Battle of Blountville "…the best portion of the town was destroyed" - Blountville TN
Posted by: Don.Morfe
N 36° 31.980 W 082° 19.610
17S E 381222 N 4043887
This is the Sullivan County Courthouse. Its interior was burned during the Union attack on Blountville on September 22, 1863, as Confederate and Federal forces vied for control of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad.
Waymark Code: WM12E4Z
Location: Tennessee, United States
Date Posted: 05/08/2020
Views: 4
Battle of Blountville "…the best portion of the town was destroyed"--
This is the Sullivan County Courthouse. Its interior was burned during the Union attack on Blountville on September 22, 1863, as Confederate and Federal forces vied for control of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, located a few miles east of here. Union Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside needed the railroad for a supply line to Knoxville; the Confederates wanted it for a supply line to Virginia. After several days of skirmishing at Blountville and along the railroad at Carter’s Depot and Zollicoffer, the Confederates occupied Blountville while Federal forces held the south bank of the Watauga River.
Union Col. John W. Foster led his cavalry brigade across the river at 9 A.M. on September 22. Confederate Col. James E. Carter’s 1st Tennessee Cavalry defended Blountville. For four hours in the afternoon, as Foster occupied Cemetery Hill to your left, the two sides fought an artillery duel until Foster ordered a charge that drove Carter’s men out of town.
During the fight, exploding shells set fire to the courthouse and other buildings. Foster reported that “the shells of the enemy set fire to the town, and a great portion of it was consumed.” Mrs. Walter E. Allen, however, later wrote that “a shell from the Federal guns entered the courthouse, setting it on fire, and soon all the best portion of the town was destroyed.”
(captions)
Sullivan County Courthouse, constructed 1854, ca. 1900 photo Courtesy Hunt Library
Sullivan County commissioners, ca. 1900 Courtesy Hunt Library
Type of site: Battlefield
Address: 425 Bristol Highway on the grounds of the Sullivan County Courthouse Blountville , TN USA 37617
Admission Charged: No Charge
Website: [Web Link]
Phone Number: Not listed
Driving Directions: Not listed
|
Visit Instructions:
Post a picture of site showing the signage or other notable feature. Please tell what you saw or learned.