Celebrating The Battle: 160th event in Community Center
Video presentation, pictorial displays among highlights Nov. 19
“It will feature a video presentation on the course and significance of the battle, pictorial displays and a flag ceremony honoring the now reunited Northern and Southern states,” he added. “The Museum asks that residents come join our observance to find out what may have happened in your backyard.
Backdrop.
On Nov. 16, 1863, “all of what residents now know as the Town of Farragut was swarming with nearly 18,000 soldiers of the Union and Confederate armies,” Rhodes stated. “This collision of armies was known as the Battle of Campbell’s Station, so named for the Campbell’s Station Inn, the 1820s structure still standing in the center of Town. The battle raged for about six hours in duration, stretching from what is now Virtue Cemetery to the intersection of Kingston Pike and Concord Road.
“… Approximately 6,000 Union soldiers faced a Confederate Army of nearly 12,000 men,” he added. “The object of the Confederate advance from Chattanooga was to capture the lightly-held City of Knoxville, although the sympathies of most East Tennesseans lay with preservation of the Union.
“The Union Army’s objective was to slow the Confederate advance long enough for fortifications around the City to be complete.”
During the Battle, “nearly 700 men from both sides were killed or wounded,” Rhodes stated. “Many of the wounded were cared for at the Campbell’s Station Inn and the Russell House as well as at several homes in the vicinity.”
