Morganton Crossing-Too Cold to Wade - Morganton TN - U.S. Civil War Sites on Waymarking.com

TEXT ON THE HISTORICAL MARKER

Morganton Crossing-Too Cold to Wade
-Knoxville Campaign-
Union Gen. William T. Sherman and his troops marched north from Chattanooga on November 28, 1863, to relieve the siege of Knoxville. Sherman led the XV Corps up the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad Line through Philadelphia toward Morganton on the Little Tennessee River. He planned to ford the shallows here at Morganton then continue to Knoxville. The corps arrived from your left on Morganton Rd, which is now under water and near where you stand.

Sherman discovered that the Morganton ford was 3 1/2 feet deep and 240 yards wide, making it impossible for the infantry to wade in the near freezing temperature. Col. James H. Wilson, assistant inspector general from Grant's staff, supervised the construction of a bridge. The troops found two large flatboats and carried forty to fifty men across the river to serve as guards and a working party. Unoccupied houses and barns in Morganton were torn down to obtain wood for the bridge, which was finished on December 4.

Wet, cold, and poorly provisioned, the troops crossed the river. Sherman soon received word that Longstreet appeared to be retreating rather than risk being trapped by the advancing Union forces. Longstreet withdrew to northeastern Tennessee for the winter and later returned to Virginia. His retreat marked the end of the last serious attempt by the Confederacy to hold East Tennessee and the vital supply route between Atlanta and Virginia.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   06/03/2023 Don.Morfe visited it