General Longstreet takes upon himself the failure of the assault. It seems conclusive to him that it was due to the order for recall. He had long known Goggin. Some of our men pushed into the fort. One gallant young officer, Adjutant Cumming, from Augusta, Georgia, leaped through an embrasure and instantly demanded the surrender of fort and garrison. The Union troops cheered the feat while making him a prisoner of war. Almost immediately after the repulse General Longstreet received a telegram from the President to the effect that "Bragg had been forced back by numbers and that we were to co-operate with his army." A euphemism on the part of the President—Bragg had suffered a severe defeat and was in full retreat. He made for Dalton, which put out of the question any co-operation by us. Our own safety was to be considered and how it could be accomplished.
The casualties at Knoxville are thus given: Confederate loss in assault, 822; Union loss in assault, 673; Confederate loss in campaign, 1,296; Union loss in campaign, 1,481.
CHAPTER XXVIII
The East Tennessee Campaign, Continued
In front of Knoxville after repulse—Position serious—Bragg defeated at Missionary Ridge—Reinforcements pressing to Burnside—We withdraw to the eastward—Halt at Rogersville—Foraging good—Supplies in valleys sufficient—We decide to winter there—Occasional operations without importance—Affair at Bean's Station—Much uneasiness at Washington at Longstreet's presence in East Tennessee—General Grant ordered to drive him out—Affair at Dandridge—Great want of shoes—A supply from Quartermaster General—General McLaws relieved from duty—The correspondence—General McLaws's resignation—Intense cold—Roads almost impassable—Inhabitants of the valleys and mountaineers—The fierce old woman—Mountain fastnesses—Deserters from a North Carolina regiment—Their capture and execution—General Schofield in command of Union army—We take position and make camps near Bull's Gap.
Our position was now becoming serious. Some additional troops under Ransom would soon join us, but the enemy was being heavily reinforced. Grant had decided to drive us out of East Tennessee. A letter from him to Burnside by courier was captured, advising him of three columns en route for his relief—one on south side by General Sherman, one by Dechared under General Elliott, and one by Cumberland Gap under General Foster. Longstreet decided to march past Knoxville on the north side of the river and aim for the column reported coming from Cumberland Gap. The enemy did not see fit to molest our flank as we marched past his defenses on the 2d of December.
There was good foraging in the country, and we halted at Rogersville on the 9th to accumulate supplies. Up to this date it had not been our General's intention to stay in the Tennessee Valley. He was looking eastward, but more hopefully toward some combinations and increase of force by which a powerful demonstration could be made into Kentucky through Cumberland Gap. But at Rogersville the foraging officers brought in roseate reports of plenty in the land. It appeared to be overflowing with subsistence for any army; cattle, swine, corn, sorghum, and honey were abundant, and it was decided we should winter in these beautiful valleys, watered by the Holston, the French Broad, the mouth of Chucky and Nolachucky. Truly was it a fertile and smiling land to be still showing all this abundance, ravaged and harried as it had been alternately by Union and Confederate forces, and with such a population! It could well be said that "Only man was vile."