The Battle of Bean's Station (December 14, 1863) was fought in Grainger County, Tennessee, during the Knoxville campaign of the American Civil War. The action saw Confederate forces commanded by Lieutenant General James Longstreet attack Union Army cavalry led by Brigadier General James M. Shackelford. After a clash that lasted until nightfall, Longstreet's troops compelled the Federals to retreat. Two cavalry columns that were intended to envelop Shackelford's force were unable to cut off the Union cavalry, though one of the columns captured 25 Federal wagons. On December 15, Shackelford was joined by some Union infantry southwest of Bean's Station where they skirmished with the Confederates before withdrawing again.
Longstreet's troops began the Siege of Knoxville on November 19. When Major General Ambrose Burnside's garrison was relieved on December 4 by a much larger Union army led by Major General William T. Sherman, Longstreet retreated northeast to Rogersville. The pursuing Union force under Major General John Parke soon halted at Rutledge and Bean's Station. Learning that the bulk of Sherman's army left the area, Longstreet decided to assume the offensive again. He planned to surround and crush Shackelford's cavalry, but the Union cavalry resisted stubbornly, and the Confederate cavalry pincers failed to close. On December 16, Shackelford joined Parke's main Union field force at Blaine's Crossroads. Seeing that his strategy failed, Longstreet withdrew to the northeast.
Background
Strategic situation Though it was part of the Confederacy, many of East Tennessee's inhabitants remained loyal to the Union. Political pressure was put on President Abraham Lincoln's administration to send a Federal army to occupy the region. When military men looked at the problem, they saw how difficult it would be to maintain an army over of poor roads. Nevertheless, Burnside was appointed commander of the Army of the Ohio with both the IX Corps and the XXIII Corps and ordered to undertake the invasion of East Tennessee from Kentucky. On June 3, 1863, the IX Corps was called away to help with the Siege of Vicksburg, which delayed Burnside's plans. During this time, the Confederate invasion of the North was defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg and the Union captured Vicksburg, securing control of the Mississippi River. On August 16, Burnside advanced with 18,000 troops from the XXIII Corps and entered East Tennessee by way of Kingston. Burnside's infantry occupied Knoxville on September 3 and received the surrender of the Confederate garrison at Cumberland Gap on September 9. Subsequently, Burnside drove the local Confederate forces northeast toward Virginia.
The Union defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga on September 19–20, 1863 caused Burnside to move most of his strength southwest to defend Knoxville. Meanwhile, 6,000 men from the IX Corps arrived in East Tennessee to reinforce Burnside. On November 14, the Union forces were attacked by Longstreet's corps, which was detached from General Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee near Chattanooga. After the Battle of Campbell's Station on November 16, Burnside's troops withdrew in good order within the defenses of Knoxville where they were besieged by Longstreet's Confederates. On November 25, Major General Ulysses S. Grant routed Bragg's army at the Battle of Missionary Ridge. Soon afterward, Grant sent Sherman with a large army to relieve Knoxville. At its approach, Longstreet withdrew on December 4 to the northeast. Sherman left Major General Gordon Granger and the IV Corps with Burnside and returned to Chattanooga with the remainder of his army. Burnside was relieved at his request and replaced in command of the Army of the Ohio by Major General John G. Foster on December 11.
Longstreet's advance
Before retreating, Longstreet held a council of war with his subordinates. It was determined not to rejoin Bragg's army, since the route through the mountains to Dalton, Georgia, was too difficult. However, Major General Lafayette McLaws recommended that Longstreet remain in East Tennessee in order to encourage the inhabitants who were pro-Confederate. On December 5, Longstreet's troops reached Blaine's Crossroads, about northeast of Knoxville, where they rendezvoused with the division of Major General Robert Ransom Jr. The Confederate force paused at Rutledge until December 8, then continued to Rogersville where it halted from December 9–14. Many of Longstreet's soldiers hoped to return to Virginia, and were disappointed to remain in Tennessee. Because the men were poorly supplied during the retreat, they plundered local farmers with a heavy hand. Brigadier General Bushrod Johnson reported that desertion was a problem in his Tennessee brigade.
On September 5, Burnside ordered his cavalry to pursue Longstreet. On December 7, Burnside's infantry left Knoxville under the command of Parke. Each man left his knapsack behind and only carried 60 rounds of ammunition, half of a shelter tent, and scanty provisions. Some of the artillery was left behind because of a lack of horses to pull the guns. Granger's men, exhausted by their march from Chattanooga, were left to garrison Knoxville. Shackelford's cavalrymen followed the retreating Confederates, picking up about 150 stragglers by the time they reached Bean's Station on December 9. That day, Parke's infantry halted at Rutledge, about southwest of Bean's Station. The badly provisioned Federals were unable to go any farther because Longstreet's soldiers had stripped the countryside of food. Foster arrived in Knoxville on December 11 and assumed command of the Army of the Ohio the following day.
