| The Confederacy maintained
control of Roane County until September 1863. In the
summer months of 1863, Union General Ambrose Burnside
began an invasion of East Tennessee. Burnside entered
Kingston on September 1, 1863. The area remained under
Union control until the end of the war.
During the war, the
Roane County Courthouse was used as a
headquarters and hospital by both the Confederate
and Union Armies
Roane County did not see any major battles.
The closest large-scale battle was the Battle of Knoxville
on November 29, 1863. Confederate General James Longstreet’s
forces were in Knoxville to draw Union forces away
from Chattanooga. The battle resulted in the defeat
of the Knoxville Confederate forces. This Union victory
was the turning point of the war for East Tennessee.
The Battle of Loudon was much smaller
in scale. The railroad at Loudon was a strategic point
in Roane County. Supplies and troops were transported
on this railroad from Georgia up through Virginia
at the beginning of the war. The Union realized the
importance of disrupting this rail line. The bridge
that ran across the river in Loudon was the perfect
spot for their attack. The Union sent 20,000 men under
General Burnside out of Kentucky in August, 1863.
Burnside’s mission was to take East Tennessee.
He and his men came into Kingston on September 1,
1863.
The next day, Burnside sent cavalry
into the vicinity of Loudon led by General James Shackelford.
Confederate General S. Buckner’s men burned
down the bridge before retreating southward in order
to prevent it from falling into Union hands. The next
day, September 3, General Burnside came into Knoxville
with over 14,000 of his men.
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