FORT DICKERSON
Defending Knoxville
Knoxville Campaign
By late 1863, the Union army had turned
Knoxville into one of the most fortified cities in
the country. Chief Engineer Capt. (later Gen.)
Orlando M. Poe used civilians and slaves to assist
his 300-man engineering battalion, while Union
Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside marched south to
block Confederate Gen. James Longstreet's
approach. On returning, Burnside's men joined
in the digging and surrounded
the city with 16 forts and
batteries, miles of earthworks,
and two dams to flood the
area just north of Knoxville.
Three of the forts - Dickerson
Higley, and Stanley -
loomed on the ridges across
the Tennessee River.
As Confederate infantry advanced on the
river's north side, Longstreet sent 4,000
cavalrymen under Gen. Joseph Wheeler through
Maryville and Blount County to capture the heights
overlooking the river. Gen. William P. Sanders,
however blocked Wheeler with 1,500 Federal
cavalrymen, slowing the Confederate advance and
allowing Federal troops time to prepare
defenses on what was to become Fort
Dickerson. Arriving at the base of the
heights on the land side, the Confederate
cavalry found the slope too steep
and the defenders too numerous for a successful attack.
After two tentative assaults, they withdrew
and rejoined Longstreet.
On November 25, Confederates attacked the earthworks
on Armstrong Hill, adjoining
the site of Fort Higley, driving
the Federals from their trenches.
Union troops rallied and forced the Confederates back to their original position on Cherokee Heights. A Confederate diversionary attack
took place in this area four days later in conjunction with the attack on Fort Sanders. The Confederate defeat in November 1863 was largely due to
Poe's design of Knoxville's extensive fortifications.