On December 10, Confederate President Jefferson Davis gave Longstreet authority over all troops in East Tennessee. Word reached Longstreet on December 12, that Sherman's army was headed back to Chattanooga. He learned that Parke was no longer pursuing his forces and the Confederates were able to obtain local food supplies. Longstreet still hoped to draw the Federals into a pitched battle, crushing them and forcing them to abandon Knoxville. Therefore, Longstreet decided to remain in East Tennessee. His immediate plan was to encircle Shackelford's forces at Bean's Station. To do this, the Confederates would advance in three columns in order to catch the Union cavalrymen in a vise.
Despite its name, Bean's Station was not a depot on the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad. Rather it was a convenient stopping place where a road from Cumberland Gap met the Great Warpath of the Cherokees. By 1825 a 52-room hotel was located at the site and there were about 20 houses in the area in 1863. To the north was Clinch Mountain which ran northeast to southwest. From Bean's Station, a road snaked north across Clinch Mountain before continuing to Tazewell and Cumberland Gap. Another good road ran southwest to Rutledge, Blain's Crossroads, and Knoxville. Shackelford's cavalry defended a narrow valley that was bounded on the north by Clinch Mountain and on the south by Big Ridge, which was lower.
Longstreet ordered Brigadier General William T. Martin to move two cavalry divisions along the south bank of the Holston River until they were west of Bean's Station, then cross the river and block the valley behind Shackelford's force. Brigadier General William E. "Grumble" Jones was directed to move his cavalry brigade along the north side of Clinch Mountain to prevent the Union troops from escaping to the north. Longstreet's column, headed by Colonel Henry L. Giltner's cavalry brigade and Johnson's two infantry brigades, would attack Bean's Station frontally. The weather was clear and cold from December 5 to 12, but then it rained hard for a day and a half, causing the Holston River and other streams to rise and muddying the roads. Longstreet decided to carry out his planned attack in spite of the foul weather. He ordered his soldiers to cook three days rations in preparation for the forward move.
On December 13, Longstreet sent Giltner's cavalry and Brigadier General Benjamin G. Humphreys' infantry brigade to within of Bean's Station, which involved a round-trip march in the rain. This probe confirmed the presence of Shackelford's cavalry. Several Confederates were captured in the skirmishing and interrogated; Shackelford learned that an attack was imminent. He notified Parke that Longstreet was, "in our front". He also sent out the 1st Kentucky Cavalry Regiment to screen his front and set up pickets on the Morristown (south of Bean's Station) and Rogersville roads. On December 14, both Parke and Brigadier General Robert Brown Potter, commander of IX Corps, visited Shackelford at Bean's Station. Burnside's Chief Engineer, Captain Orlando Metcalfe Poe also was there to find positions near Bean's Station to fortify.
The battle December 14: infantry attack
On the morning of December 14, Longstreet's troops began their march to Bean's Station in the rain. Giltner assigned 100 horsemen from the 4th Kentucky Cavalry to lead the column. Following Giltner's cavalry, in order, were the infantry divisions of Johnson, McLaws, and Brigadier General Micah Jenkins. Altogether, Longstreet's column was made up of about 12,000 soldiers. At 2 pm, Parke, Shackelford, Potter, and other officers had lunch, after which Poe traveled north on the Tazewell road. Soon afterward, one of Shackelford's brigade commanders, Lieutenant Colonel Emery S. Bond reported that Confederates encountered his outpost northeast on the Rogersville road. Bond's troopers made a fighting withdrawal, compelling their opponents to commit part of Brigadier General Archibald Gracie's infantry brigade.
Shackelford commanded about 5,000 men organized into five brigades that included both cavalry and mounted infantry regiments. One unit, the 8th Michigan Cavalry Regiment was armed with the Spencer repeating rifle. Shackelford deployed Colonel Frank Wolford's division to the south of the main road. Two of Wolford's brigades, those of Bond and Lieutenant Colonel Silas Adams, were posted on a commanding hill. Wolford's third brigade under Colonel Charles D. Pennebaker was placed to the left rear of the other two. The 45th Ohio Infantry Regiment (mounted) was held in reserve. Colonel John W. Foster's division was deployed north of the main road. Colonel Israel Garrard's brigade held the center while Colonel Horace Capron's brigade defended the left flank on a hill with a church and cemetery. Five companies of Colonel John H. Ward's 27th Kentucky Infantry Regiment (mounted) took position inside the Bean's Station hotel. Union artillery unlimbered west of the hotel on both sides of the road.
Gracie's Alabama brigade deployed north of the main road, while Johnson's Tennessee brigade, under Colonel John S. Fulton, lined up to the south of the road. Early in the action, Gracie was struck in the forearm by a bullet and compelled to relinquish command. Colonel Edward Porter Alexander directed Captain Osmond B. Taylor's Virginia Battery to deploy its four 12-pounder Napoleons north of the main road and Captain William W. Parker's Virginia Battery to take position south of the road. Both batteries mainly targeted the Federal artillery, but Johnson asked one section of Parker's guns to fire at the dismounted Union cavalry. Parker's battery was armed with four 10-pounder Parrott rifles.