Siege of Knoxville

Siege of Knoxville
Part of the American Civil War
Map shows the Knoxville defenses. Mabry's Hill and Fort Hill are off map to the right. Fort Higley is off map, below and to the left of Fort Dickerson. Sevierville Heights are off map to the right of Fort Stanley.[note 1]
Date November 19–December 4, 1863 Location Knoxville, Tennessee 35°57′42″N 83°55′24″W / 35.96167°N 83.92333°W / 35.96167; -83.92333 Result Union victory
Belligerents
United States (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
Ambrose Burnside	James Longstreet
Units involved
Army of the Ohio	Longstreet's Corps
Strength
12,000[1]	14,000[2]
Casualties and losses
693[1]	1,296[2]

The siege of Knoxville (November 19 – December 4, 1863) saw Lieutenant General James Longstreet's Confederate forces besiege the Union garrison of Knoxville, Tennessee, led by Major General Ambrose Burnside, in the American Civil War. When Major General William T. Sherman approached Knoxville with an overwhelming Union force, Longstreet ended the siege on December 4 and withdrew northeast. The siege was part of the Knoxville campaign of the Civil War.

In August and September 1863, Burnside's Army of the Ohio carried out a nearly bloodless invasion of East Tennessee, an area that included a substantial pro-Union population. Burnside's occupying force was thrown on the defensive when Longstreet's corps and Major General Joseph Wheeler's cavalry launched a counter-invasion from the southwest in November. Longstreet missed his chance to smash the Union forces in the field when Burnside conducted a successful fighting withdrawal to Knoxville. When Longstreet hesitated to attack, the Union soldiers built fortifications to make Knoxville's strong natural defenses even more secure.

Longstreet's forces lacked sufficient strength to completely surround Knoxville. Therefore, Burnside's Union garrison avoided starvation by bringing food into the city from the south bank of the Tennessee River. On November 29, a major Confederate assault was repulsed with heavy losses in the Battle of Fort Sanders. Aside from day-to-day skirmishing, there were two other significant actions, the first on November 18 west of the city and the second on November 25 at Armstrong's Hill on the south bank.

After the siege ended, Longstreet's troops lingered in East Tennessee until April 1864, but were unable to capture Knoxville before they went into winter quarters, and were then called to rejoin Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in the East.

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