Appalachian History Series
Blue Springs, known locally as the community around Midway and today within Mosheim, sat on the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad. On October 10, 1863, Union forces under Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside met Confederate cavalry under Brig. Gen. John S. “Cerro Gordo” Williams here and drove them from the line. Contemporary dispatches and maps, the Official Records, and local diaries let us follow the day almost hour by hour.
Why Blue Springs mattered
Burnside’s September occupation of Knoxville did not end the campaign. The railroad toward Virginia remained contested, and Williams’s mounted brigade probed west with orders to menace Union communications and, if possible, seize Bull’s Gap. Blue Springs sat roughly midway between the gap and Greeneville. The rails funneled both armies into the same ground, which explains the sharp collision that followed. The terrain consisted of open fields broken by timber and low ridges, with the railroad and wagon road running side by side. Period maps like Lloyd’s Official Map of Tennessee help place Midway, Blue Springs, and neighboring stations on the line.
“The enemy were found, posted in heavy force”
Burnside left Knoxville on October 9 and reached Bull’s Gap that day. On the morning of the 10th his advance moved east. At Blue Springs his cavalry engaged Williams along a front that contemporary accounts and markers describe as extended and thin by noon. Burnside’s chief engineer, Capt. Orlando M. Poe, personally reconnoitered the position to locate the best point for an infantry blow. In late afternoon Brig. Gen. Edward Ferrero’s 1st Division, Ninth Corps, went forward and broke into the forward rifle pits. Fighting continued into dusk. After dark the Confederates withdrew toward Rheatown, and by October 13 they had fallen back into southwestern Virginia.
What the commanders said
Union correspondence recorded in Series I, Volume 30, Part IV of the Official Records gives the skeleton of the day: cavalry engagement all morning, Poe’s reconnaissance, an evening assault by Ferrero’s division, and a night withdrawal by Williams. The same volume preserves Confederate messages from the district command that framed Williams’s movement and his decision to retire once Union infantry pressed the center. The Official Records remain the primary frame for Blue Springs and they match the sequence summarized above.
Brig. Gen. John S. Williams’s own published report, covering operations from September 27 to October 15, 1863, adds the Confederate view from the line. He stressed the need to watch Bull’s Gap, described the length and strain of his position at Blue Springs, and explained the decision to slip away after dark once Union infantry had struck home and flanking danger increased.
How the news looked in 1863
Northern readers saw Blue Springs on the front page of the New York Herald. The October 27, 1863 issue carried the engraved sketch and a small theater map under the heading “Burnside’s Tennessean Success,” alongside a column titled “Details of the Fight at Blue Springs.” The Herald’s map places Midway and Blue Springs between Bull’s Gap and Greeneville, exactly as the Official Records imply. Newspapers often magnified successes, but the broad strokes line up with the primary reports.
Civilians in the same week
East Tennessee diaries capture the tension along the railroad that week. Myra Inman of Cleveland wrote frequently in October 1863 about alarms, soldiers on the move, and the shifting control of towns along the line. Eliza Rhea Anderson Fain of Rogersville recorded military comings and goings that autumn as columns moved through Hawkins County. These voices, read beside the reports, remind us that the Blue Springs line ran through farmsteads and churchyards, not empty map space.
Result and casualties
The National Park Service categorizes Blue Springs as a Union victory, with an estimated 316 total casualties, about 100 Union and 216 Confederate. After the fight, Union cavalry pursued toward Rheatown, while Burnside refocused on holding East Tennessee ahead of Longstreet’s arrival in November.
Walk the ground today
Blue Springs lies in and around modern Mosheim. Local markers and site summaries help visitors orient to the fields and the railroad corridor. Tennessee’s state heritage page and the Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association offer concise overviews and directions.
Sources and Further Reading
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Ser. I, Vol. 30, Pt. IV, “Union and Confederate correspondence” for operations in Kentucky, Southwest Virginia, and East Tennessee through October 19, 1863. Includes Burnside’s and subordinate reports that outline the Blue Springs action and aftermath. HathiTrust Digital Library
Brig. Gen. John S. Williams, C.S.A., Report of operations in East Tennessee, Sept. 27 to Oct. 15, 1863(Richmond, 1864). Confederate narrative of Blue Springs from the line. Internet Archive
New York Herald, October 27, 1863. Front page map “Burnside’s Tennessean Success” and the report “Details of the Fight at Blue Springs.” Contemporary press coverage and engraved sketch. The Library of Congress
Lloyd’s Official Map of the State of Tennessee (New York, 1863 and 1862 printings). Railroad context for Midway, Blue Springs, Bull’s Gap, and Greeneville in 1863. The Library of Congress+1
Myra Inman, A Diary of the Civil War in East Tennessee (entries around October 1863). Civilian observations from the same corridor and week. HathiTrust Digital Library
National Park Service, CWSAC Battle Detail: Blue Springs (TN020). Commander list, date, campaign context, and casualty estimate. National Park Service
Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association, Blue Springs battlefield page. Site overview and location notes for today’s visitor. tcwpa.org
State of Tennessee, Civil War Trails entry: “Battles of Blue Springs.” Public-facing site summary with orientation to Midway and Mosheim. TN Vacation
Historical Markers Database, “Battle of Blue Springs.” On-site interpretive text and photographs that help with field orientation. HMDB