me at 865-591-8987.

I’ll try and have a sign to help guide you.

[Thomas Alleman]

Re: Battle at Fort Sanders-Knoxville Tenn

I found this page that has a many many maps and had one of Ft. Sanders.

http://www.history-map.com/picture/002/Knoxville-Tennessee-Sanders-Fort.htm

[Greg Barnett]

Re: Battle at Fort Sanders-Knoxville Tenn

A couple of pictures of some of the company at Ft Sanders.

Thanks for the intrest in East Tennessee this year.
Look for something a little different for 2010.

Cheers

[suspenderless pard]

Re: Battle at Fort Sanders-Knoxville Tenn

Thanks to everyone who attended last weekend. What a great bunch of guys to work with and have in the ranks. Can't wait till next year.

Here is a little AAR I wrote up.

Friday October 17

I camped my company in the woods next to a river crossing called Nance’s Ferry. The regiment was tired from the constant marching of the last month. The week had been cold and was now becoming very cool. The men were unable to get much of a fire going after three hours of trying. We did manage to get a little coffee prepared, but most went to bed hungry and cold that night.

Saturday October 18

I was awoken early in the morning with news that we were to move from the ferry in preparation to take the federal works at Knoxville, Tennessee. The men struck camp and we gathered on the road and were issued a piece of bread before we stepped off. The morning was filled with laughter as we started our walk, but as the morning drug on the men’s laughter was replaced by the clicking of the shoes on the road. We finally arrived around the defenses of Knoxville and rested my men. We found the supply wagons and drew the rations for our company. We were issued some ham, rice, sweet potatoes, and cornmeal and told that was to last us three days. The men got some fires going and we cooked up our rations and filled our bellies.
Early in the afternoon we were ordered to form the battalion to assault some of the federal defenses. My company was sent out as skirmishers and flankers to guard the battalion. We attacked a defensive position and overtook it. There was a high raking federal officer who was killed in the attack. We then were sent out as skirmishers and flankers once more as we moved the battalion. Late in the afternoon we stopped to bivouac for the night. We had a nice camp spot under a group of cedars and down a little slope which protected us from the wind that howled all night. The men found a homestead where they foraged some chicken and potatoes and we all ate like kings. We bedded down for a cold night nervous about the morning because orders had just come down that we would have to assault a federal fort the next day.

Sunday October 19

We awoke to a cold morning with a cold breeze and a good frost on the ground. The men were anxious because of the upcoming attack. The battalion was formed up and we were ordered to move to the left to attack the right of the federal works. My company was set out in our usual forward position to guard the battalion. We moved slowly because of the reports of enemy pickets in the area. We reached our position in line and waited as the cannonade started. My pickets observed a whole federal company being positioned in the woods in front of my position. The battalion formed up to my rear and we moved out toward the federal position. My men were deployed in a heavy skirmish line. We pushed the federal pickets and skirmishers back with a fast and furious attack. When we got to the other side of a tree line we saw the federal fort for the first time. The ground was steep approaching the fort and the ground was covered in stumps where the trees had been removed. My company was reformed on the battalion. We then pushed forward and tried to take the federal fort. We were quickly under the guns of the fort but when we got to the stumps they were wrapped up with a maze of telegraph wire which slowed up our attack a little. My men made there way through the obstacles and got up to the fort only to discover there was a trench as deep as a man surrounding the works. The men went in the ditch like the veteran soldiers that they are. The men tried to scale the walls, but the walls were covered with ice from the night before. Finally some of them made there way to the top of the walls but were quickly captured or killed. The Color Sergeant made his way to the top of the walls, but was pulled into the fort and him and our flag was captured. I took a mortal gut wound and was consoled by Lt. Simms and Pvt. Ray. The fort was never taken and the men scattered back to the rear to lick there wounds and reform up.
The men made a good showing of themselves. They braved the elements and the insurmountable odds and attacked the fort. Thanks to everyone for a good weekend. You make all of the pre event planning worth while.