Competing Stampedes...

5fish

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This is about three battles involving basically the same units...

Battle of Morristown, TN.


The Battle of Morristown was a battle of the American Civil War fought in present-day Hamblen County, Tennessee[a] on October 28, 1864. Union forces under General Alvan C. Gillem attacked Confederate forces under General John C. Vaughn who were defending Morristown, Tennessee. Vaughn's Confederates were routed and Gillem's forces pursued them into nearby Russellville, Tennessee.

Snip... ends in a Vaughn Stampeded...

Vaughn was completely pushed out of Morristown and his men routed. The battle is locally known as "Vaughn's Stamped." He would withdraw into northeast Tennessee and be reinforced under the command of former vice president Major General John C. Breckinridge. They would go on the offensive in November and attack Gillem at the Battle of Bull's Gap on the 11th through the 13th. Gillem's forces were routed and the battle became known as "Gillem's Stamped." He was forced to abandon Morristown and retreat to Strawberry Plains near Knoxville, Tennessee. In November 1864, Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge undertook an expedition into East Tennessee from Virginia to secure the countryside for food and forage and to drive the Federals from the area.

The next battle...

The Battle of Bull Gap...


The Battle of Bulls Gap was a battle of the American Civil War, occurring from November 11 to November 13, 1864, in Hamblen County and Greene County, Tennessee.

Snip..

On November 11, the Confederate forces attacked in the morning, but were repulsed by 11:00 a.m. Artillery fire continued throughout the day. Both sides launched morning attacks on November 12. The Confederates sought to hit the Union forces in a variety of locations but they gained little ground. On November 13, firing occurred throughout most of the day, but the Confederates did not assault the Union lines. The Union forces, short on everything from ammunition to rations, withdrew from Bulls Gap toward Russellville late in the evening.

The retreat and the next Stamped....

Affair at Russellville....


Following a failed Confederate assault on Bull’s Gap by troops under Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge on 12 November 1864, the Union commander in the Gap, Brig. Gen. Alvan C. Gillem, determined to evacuate the Gap the next night. Alert Confederate scouts noticed when Union troops abandoned Taylor’s Gap southwest of Gillem’s position, a fact they immediately reported to Breckinridge and his second-in-command, Brig. Gen. Basil Duke. Breckinridge hoped to find Gillem strung out on the road to Russellville and pushed his troops through Taylor’s Gap and rushed to Russellville on the Warrensburg/Arnott Road. Gillem, moving up to Whitesburg on a parallel turnpike and hearing that Union reinforcements had arrived at Morristown, sent word for the new troops to meet him in Russellville. There, he placed two battalions of dismounted cavalry in separate supporting positions in case the initial line was overrun. At 1 a.m. on November 14, Breckinridge attacked Gillem’s Union battalions in Russellville and sent them reeling west towards Morristown, capturing many prisoners in the woods. The second line of troops held the charging Confederates until ammunition ran low. At that point, the entire Union force streamed back to Morristown, where it rallied behind the new regiment sent to reinforce them. After capturing a single artillery piece on a knoll, rampaging Confederates broke the Federal line once more. This time, pursuing cavalrymen chased Union survivors all the way back to Strawberry Plains, a distance of 25 miles. Gillem, separated from his troops during the charge, made his way to the Plains by a side road and rejoined his shattered command, minus several hundred men lost mostly to capture.
 

5fish

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I like this chain of battles because it begins with a route called "Vaughan's Stampede" and it ends in a route called "Gillem's Stampede." It seems the confederate got the best of the deal...
 

5fish

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Here is another take on the battle of Morristown...


Battle of Morristown

The Battle of Morristown was a battle of the American Civil War fought in present-day Hamblen County, Tennessee on October 28, 1864. Union forces under General Alvan C. Gillem attacked Confederate forces under General John C. Vaughn who were defending Morristown, Tennessee. Vaughn's Confederates were routed and Gillem's forces pursued them into nearby Russellville, Tennessee. Morristown, Tennessee sat at the crossroads of the East Tennessee & Virginia Railroad and the turnpike to Cumberland Gap; this railroad location meant that troops were moving through Morristown as early as Spring 1861. The town would remain a key military crossroads for the rest of the war. At the time, it was a small collection of buildings surrounded by open farm land. Shortly after becoming Abraham Lincoln's running mate for the election of 1864, Andrew Johnson began working on removing Confederate resistance in East Tennessee. Johnson sent Brigadier General Alvan C. Gillem to establish civil law and protect loyal mountaineers.

In October 1864, Brigadier General John C. Vaughn's Confederate forces captured the railroad depot at Bull’s Gap, before taking up position at Morristown. On the morning of October 28, 1864, Gillem moved his Union forces from Newport, Tennessee to Morristown in order to dislodge Vaughn out of East Tennessee and capture his men. In preparing his defenses, Vaughn deployed his Confederate forces into two lines; the first line, ran west of the town for around a mile long. The second line about a mile long, was east of the town and was most flanked on both sides with artillery. One section of artillery was stationed. Gillem's Union brigade arrived at the battlefield around 9 o'clock in the morning coming from the west. On his approach to Morristown, he was engaged by about 100 Confederates under the command of Col. James Rose They were sent by Vaughn to scout the size of the Union army; this forced Gillem's forces to deploy as Col. Rose returned to Vaughn to report the superior Union force. Upon nearing the first Confederate line, Gillem's artillery deployed itself to the his right flank and opened fire on the Confederate left, whose artillery promptly returned fire.

A brigade of Gillem's Union cavalry charged the center and the right of the first Confederate line under fire. There, they began to push them back; the Confederate left, seeing the charge develop on their right, used dismounted forces from the first line and cavalry from the second line to attack the Union right. Despite pushing the Union line back, the Confederates failed to break through; the first line on the Confederate right collapsed and were chased by Union cavalrymen. The Union cavalry pushed into the town itself, where they were counter charged by mounted Confederates; the Union forces on the right began moving to get behind the Confederate's far left, south of the town. A Union cavalry charge was launched at points all along the Confederate line and the Rebels buckled under the pressure, with the final line giving way, it is believed. Union cavalrymen were to their rear and moving to cut off any retreat; the Confederates artillery battery was captured east of town. The town itself was capture along with Col. Rose.

The Confederates at first tried to have an orderly withdraw, but pressure from the Union forces turned it into a full-blown route towards Russellville, Tennessee. Vaughn admitted in his official report, "I regret to say that my command was stampeded at Morristown this morning." They were pursued by Union forces until the Confederates, freshly reinforced, made a stand at Russellville. The Union forces had pushed Vaughn out of Morristown. Vaughn was pushed out of Morristown and his men routed; the battle is locally known as "Vaughn's Stamped." He would withdraw into northeast Tennessee and be reinforced under the command of former vice president Major General John C. Breckinridge, they would go on the offensive in November and attack Gillem at the Battle of Bull's Gap on the 11th through the 13th. Gillem's forces were routed and the battle became known as "Gillem's Stamped." He was forced to retreat to Strawberry Plains near Knoxville, Tennessee. About 18 Union soldiers were wounded, 8 killed; the Confederates lost 224 wounded or captured.

There is little mention of the battle in current-day Morristown. Most of what was the battlefield is now developed land; the only remnants of the battle is Bethesda Presbyterian Church, a hospital used during the operations, numerous graveyards in Hamblen County. At Bethesda Presbyterian Church and Emma Jarnagin Cemetery, there are memorials for unknown Confederate dead, many of whom gave their lives in the skirmishes around Morristown
 
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