The Battle of Campbell’s Station: 16 November 1863

In this book, noted local Civil War historian, Gerald L. Augustus offers a fresh and comprehensive analysis of the Battle of Campbell’s Station. Relying on primary sources, newly constructed maps, and his own keen knowledge of the battle terrain, Augustus provides an almost hour by hour accounting of the decisions, movements, and encounters that made up this significant battle. Along the way, he includes three excurses that provide helpful background for understanding the battle as well as its consequences in human terms, and three appendices that provide the order of the battle, as well as casualties for both Union and Confederate Armies. This mid-November 1863 drama involved Union General Ambrose Burnside with some 5,000 men desperately trying to retreat to Knoxville from opposite Loudon, Tennessee. In close pursuit was Confederate General James Longstreet with nearly 12,000 troops intent on either capturing or destroying Burnside’s immediate command and then recapturing Knoxville. Burnside would win the race to junction of Kingston Road and Lenoirs Road, but the fighting known as the Battle of Campbell’s Station would move eastward for over two miles and last from about 9.00 am until after dark. Burnside’s forces would again slip into the dark and continue on to Knoxville and successfully defend the city until reinforcements arrived.